These pads fit a 5" or 125mm backing plate.  This is the most common size for detailing, it tends to be the sweet spot for being easy to cover a lot of area and also be easy to work in and around the curved of modern cars.  It's important to have a backing plate that is the right size to suit the backing plate of your polishing machine.  Most pads will extend out to be slightly wider at the paint contact end, so that you don't accidently hit the paint with the spinning backing plate itself.  All of these pads are the right pads for a 5" (+/-125mm) backing plate, most will extend out to be slightly wiser like 5.5" to protect against the spinning backing plate accidentally hitting the paint.  To check this measure the diameter of the backing plate of your polisher, if it is approx. 125mm then these pads are the size you will want.   

In this size we carry a large range of pads.  Remember each pad manufacturer has their own colour code, it is not standardized.  White means heavy cut to some, and final finish to others, so don't assume a blue Autostolz pad will be the same as a blue lake country pad for example.

We carry three brands of polishing  pads for 5" 125mm backing plates. 

Autostolz Polishing Pads (made in Germany), Lake Country (made in USA), and Chemical Guys. 

Autostolz Pads:

For a One Step Polish (up to 2,000 grit).  Choose the pad that matches your paint.  For hard paint like on a European brand of car, choose the Autosoltz Blue Pad.  For soft paint like on an Asian brand of car choose the gold pad (looks like a light orange), for medium paint hardness like on a USA or Australian brand of car, if the car has been locally repainted, or is you are not sure choose the Autostolz Purple Pad.

The Black Cloud is a special pad for final finish on very difficult soft paint to keep the pad very even.  It is also suitable to spready waxes or sealants, though we recommend doing this by hand.

For a two-step polish (deeper defects), use the white and red pad for the first cut with the Autostolz heavy Cut Polish, then the Autosoltz orange polishing pad with the Autostolz final finish polish as the second polishing final finish step.

Lake Country pads:

We stock the following main Lake Country Pads:

Wool Pads and Microfiber Pads for aggressive cutting.  The Wool Pads we stock in 2 styles, one with an isolating foam layer which is easier to use and more forgiving, and one without which is cheaper.   Microfiber is a synthetic alternative to Wool pads, wool vs microfiber is a personal choice, wool pads with interface are the most popular.

Blue Foam Lake Country polishing pads are a heavy cut polishing pad, and the most sold lake county pad.

Orange Foam Lake Country polishing pads are a medium cut polishing pad.

Black Foam Lake Country polishing pads are a final finishing light cut pad.

We stock all these foam pads in two styles, HDO and SDO:

• HDO stands for Heavy Duty Orbital, these are Lake Country's best pads and have two foam layers to help handle heat better.  These pads perform very well, and last longer (if properly maintained), and are a top choice for professional detailers.  HDO are more popular.  
• SDO stands to Standard Duty Orbital, these are the sale foam as the H|DO pads, but without the additional foam layer.  They are cheaper.  

Rayon Glass Lake Country Polishing Discs are specific for polishing glass, which is much harder than paint.

Chemical Guys Pads:

Chemical Guys have discontinued some of their polishing pads, so if you are looking for a specific pad you saw in a video it might no longer be available, but we will have a pad suitable either from the following or an alternative from Autostolz or Lake Country.  Main Chemical Guys Pads are:

• Yellow - Heavy Cut Polishing Pad
• Orange - Medium cut Polishing Pad
• White - Final Finishing Polishing Pad

For professional detailers we have bulk packs of our best pads at the bottom of this section.

Tip for Polishing Pads:

Allow 4 pads per car as a good rule of thumb.  As you polish your pad will get clogged with removed clear coat and also very hot.  After about 1/4 of a car the pad will be too hot and clogged to be effective, and if you carry on with the same pad you will not get a good finish and you can damage the pad, and potentially the paint and your machine.  Just stop and swap at this point swap to a new fresh cool pad.  Brushing or blowing out is not enough, as the pad is still hot and heat is the biggest issue.  We only stock quality pads that are designed to handle heat, like with open cell foam to allow air to flow through to cool, dual layers, etc, but there is a point then the foam gets to hot and then collapses, if then loses structure and goes soft.  The bad is now toast.  Keep going more and it can burn up the foam and compound, I have even seen a backing plate damaged from the pad getting too hot.  The best professional polishers use 1 pad per panel, and look after and re use their pads.  This saves them money over time as their pads last longer and get better results faster.  For most this is overkill, 4 pads per car is a good middle ground to get great results and not overheat and overwork your pads.  We sell pads individually, but we recommend using at least 4 pads on a polishing job.

Clean pads properly, the same day.  Polish and compound will soak into the foam of your polishing pads, if you don't clean it out it can dry inside the foam creating hard spots in your polishing pad, which can lead to marks when polishing.  Polishes and compounds are left in or on the foam of a polishing pad can also break them down or the glues joining the layers together.  if you look after your pads they will last longer and perform better.  Clean them with a proper pad cleaner and ideally warm water, use a stiff brush, we have a few but the red pad cleaning brush works best, it has a strange shape that makes it easy to really get in their and scrub.  squeeze the pads to make sure all the residue runs out and runs clear.  Let the pads dry overnight, either standing upright like a plate in a dish rack, or on a clean surface with the cutting surface facing down so that water can run out of it.  Don't leave them Velcro side down as the water can not fully run out and is its on the Velcro backing where it can affect the glue over time.  

Have less range and more of the right pad.  Rather than 1 or 2 of each pad, get 4+ of the pad you really need.