Here's why you need to polish paint...

[Mike Phillips]

Here's why you need to polish paint... (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/68100-here-s-why-you-need-polish-paint.html)



Video showing before and after

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzKjGVHlMHA


My buddy Mike owns this really cool 1932 Ford Phaeton with yellow paint that to the average person looks pretty good. But a little polishing using a tape-line shows why all of us need to periodically polish the paint on our cars, especially our daily drivers, and the reason for this is because the paint becomes stained with a film of dirt that clouds the true color of the paint.

Here's a section I've taped off on the cowel because me and one of our forum members already buffed out the hood when he stopped by to test out polishers.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1970/Dirty_Old_Ford_002.jpg




On the left I've clayed the paint and then machine polished it twice and then applied a coat of wax. You can clearly see the left side is now a brighter color of yellow and the right hand side has what appears to be grayish film over the paint.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1970/Dirty_Old_Ford_003.jpg


Here's the same picture above with graphics....

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1970/Dirty_Old_Ford_006.jpg


Of course I finished polishing the rest of the car to test out some new products...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1970/Dirty_Old_Ford_004.jpg


Products worked well and now the dirt staining has been removed off the entire body and a coat of Max Wax has been applied.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1970/Dirty_Old_Ford_005.jpg




The paint on your car gets dirty too...

The car in the pictures above is a garage-kept, sunny day only street rod, yet... the paint was still stained with dirt.

If the paint on a car that is always stored in a garage except for sunny days gets dirt stained paint, what do you think happens to cars that are daily drivers?

How about cars that are daily drivers but are never parked in the garage?


That's right... the paint gets a dirt film over it and for this reason in order to maintain the paint and see the true color you need to periodically deep clean the paint with some type of paint polishing process. Any of these approaches will remove the dirt staining over the paint,



Using a one-step cleaner/wax
Using a paint cleaner also called a pre-wax cleaner.
Using a compound followed by a polish
Using a medium, fine or ultra fine cut polish

If the owner of the above car had not used one of the above and instead used a finishing wax, or a finishing sealant, that is a product with no ability to clean the paint, what they would have done is simply "sealed the paint" and continued the staining problem.


Medium to dark colored cars
It's pretty easy to use a tape-line to reveal dirt staining on white and light colored cars but if you were to do this on a medium to dark colored cars, chances are good your eyes would not detect the change in color to the paint.

That doesn't mean the paint on dark colored cars isn't covered with a film of dirt, it just means you and I can't see it. It's there however, and it's important to periodically polish the paint to remove the built-up film of dirt and other contaminants.

Polishing the paint will restore clarity to a clear coat and it will restore the full richness of color to a single stage paint.

It will also prepare the paint for your choice of a wax or sealant.

If you choose to use a paint coating, you'll need to do an extra step to prepare the paint for the coating and it's always a good idea to follow the manufacturer's directions.



Now that you've read this article and looked at the pictures...

When is the last time you polished the paint on your daily driver?


It's probably polishing time...



:)

[Setec Astronomy]

Great demo, Mike.

[Evan.J]

Great demo, Mike.

:iagree:

Nice little find! Thanks for sharing!

[rmagnus]

When is the last time you polished the paint on your daily driver?

I'm due this weekend just waiting for that new DP Coating to arrive. Like most of us here we polish and wax more than the average person. I do mine about every 90 days or more frequently if testing new products.

All good points.

[Mike Phillips]

When is the last time you polished the paint on your daily driver?

I'm due this weekend just waiting for that new DP Coating to arrive. Like most of us here we polish and wax more than the average person. I do mine about every 90 days or more frequently if testing new products.

All good points.


For people that are just starting a detailing business, you could bookmark this page on a tablet like a iPad or even print it out to show customers and explain this is why you're going to use a one-step cleaner/wax and/or upsell a multi-step process.

Especially if after inspecting their car you can tell it's a daily driver and it's been neglected.

Keep in mind, the average person doesn't have this type of information and part of your job as a professioinal is to educate your customer on the basics.


Here's another great picture that shows dirt staining that takes it's toll over time...


1955 Chevy & 1947 Buick Slantback - Show Car Makeover! - Pictures & Videos (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/pictures-autogeek-s-car-week/66328-1955-chevy-1947-buick-slantback-show-car-makeover-pictures-videos.html)



Mike Searle's 1955 Chevy Sedan Delivery

Right after Mike arrived we did a Test Spot on the driver's side fender. While most people would look at Mike's 1955 Chevy and think the paint looks GREAT in reality, the paint was completely stained with embedded dirt.

