Tripple and One Step - The Differences

Learn more about our most popular correction and enhancement products...

Tripple All-in-One Car Polish and One Step Compound are two of our most popular paint correction and enhancement products ever. In terms of usability and performance they’re loved by both detailing enthusiasts and trade professionals the world over.

One of the most popular questions for our customer service team though is: what is the difference between these two products? And that makes sense, they do have some similarities in what they are and how they work, but they are very different in terms of the results and when and where they’re used.

Here’s a proper rundown of the two…

Similar but not the same

Like all compound polishes these products are designed to remove a small part of the top layer of your paintwork or clearcoat. They do this using abrasive particles that break down as you work them through. This process levels down the entire top layer until the bottom of defects - such as scratches and swirl marks - is reached. In this way polishes do not remove the defect directly; they take away a mew microns of the top layer until the defect simply disappears.

Both Tripple and One Step use advanced diminishing abrasives that are engineered to get smaller and smaller as you polish. In practical terms, as these abrasive particles are bashed together and break down to get smaller and smaller, they become less abrasive and have a smaller level of cut. This means that at the beginning of the process they cut through the defects, but by the end of the process they’re geared more to refining the surface down to flawless. It’s a bit like working through stages of coarse to fine sandpaper to get a smoother and smoother surface, only on a microscopic level. In other words, you get more refinement at the end of the process and more cutting power at the beginning.

Even though they work in the same way, the advanced abrasives we use in each of the two formulas vary in coarseness at the beginning of the process and how much they break down when you polish.

How these product differ

The other important difference between Tripple and One Step is the extra ingredients that make up their formula, along with how and when is best to use them. They all offer a different end result. Let’s start off with a detailed look at Tripple…

Tripple All-in-One Polish

Tripple All-in-One Polish has been specifically developed for enhancement details. It’s versatility is a key factor here because this product has attributes that pushes it far beyond that of a traditional car polish. The reason it’s denoted as an ‘all-in-one’ polish is because it’s capable of cleaning, polishing, and protecting on one application.

As you may have guessed from the name Tripple, this product has a triple action which is made possible by the combination of special ingredients. Technically it’s classed as a cleaner polish because it uses an advanced blend of deep-cleaning solvents along with the diminishing abrasives to remove oxidation. When paintwork fades this is due to a reaction between the surface and the air passing over it. Tripple cuts through this oxidation to restore your paintwork to its previous lustre.

The combination of chemical and mechanical cleaning will also cut through water spots and light swirling, making this product the quick and easy way to lightly cleanse and refine surfaces like paintwork and gloss plastics.

As the start of the polishing process the abrasives in Tripple are extremely fine, almost like a fine compound you'd use for the last refining stage when machine polishing. But because these abrasive particles are so tiny this makes them easy to break down and fully work through, even by hand. This is what gives Tripple its trademark ‘easy on, easy- off’ formula. In other words, Tripple isn't what you'd call a 'machine only' compound.

This attribute also makes Tripple extremely versatile and ideal for a number of tasks in and around your car. You can polish full panels by hand or with a machine polisher, but because it breaks down so easily Tripple is also suited to detailing plenty of smaller, more awkward areas such as door jambs, carbon fibre parts and gloss plastic trim.

In fact, Tripple can be worked through effectively using a number of different accessories depending on the area where you need to use it. From microfibre Work Cloths, to foam machine polishing pads, Microfibre Spot Pads and hand Polish Pads, Tripple is extremely easy to use almost anywhere.

Some of the other key ingredients are what gives Tripple the power to enhance your paintwork and allows it to add up to 4-weeks of surface protection - the other reason it’s denoted as an all-in-one.

First Tripple is capable of filling and obscuring minor scratches and swirl marks by leaving behind a blend of advanced glazing agents. These help enhance the look of your paintwork by leveling the optical finish – a smoother surface bounces light back to the eye more uniformly, giving the appearance of gloss and depth. One other ingredient that Tripple leaves behind has a similar effect on the appearance, but it also physically bonds to the surface to offer protection from the elements. This is the infusion of T1 Grade Brazilian Carnauba Wax and what makes Tripple ideal for adding stand-alone protection, or as a base for the most durable wax protection products such as Radiance Carnauba Crème or one of our Signature Hard Waxes. These will effectively bond on top of the wax layer for even more gloss and protection.

The fact that Tripple contains a wax infusion also means that it should only be used in conjunction with other waxes or protection products which contain wax. If you’re looking to add ceramic protection products, the hardy carnauba layer will block the chemical bonding needed to fully install the ceramic coating. In these cases you’ll need a compound which leaves nothing behind on the surface – a compound just like One Step...

One Step Compound

One Step is a heavy-hitting compound that’s chiefly designed for machine polishing. We developed this formula to get the best results using a dual action polisher such as our MPX and DPX random orbital polishing machines.

What makes One Step different to traditional compounds, and the reason this one is also denoted as an ‘all-in-one’, is that the formula is completely unique. This advanced compound offers a far wider range of cut because it starts off as a coarse cutting compound and breaks down to a fine refining polish as you work it through. In other words, with One Step you can achieve a cut and finish that traditionally would require multiple stages with different compounds and pads. This can be achieved all in one step – or a single stage machine polish.

One Step is capable of cutting through heavy swirl marks and scratches and refining all the way down to a flawless finish without the need to change compounds or polishing pads.

The reason One Step is geared towards machine polishing is that the abrasives are extremely coarse to start off with (far coarser than you'll find in Tripple), so they take a lot of effort to break down. Although this can be achieved by hand if you have enough time and elbow grease, it’s far easier to use a DA to work them all the way through. As the polishing process is carried out the heavy abrasive particles are smashed together to get smaller and smaller, the reason why the range of cut is so wide and a whole correction and restoration can be performed in a single stage.

One Step contains no extra ingredients used to obscure or fill paint defects. It also has no waxes, so it won’t offer protection. Most importantly though, this means that what you get is a true finish and refined paintwork that will not block the chemical bonding required for ceramic coatings. This makes One Step a pure correction product that’s ideal if you’re looking to add long-lasting ceramic protection with a product like our 12-month durable Caramics Paintwork Protection Kit.

You can of course use other protection products instead if you choose, your refined paintwork also provides the perfect base for the physical bonding of waxes and paint sealants.

In fact, many detailers choose to use wax protection after using One Step simply because they like the warm glow associated with a car wax - we certainly do. You can even use Tripple by hand or via your machine polisher to further enhance the surface, add plenty of extra gloss and 4-weeks of protection.

If you’re looking for a 2-stage enhancement using One Step first and then Tripple will always yield amazing results. Just be aware that One Step is a far coarser compound than Tripple, so you can’t use your Tripple first – the One Step will simply strip it away, defeating the object.

To Sum Up - Tripple vs One Step