Burnishing is mechanical gloss, not chemistry. The pad is the tool, and the wrong pad either does nothing or cuts the finish. Three types cover almost every polished concrete floor.

Pad types

Pad	Effect	Use
White (soft)	Cleans and lightly buffs	Daily to weekly, high-gloss floors
Beige / red (medium)	Raises gloss, removes light hazing	Weekly on main traffic lanes
Natural fibre	Aggressive gloss, heat	Restoring worn gloss, occasional
Melamine / eraser	Removes marks and scuffs	Spot work only, never full floor

Match pad to finish

On a 2000-grit mirror finish, a medium pad every week is enough; a fibre pad used weekly will slowly dull the surface by abrading the densified layer. On a 400-800 honed finish, a beige pad produces most of the gloss the customer sees, and a fibre pad is the correct tool for the quarterly boost.

Machine settings

• 500-800 rpm for most pads; above 1000 rpm heat glazes the surface.
• Even pressure, no tilt; a tilted head leaves a swirl pattern.
• Two to three passes per area, not ten. Excess passes generate heat without adding gloss.
• Clean or rotate pads every 300-400 m2; loaded pads polish unevenly and leave residue.

Signs of wrong pad

• Gloss drops after buffing: pad too aggressive.
• Swirl marks appear: pad loaded with grit, or head tilted.
• Patchy sheen: uneven pressure or a worn pad.
• White dust on the pad: you are sanding sealer, not buffing it.

Pad plus chemistry

Some maintenance systems use a gloss restorer with a beige pad. That builds a thin film, which is acceptable when specified and reapplied on schedule, and a problem when applied over dirt. On floors where the owner wants zero film, dry buffing with the right pad is the whole programme.

Keep one pad type per floor and record it. Mixing pads across shifts is the most common reason two crews get different gloss from the same floor.