The thing is you can't see the dirt until you buff on a section to remove it. MORE IMPORTANT is it's really only easy to see embedded dirt on WHITE CARS.

But think about it... if the paint on Mike's hot rod has embedded dirt and you can see it... don't you think all colors of car paint gets dirty BUT YOU CAN'T SEE IT?

The answer is YES and that's why periodically, especially if your car is a DAILY DRIVER, besides claying the paint you want and NEED to use some type of paint cleaner to remove the embedded dirt. If you don't remove it, then when you wax you simply seal the dirt into the paint.

The more time that goes by and the more you just wax the paint, the cloudier and cloudier it will get as you continually seal in more and more dirt.

Make sense?

Now let's take a look. Here's Mike's car and in this picture it can be kind of hard to see where I buffed on the top of the front driver's side fender.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1854/1955_Chevy_Sedan_Delivery_009.jpg


It's still hard to see the before and after difference, but for reference, I've taken the same picture above and placed an arrow pointing to the tape-line where I buffed on the front edge of the fender and left the back side of the fender along.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1854/1955_Chevy_Sedan_Delivery_009c.JPG



Now look... see what I mean by embedded dirt on and to some level, "in" the paint.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1854/1955_Chevy_Sedan_Delivery_010.jpg


By machine polishing the paint with a high quality compound, polish or pre-wax paint cleaner, you will effectively remove the embedded dirt and restore the TRUE color of the paint.

In this case we're working on a basecoat/clearcoat finish so the dirt is embedded onto and into the clear layer of paint create a dirty cloudy film that blocks your eyes from seeing the true white pigmented color under the clear layer.

Robert Diterlizzi shared the way he explains clear coats to his customers and I really like his explanation so I'm sharing it here and giving him credit for it...

"The clear coat is like a window to the basecoat"

By that he means in order to see the true color of the basecoat the window, or in specific words, the clear coat needs to be clear. By clear, we mean free from any,


Above surface bonded contaminants
Embedded dirt
Swirls and scratches
All of the above work to cloud your view to the color under the clear layer of paint. So in a way, the clear coat, that is the clear layer of paint over the basecoat is like a window to the basecoat. If you want your car to look great you need to clean and polish the window covering your car's body panels.



By the time we finished buffing out both the 1955 Chevy and the 1947 Buick the colors of the paint jobs literally changed before our eyes.

Besides changing to BRIGHTER white color, we also restored SMOOTHNESS to the finish and GLOSS COMES FROM SMOOTHNESS.


:)

[Inzane]

Awesome post Mike!

[SonOfOC]

Excellent illustration! It went from "yellow" to "LEMON HEAD YELLOW"

[Mike Phillips]

When I first saw this car in Mike's garage I could tell the paint could use some polishing because it wasn't very glossy, I was really surprised at just how dirty it was considering it's a convertible that's only driven on sunny days.

Mike told me this street rod has been driven from Florida to California at least twice to attend hot rod shows on the west coast, that's a long drive in a convertible.


Anytime I get a car in here that shows signs of dirt staining I like to try to use the before and after pictures as a "teaching moment" because my guess is that most people don't know the paint on their car is getting dirty over time and that normal washing and claying won't remove the dirt film.

A picture tells a thousand words though...


Here's Max's Mustang and it had really dirty paint too and even though it's a medium dark color, you can really see the difference in before and after compounding one section...


1966 Mustang - Last Chance to Dance Extreme Makeover! (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/pictures-autogeek-s-car-week/63785-1966-mustang-last-chance-dance-extreme-makeover.html)



Test Spot

I did a little testing using Pinnacle XMT #4 with a wool pad on a rotary buffer followed by XMT #2 with a foam pad on a Flex 3401 and if you look at the lower right hand corner you can see it removed enough oxidation and embedded dirt that the section I buffed now looks like a totally new color of red paint!


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1851/Maxs_New_1965_Mustang_025.jpg




After we buffed out the paint we literally changed the color... here's an after shot...

Inside the garage
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1851/Maxs_New_1965_Mustang_033.jpg


Outside...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1851/Maxs_New_1965_Mustang_040.jpg



So for everyone that will read this into the future, if your car is a daily driver, the paint actually gets dirty over time and if you use a non-cleaning wax, that is if you use a finishing wax, the effect is you'll seal dirt onto the paint.

