What causes black paint to look "gray" in sunlight?

[Desertnate]

Just throwing out another option.

I've never used Fuzion, but could it be "sweating" in high heat/humidty like Collinite 845 does? With 845, if you put it a little too thick it will haze up in places when exposed to high heat and humidity like what would be encountered when sitting outside.

In that case, either washing or a quick wipe down with a QD spray removes the hazing.

[2black1s]

First off let me say that what your seeing is very common with today's clear-coated blacks and is most likely not caused by anything you did. I have a black Chevy truck that exhibits a similar condition under certain light conditions, although I would describe any color shift on mine to be towards a dingy brownish hue, not so much gray.

My theory for what causes this color shifting of black in varying light conditions is as follows:

- The toners used in different black base-coat formulations may reflect light differently than others.

- The base-coat may be applied in too thin of a layer to achieve complete opacity, thus the underlying primer may be telegraphing through the black base-coat in high intensity light situations.

- Not all clear-coats are crystal clear. Depending on your clear-coat, this may play into it.

- All clear-coats will exhibit some degree of haziness under certain light conditions and from certain angles. This may appear as a slight color-shift or a general "washing out" of the color; and is especially noticeable on black, more so than any other color.

To further expand on my last bullet, back in my painting days (primarily in the 1970s - 1990s) I always found that the blackest, most brilliant, blacks were single-stage. Anytime a clear-coat was added, the "haziness" I described certainly ensued.

[pittpens24]

One other thing that I realized after reading about detailing that I missed and it could have been that big oops. I never wiped it down after polishing to remove the oils. Never saw that step until now. Both the car and truck missed this step. Could that have something to do with it as well?

[pittpens24]

First off let me say that what your seeing is very common with today's clear-coated blacks and is most likely not caused by anything you did. I have a black Chevy truck that exhibits a similar condition under certain light conditions, although I would describe any color shift on mine to be towards a dingy brownish hue, not so much gray.

My theory for what causes this color shifting of black in varying light conditions is as follows:

- The toners used in different black base-coat formulations may reflect light differently than others.

- The base-coat may be applied in too thin of a layer to achieve complete opacity, thus the underlying primer may be telegraphing through the black base-coat in high intensity light situations.

- Not all clear-coats are crystal clear. Depending on your clear-coat, this may play into it.

- All clear-coats will exhibit some degree of haziness under certain light conditions and from certain angles. This may appear as a slight color-shift or a general "washing out" of the color; and is especially noticeable on black, more so than any other color.

To further expand on my last bullet, back in my painting days (primarily in the 1970s - 1990s) I always found that the blackest, most brilliant, blacks were single-stage. Anytime a clear-coat was added, the "haziness" I described certainly ensued.

Yeah I see that brownish tinge too at certain intervals but this was different. Actually looked as though in my diminished capacity about detailing, that I used too rough of a pad and caused hazing, but through the led inspection light it was crystal clear.

My truck has that brown tinge whereas my car is the blackest black I could find - House of Kolor. It is actually a blue black and looks like ink when polished correctly

[2black1s]

Removing polishing oils seems to be a debated subject. Some guys do, some don't.

I've been polishing paint since the 1970s (not professionally for this entire time) and I have never done a dedicated step to remove polishing oils.

I doubt that is your issue.

I'd only be concerned if the product(s) you're using clearly specify that stripping the oils is required.

[MIsnowman]

I was going to ask if they had metallic, but your comment about the car being the “blackest black” Pretty much answered that one. Most of the new “black” cars have metallic in them and this makes them not look black in direct sunlight. I know with Ford’s Tuxedo Black, you would swear it was a charcoal gray color in direct sunlight.

For your case I would agree with what others have already mentioned, seems like excess product left on the surface and most likely the Fusion since it goes away rather quickly.