Intermediate Compounds

A polishing compound with a medium level of cut. Cutting compounds use a coarse abrasive to remove deep scratches and leave a haze that needs a second polish. Finishing polishes barely cut, they just add gloss. An intermediate compound uses a finer abrasive that breaks down as you work it, so it removes moderate defects and refines the finish in the same set of passes.

Every brand names them differently. Koch Chemie calls it Fine Cut, Scholl calls it 1-Step, Rupes calls it Medium, and plenty of customers just ask for a cut and polish compound. Same shelf, same job. Pad choice moves the result more than the label does, a microfibre pad pushes an intermediate compound toward cutting, a soft foam pad pulls it toward finishing.

On any factory or refinished clear coat, yes, and that covers almost every car on Australian roads. What changes is how hard the paint is. German paint (VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedes) is usually hard and takes an intermediate compound on a firm pad without fuss. Japanese and some Korean paint is soft, so use a lighter pad, fewer passes and check your work often, because you can go past the swirls and into haze.

Three exceptions. Single stage paint (older cars, no clear coat) polishes fine but expect colour on the pad. Matte and satin finishes: never, polishing adds gloss you can't take back. And any compound strips a ceramic coating or wax, so plan on a finishing polish and fresh protection afterwards.

Most daily drivers don't need the cutting compound. The rule we work by is start with the least aggressive combination and step up only if you have to. An intermediate compound on a medium pad is that starting point. Do a small test section, check it under a torch, and if the swirls are gone you've saved yourself a second pass over the whole car. If they're not, step up to a cutting compound or a microfibre pad, then come back to this shelf to refine.

If you're not sure what your paint needs, this is the safest place to start. It's also the one tub worth having on the shelf even if you rarely polish, because it fixes most of the things that go wrong, a wash mark here, a bird dropping etch there, without pulling out the whole kit.

A medium or polishing foam pad is the default, and it's what the compound was built around. Our intermediate pads are matched to this shelf. From there you tune it. More cut for a neglected car? Run the same compound on a microfibre pad and it behaves close to a cutting compound. More gloss on soft paint? Drop to a finishing foam. That's the appeal of an intermediate compound, one product covers most of the range just by swapping the pad.

Keep the pad clean between panels, with a brush or compressed air. A pad loaded with spent compound and clear coat dust will haze the finish and make you think the product isn't working.

We stock a lot of good options and there isn't one right answer, it depends on your paint, your pad and how much correcting you're doing. The picks at the top of the page are a good place to start looking, that's where we've flagged what's selling best and what the pros reach for.

Two worth reading up on: Scholl Concepts S20 Black is a low-dust one step with a long working time, which makes it forgiving if you're newer to machine polishing. Koch Chemie Fine Cut F6.01 is popular with detailers, cuts a touch harder and suits firmer German paint. If you'd rather buy the full set of cuts in one go, have a look at our compound kits.

Less than you think. Four or five pea-sized drops on a primed pad covers a section about the size of a laptop. Spread it on low speed, then work it at medium speed in overlapping passes, four to six of them, until the compound goes clear and thin. That's the abrasive broken down and the job done. Wipe with a clean microfibre, then a light spray of panel wipe or prep spray to lift the oils, because most intermediate compounds carry fillers that hide fine defects until the first wash.

If it's dusting or drying out before it clears, you've used too much or the pad is dirty. Fix those two before you blame the product.