Above, willy starts with the red cutting pad. The foam on this pad is made of quite hard foam, and the cells (bubbles) in the foam are quite large. This means that less surface area touches the car and the areas that do are abrasive to a degree... not as abrasive as compound but at high speed (up to 3400rpm) it is enough to remove oxidization and a tiny amount of the paints surface. Because it uses no compounds but instead the texture of the pad and the speed this method leaves less swirl marks (buffer marks, holograms).
Next Willy used a 4 ply pure lambs wool mop - of course, anything you put on your paintwork is abrasive to some degree, even if you buffed it with silk, and so all these pads do have an abrasive effect, but no compounds are used. The polishes are purely designed to help the pads do the work - ether to increase friction and heat or to reduce it. At this stage Willy is still 'cutting' with the pads.
The car was then finished with a green finishing pad and a soft polish. The polish helps to generate the heat needed to help the green pad to soften the paint and smooth it over.
