"Buffing "

Question

Hi, can someone please help me translate "Buffing" as in buffing compound. I have searched all over and all i could find was "Compuesto de Pulido" as in Polishing Compound. Thank you.

I am not sure the difference between rubbing compound, buffing compound and polishing compound. 3M product for "rubbing compound" for cars is labeled compuesto pulidor. - bosquederoble, Aug 30, 2017

Answer 1

Not sure we have different words. As far as I know all are called "pastas de pulir" and they come in different abrasive strengths.

I believe you can approximate it as:

Rubbing compound: pasta de pulir gruesa

Polishing compound: pasta de pulir media / pasta de pulir fina.

Buffing compound: pasta de pulir extra fina.

Answer 2

In English, and particularly among car enthusiasts, there's a difference between mere "polishing" and "buffing". Buffing would be the last stage of the polishing process, where a very find compound is used to obtain the deep shine of a well polished paint job.

Such a distinction is not made in Spanish, although in and of itself "buffing" can be translated as "sacar brillo".

This page can give you an idea of how the polishing terms are used in Spanish. Notice that the finest polishing compound does not get translated.

Another page in the same site.

based on this, I reckon you could use "compuesto abrillantador" for "buffing compound", If you must...