How to get the wet look?

[YankeeFan]

I was driving to work today and all of a sudden an old Mustang passes by me and it looked unbelievable, great reflection but also a great wet look. How is that done? I mean, I polish all the swirls out, use 4* sealant topped with Souveran wax yet I only see good reflection. Is it cars like the Mustang have a custom paint job that a massed produced manufactured car will never get or is there a product I am missing? Another example is Mike P has a How To Wax video and the red car looks amazing, doesn't even need a wax. Again, is it a custom paint job or am I missing somethng? Frustrating.............

Thanks,
Howard

[JonMiles]

Probably wet sanded and polished to perfection then topped with a nice carnauba. A car without orange peel looks way wetter than factory paint.

[LincolnZephyr2006]

Exactly. Wetsanded to a smooth surface without any orange peel....

[detailjohn]

It could also just have been perfectly corrected. It's easy to spend 15 hours just correcting paintwork to make it perfect. Add another 15 if you want it wetsanded flat.


John

[rohnramirez]

and just 15 minutes under the scorching sun to destroy it..lol.

[dnoraker]

I think the manufacterer has something to do with it. With the same buffing process, I've thought a black Mustang looked "wetter" than some other black cars I've done. It seems like the wettest cars I've seen around town are dark red Buicks!

The wettest looking car I've ever detailed was a (single-stage) red Acura TSX and I used Meguiars #26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax. The paint looked like it was going to drip off!

The quality of your final buffing step has a lot to do with it as well, as the LSP is only an enhancement of your work. I'm about to try some new products this season, but last season I finished with a G100 (PC) and Meguiars M205 with a Meguiars black finishing pad on speed 5 with moderate pressure and 4 overlapping passes in both directions (2 each). This season I'm going try out some of the Wolfgang and Menzerna products to see if I can improve on the awesome results.

[sullysdetailing]

It could be an oil glaze like Megs #7

[Mike Phillips]

The 2 most important factors that effects creating a "wet look" are,


Getting the paint as smooth as possible. - This is best done by claying paint and then machine compounding and polishing. (Assuming the paint isn't like new to start with).



Getting the paint flat as possible - This means removing any orange peel or other surface texture. This is an option because you can have a very glossy, wet looking paint job that has orange peel.



Gloss comes first from smoothness, maximum gloss comes from a flat, smooth surface. A quality wax, sealant or even a glaze can improve and increase gloss besides what just the paint by itself can provide.


And of course this only applies to paint that is supposed to be polished to a high gloss in the first place. I find I have to type out very specific details like this or I'll end up having to discuss off-topic points like flat or matte style paints which can be smooth, but not glossy, thus they can't have the wet-look. Please if you want to talk about flat or matte finishes, start a dedicated thread for that topic.


:)

[elk42]

i want so bad to say if you want the wet look just hose down your car. oh wait, i did say that.

[ScottB]

jeweling (final polishing) adds more reflection and gloss, then add the wet wax (like Souveran) afterwards.

[trhland]

all i use is souveran..havnt polished my paint in 2 years...:xyxthumbs:

[ScottB]

all i use is souveran..havnt polished my paint in 2 years...:xyxthumbs:

but I suspect you use good (Proper) wash and drying techniques to avoid swirls too. :props:

[32ValveRom]

I have a couple of questions. 1st one is to op. About what year Mustang was this? Just curious. Second is what is an orange peel? I haven't heard this before but when op says "the wet look" I'm assuming he's referring to that shine that I see on show cars and those beauties on the Barrett-Jackson show. If I have the tools to achieve this than I am very interested.

[JonMiles]

Orange peel is a texture in the paint that looks like little dimples kind of like the skin of an orange. In order to get rid of it, wetsanding and buffing out the paint is necessary. You can reduce orange peel with compound. If you have OEM paint wetsanding might not be the best idea because it reduces the clear coat quite a bit, and OEM paint is already thinner than a custom paint job.

[trhland]

but I suspect you use good (Proper) wash and drying techniques to avoid swirls too. :props:

ido i always use 2 buckets with grit gaurds..alsoi foam downthe truck before everywash..and sometimes if its reallybad i useand extra rinse bucket ..so 3 buckets..
and before i dry i flood the paint. then spray q/d all over the paintwork. then dry with fluffy microfiber towels.. this might seem overkill. but its worth it im very carfullwith my paint....oh and i onlyuse sheepskin mitts. and washing i onlygoin straight lines. nice and slowww...