Unlike a du Noüy ring, no correction factors are required when calculating surface tensions.  Due to its small size the rod can be used in high throughput instruments that use a 96-well plate to determine the surface tension.  The small diameter of the rod allows its use in a small volume of liquid with 50 l samples being used in some devices.
In addition, the rod also allows use for the Wilhelmy method because the rod is not completely removed during measurements.  For this the dynamic surface tension can be used for accurate determination of surface kinetics on a wide range of timescales.
The Padday technique also offers low operator variance and does not need an anti-vibration table.  This advantage over other devices allows the Padday devices to be used in the field easily.  The rod when made of composite material is also less likely to bend and therefore cheaper than the more costly platinum rod offered in the du Noüy method.
In a typical experiment, the rod is lowered using a manual or automatic device to the surface being analyzed until a meniscus is formed, and then raised so that the bottom edge of the rod lies on the plane of the undisturbed surface.  One disadvantage of this technique is that it can not bury the rod into the surface to measure interfacial tension between two liquids.