The right approach for a daily driver is to either use a one-step cleaner/wax or before using a finishing wax, do a dedicated paint cleaning or paint polishing step to first remove any embedded dirt and/or oxidation.


Here's an article that explains the benefits of using a paint cleaner...

The benefits of a light paint cleaner, cleansing lotion or pre-wax cleaner (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/28519-benefits-light-paint-cleaner-cleansing-lotion-pre-wax-cleaner.html)


And this article explains the difference between a cleaner/wax and a finishing wax...

The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/23263-difference-between-cleaner-wax-finishing-wax.html)

Subtitle: How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant for your Detailing Project


:)

[silverfox]

If ever there was an illustration of what restoring "optical clarity" is...those pictures really prove the point.

The first time I used a paint cleaner on my car (which I thought was really clean), I was shocked at the color of the buffing pad as it turned from white to a dull gray.

Now this was applied AFTER I polished it with a finishing polish. I wanted to get the "oils" off the paint after polishing, so I used a paint cleaner product. Its possible the cleaner was catching areas that I did not polish out enough, but nonetheless, the paint cleaner did its job.

Just ordered the new DP prep polish. I already know its worth the investment.

[Setec Astronomy]

Just ordered the new DP prep polish. I already know its worth the investment.

Will be interesting to see if that becomes the go-to pre-LSP product.

[Eric M.]

Great read Mike. I recently did a vechicle with dirty paint. My pic isn't as good as yours Mike but I've pointed out the difference.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a209/Eric29/BMW_zps3918818f.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/Eric29/media/BMW_zps3918818f.jpg.html)

[Mike Phillips]

Will be interesting to see if that becomes the go-to pre-LSP product.





I'm already a big fan of this product because anytime you're wiping with some type of solvent you risk marring the paint.

I point this out in detail in this thread on page 1 of this article,

Hologram Free with a Rotary Buffer (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/43684-hologram-free-rotary-buffer.html)


After Machine Buffing with a Rotary Buffer - Not stripped, just wiped clean
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1332/HologramFree01.jpg


Wiped very thoroughly with Mineral Spirits
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1332/HologramFree02.jpg


Any marring you see now is not "holograms" but marring from wiping. Keep in mind, clear coats are "Scratch-Sensitive" and when working on BLACK paint even the lightest defects show up, that's why I always test on black paint.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1332/HologramFree03.jpg


I think it's pretty obvious that there are zero holograms or rotary buffer swirls in the paint...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1332/HologramFree04.jpg


Next I wiped the panel down with IPA at 12.5%. Note when I wiped the panel down both with MS and IPA I dragged the panel into the shade first.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1332/HologramFree05.jpg



Now you can see some light marring, but that's because IPA isn't a very good lubricant, in fact it's a horrible lubricant. I think of all the people that have been told by others to wipe their car down with IPA before going to the next step and it's pretty easy to understand that when they did this they likely marred their car's paint and this is called working backwards. It's also likely that if the people taking this advice were working on light to medium colored cars they never saw the marring.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1332/HologramFree06.jpg




So if a product will clean the suface to prepare it for a coating, at least "this coating", without marring, you're ahead of the game.

The goal is beauty right?


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Great read Mike. I recently did a vechicle with dirty paint.

My pic isn't as good as yours Mike but I've pointed out the difference.





Thank you and nice work yourself. I can see the difference on my monitor so again, nice work on the car and with your photography.


:)

[Klasse Act]

Hey Mike, I was alerted to this thread and those pics you showed on the yellow 32' really amazed me. I only have a DD which has been garage kept the past 2 monthes but I'm really "particular" about it being clean. I do a rinseless wash after ever rainfall, use QD on the car inbetween washings and ofcoarse layer my waxes/sealants. I do mix in a clay barring and DG #501 inbetween spring cleanups and winter preperations too, done by hand. I'm not afraid to use the 6"GG RO on my car but kiinda wear it as a "badge of honor" to not have used a machine on my car since the day it was new, coming up on 2 yrs pretty soon and there's no swirls in the paint either. What's your .02 cents on someone who's very fanatical about keeping their DD clean and go above and beyond when keeping their car clean?

Thank you and anyone else can chime in too, thanks.

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online

[Mike Phillips]

What's your .02 cents on someone who's very fanatical about keeping their DD clean and go above and beyond when keeping their car clean?

Thank you and anyone else can chime in too, thanks.




I would say you are the exception to the rule and I'm confident your car's paint is as clean as the day it came out of the baking oven on the assembly line.



:)