Smooth and shine the surface of your workpiece. These bonnets are gentler than buffing and polishing pads, so they’re used for the final finishing steps. They fit over the backup pad on your polishing tool. Order a bonnet that’s one size larger than your pad.

Lambswool and polyester bonnets are slightly more abrasive than terry cloth bonnets. They’re often used for buffing out light scratches and swirl marks from compounding. Use a bonnet cleaner to remove buildup on lambswool bonnets to extend their life.

Terry cloth bonnets are extra soft, so they’re often used to apply protectants to polished surfaces. They’re not as good at removing imperfections as lambswool or polyester bonnets, but they won’t leave swirl marks.

Fit these pads onto your polishing tool’s arbor to smooth and shine finished surfaces. They’re often used to remove flaws from surfaces with paint, gel coats, and other lacquer- or resin-based coatings. These pads are washable and reusable.

Arbor-mount pads thread onto your tool’s arbor. Pads with 1 polishing side mount directly to your tool. Pads with 2 polishing sides can be flipped for a fresh polishing side. They require an adapter (sold separately).

Quick-change fastener-mount pads are easier to swap out than arbor-mount pads. Thread the required adapter (sold separately) onto your tool’s arbor just once. Then you can snap the pads on and off the adapter. These pads have a waffle pattern on their face that distributes polish more evenly than flat faces, which helps prevent swirl marks. Polish sits inside the square grooves, so it’s less likely to sling or splatter while you buff.

Use pads for cutting at the beginning of your process to remove heavy oxidation and deep scratches. For smoothing and light repairs, use pads for polishing. Pads for finishing are for the final touches on your workpiece, since they leave the fewest swirl marks.

Foam pads are more delicate than wool pads. They leave fewer swirl marks, but they’re not as good at smoothing burrs or scratches. Wool and wool/acrylic pads are more aggressive than foam pads, so they’re better at removing imperfections. However, they create more microscopic marks on surfaces.

Use arbor extensions (sold separately) to add up to 9" between your polisher and pad.