Quick answer: Match the compound to the metal and the wheel to the compound. For stainless and steel, cut with the black stainless bar on a red treated airway, then color with yellow deluxe on a pink treated airway. For aluminum, cut with brown tripoli on an orange treated airway, then color with green rouge on a yellow mill treated airway. Finish any metal with the purple high luster bar on an untreated (UBM) or Domet flannel wheel. The full chart is below.
The Maverick buffing chart
| Compound bar | Cut | Best for | Pair with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black stainless cutting bar | Heavy | Steel and stainless; removes 320–400 grit scratches | Red treated airway |
| Brown tripoli | Heavy | Aluminum; removes 400–600 grit scratches | Orange treated airway (yellow if the job is light) |
| Yellow deluxe | Medium | Second step on stainless and steel | Pink mill treated airway |
| Green rouge | Medium | Second step on aluminum (chromium oxide fills the pores) | Yellow mill treated airway |
| No Scratch Pink | Fine | One-step polish on plastics, composites, fiberglass and wood | UBM untreated airway |
| Purple high luster | Fine | Final mirror finish on almost any metal | UBM untreated or Domet flannel airway |
| Jeweler's red rouge | Fine | Silver, gold and platinum | Domet flannel airway |
How to read this polishing chart
Compound bars
Our polishing compound bars follow the industry-standard color scheme, so our green rouge is equivalent to the green rouge from Jackson Lea, Menzerna or Foremax. That matters if you're cross-referencing bars you already own against the chart above.
What are polishing compound bars made of?
Compound bars are abrasive grain held in a binder of stearic acid, tallow and wax. The color tells you the grain: coarse grains in the cutting bars to remove sanding scratches, and super-fine micro-abrasives in the finishing bars for a mirror polish.
Which bars remove heavy scratch marks?
Two of them. The black stainless cutting bar is for steel and stainless steel and will take out scratches as coarse as 320 and 400 grit. Pair it with the red treated airway wheel. The brown tripoli bar is for aluminum and removes 400 and 600 grit sanding marks; pair it with the orange treated airway, or the yellow treated airway if the job isn't that bad.
Which bars give a two-step mirror polish on aluminum or stainless?
Aluminum and stainless are completely different metals to polish. Aluminum is porous, absorbs compound and is usually thin, so it needs a compound that fills the pores and polishes gently. Our green rouge does exactly that – it differs from the yellow bar in one way: it contains green chromium oxide, which fills and polishes the surface and reflects a rich luster. Use it with the yellow mill treated airway.
Stainless and steel aren't porous and are usually much thicker, so they need a slightly more aggressive bar. The yellow deluxe compound builds the heat needed to move and polish the surface. Use it with the pink mill treated airway.
What is the No Scratch Pink compound for?
Our pink blend of micro-abrasives and binders is the best bar you'll use for polishing plastics, composites, fiberglass and wood. It's a fine finishing bar for surfaces that are already smooth, and it's a one-step bar. Use it with the UBM untreated airway wheel.
Which compound bar gives a mirror polish?
We have an unpopular opinion here. White rouge and blue rouge are common high-luster bars mostly because they've been around so long, and they do leave a good finish if that's what you're used to. Our preferred finishing bar is the purple high luster compound. It works on almost any polished surface and pairs with either the UBM untreated airway or the Domet flannel finishing airway.
Which compound bar is best for jewelry?
Only one: jeweler's red rouge. It's made for polishing precious metals – silver, gold and platinum – to a mirror finish.
How airway buffing wheels work
What do the different colors of a buffing wheel mean?
Airway buffing wheels are made from unbleached muslin that goes through a mill treatment – a polyvinyl acetate treatment applied in different strengths to make the wheel harder or softer. Red and orange are the hard treatments; pink and yellow are the soft ones.
- Red treated – our stiffest wheel, for the black stainless bar on steel and stainless. The rigidity builds the heat and pressure that make the metal "move" under the compound.
- Orange treated – stiff, but slightly softer than red. For the brown tripoli bar on aluminum.
- Pink treated – for the yellow deluxe bar as the second step on stainless. Most people stop here.
- Yellow mill treated – softer than pink. For the green rouge bar on aluminum.
- UBM untreated and Domet flannel – for the purple fine finishing bar or jeweler's red rouge for a super-high luster. Domet flannel is the softest wheel we make and is also used to clean up light scratches on stainless, aluminum and other surfaces.
Shop airway buffing wheels in 6" through 20", or start with a complete aluminum, stainless steel or copper and brass polishing kit.
