We carry a wide range of polishing pads to suit different polishing machines backing plates. Our main sizes are 3.5", 5.5", and 6.5" pads, with additional smaller pads available down to 1" (25mm). Many of our pads come in multiple sizes, and you can easily select the right size from the drop-down menu on each product page.

How do I choose the right pad for my polisher?

Selecting the right pad depends on the size of your backing plate. Here’s a quick guide:

• For a 76mm (3") backing plate: Use a 3.5" pad.
• For a 125-127mm (5") backing plate: Use a 5.5" pad (145mm). This is the most common size and fits perfectly with our Rockcar polishers.
• For a 152mm (6") backing plate: Use a 6.5" pad.

If you are not sure which pad you need for your polishing machine, measure the diameter of your polisher’s backing plate (the valcro section where the pad attaches). The pad should be slightly larger than the backing plate, so it extends out and protects your paintwork from the spinning plate. The Velcro backing on the pad should match your backing plate, but the pad itself should taper outward to provide full surface contact without risking damage to your paint.

Common backing plate sizes and pad recommendations:

Most backing plates are standardized in size, typically 5" (127mm), but it’s always best to double-check by measuring. If your polisher uses a 5" backing plate, we recommend using a 5.5" (145mm) pad. This is the optimal size for detailing cars, balancing coverage and maneuverability. It’s also ideal for Rockcar polishing machines, allowing you to work efficiently on both large surfaces and around curves.

We stock pads from trusted brands like Autostolz, Lake Country, and Chemical Guys, all available in various sizes. Make sure to select the correct size pad from the drop-down menu for your specific backing plate.

If you have a 5" backing plate we recomend the Autostolz polihsing pads, currently they are only available for this size and are very good.

If you need a larger or smaller pad, we have a big range of variuos sizes with Lake Country, who make even very small sizes that other pad manufacturers do not.

Each Polishing Pad Manufacturer has thier own colour code. They are different between brands, a Blue Autostolz is not like a Blue Lake Country.

The Main Pads we sell and recomend are the Autostolz pads. These only come in 5.5" size, so if you have a 5" backing plate (127mm) like on the Rockcar Polisher Machines, then these are probably your best choice.

Lake Country has the biggest range of sizes and has specialty pads like for polishing Glass, and higher cut wool pads.

Chemical Guys are reducing their pad range, and can have supply challenges, we stock the full range but if something is out of stock we have alternatives to keep you polishing.

Autostolz Pads Colour Quick Guide:

For a 1 step polish use the Autostolz 1 step polish and compound choose the pad to suit the hardness of your paint: Blue for European cars with harder clearcoat, Gold (looks a light orange) for Asian brands with softer paint, Purple/Maroon for anything in the middle.

For a 2 step polish use the Autosoltz White with a Red Stripe Heavy Cut pad first with thier Heavy Cut Compound, then the Autostolz Orange Polishing Pad with the final finish polish.

Lake Country Pads Quick Guide:

We have a big range of Lake Country pads, but there are 7 key Lake country pads that we stock in 3.5", 5.5" and 6.5" sizes. These are the pads we are focusing on:

• Lake Country Rayon Glass Polishing Pad - Special pad for polishing glass.
• Lake Country Wool Polishing Pad with interface - for heavy cutting, the interface issolates movments to get a better result but costs more.
• Lake Country Wool Polishing Pad without interface. Cheaper than the interface version.
• Lake Country Microfiber Cutting Pad. An synthetic alternative to wool, some polishers prefer Microfiber pads, some prefer wool.
• Lake Country Blue HDO Heavy Polishing Pad, our most popular Lake Country pad.
• Lake Country Orange HDO Polishing Pad
• Lake Country Black HDO Finishing Pad.

We have more Lake Country pads, however these are the pads professional detailers have asked us to focus on, in all main sizes. The other lake country pads we will slowly phase out unless we have special requests. Lake country SDO or Standard Duty and Force Pads are like the above HDO, Heavy Duty Orbital Pads, but without the extra thermal layer, they are cheaper but do not handle heat as well or last as long.

Chemical Guys Pads Colour Quick Guide:

We stock Chemical Guys pads in 5.5" and 6.5" sizes. Chemcial Guys are reducing thier range of pads, and we sometimes have supply challenges. Here is a quick Guide to the pad colours, with alternatives should the pad be discontinued or out of stock:

Chemical Guys Yellow Polishing Pad, Heavy Cut. Use with V32 or Autostolz heavy Cut Polish & Compound. Alternatives if not available: Autostolz White with red stripe, or Lake Country Blue.

Chemical Guys Orange Polishing Pad, Medium Cut (One Step polish. Use with V36 or Autosoltz One Step Polish and Compound. Alternatives if not available: Autostolz One Step pads matched to the hardness of the paint (Blue for European Cars with hard clear coat, Gold for Asian Cars with soft clear coat, Purple for anything in the middle)

Chemical Guys Green Polishing Pad, a lighter polishing pad, this pad is being discontinued and we can no longer order it, it is very similar to the above Chemical guys Orange Pad. We recommend the Chemical Guys Orange pad or its alternatives above instead.

Chemical Guys White Polishing Pad, A finer finishing pad, and what Chemical Guys recommend as their second step in a 2 step polish. Alternatives if not available: Autostolz Orange polishing Pad, or Lake Country Black HDO Pad.

Chemical Guys Blue Polishing Pad, Chemical Guys Black Polishing Pad, and Chemical Guys Red Polishing Pad are all very similar, for very light polishing or spreading glazes and waxes. The Red and Blue pads are being discontinued to be covered by the Black Finishing Pad. Alternatives if not available: Autostolz Black Cloud, or Lake Country Black HDO Pad.

We recommend 4 polishing pads per car. Pads are abrasive removing clear coat, they are also getting hot with the friction of polishing. After polishing about 1/4 of a car your pad will be hot and clogged with removed clearcoat. It will remove less and will not polish as well. if you keep going on the same pad your polishing will be bad, the pad will get too hot and will not last, it will get soft and may even do damage to the paint or backing plate of your polisher. And it will not remove as much. It's like trying to dry a car with a wet cloth, or remove wax with an already clogged cloth.

The best polishers will use more pads. They will stop, swap to a fresh pad with fresh polish and put the old pad aside, then they will clean the pads the same day so the polish does not dry inside the foam, and re use them.

If you look after your pads they will last a lot longer. Use at least 4 per car, clean them same day. You will polish faster, better, and your pads wil last longer. It will cost you less as your pads will last longer and your time to polish a car will reduce.