There are a several items needed to buff a vehicle. I personally use a Makita buffer and have found that in many detail shops, they prefer it as well. It is a great tool for anyone that wishes to keep their car in "like new" condition. With that you will need buffing pads and compounds as well.
Wool pads are great with the harsher compounds in order to remove bad scratches as well as oxidation. Now, this will more than likely cause swirl marks, which is ok since there are steps that follow to remove those. You should use a harsh or "grainy" compound for this step as well. You can feel the grains in the more harsh compounds if you put some between your thumb and finger and rub them together.
If the wool pad scares you, there are foam pads available for this step as well. I use foam pads in the other steps, but if you decide to use it in the first step, the stiffer the pad the better. You need softer pads as you go down in the harshness of the compound.
Next Topic: How to use a Buffer
