Picture of Road Film Dirt Stained Paint Ceramic Coating

[Mike Phillips]

Picture of Road Film Dirt Stained Paint Ceramic Coating


Back in 2013, six years ago as I type now in the year 2019, we had a Thursday Night Detailing Class were we did the paint correction to a 1955 Chevy Panel Delivery Streetrod. While doing the Test Spot I took the below pictures to show what dirt stained paint looks like.

I know for some people, the dramatic difference in color can be surprising.

--> This is why I took the picture. <--


Until you see for yourself how paint can have a dirt film stain ON it, it can be hard to wrap your mind around the idea and what it looks like. But as the saying goes,

A picture tells a thousand words



This is what dirt stained paint looks like
The car was washed and then we did a Test Spot on the front of the fender. The front part was machine polished and this REMOVED the dirt staining. The back half of the fender is how the paint looked AFTER washing but before polishing. The point being, WASHING does NOT remove impacted dirt staining.





See it? See the difference in color and clarity?







And because I don't know what kind of device everyone that reads this article will be using moving into the future, here I've drawn a line around the area.









2 Points

1: This staining effect you see was over the ENTIRE car, not just the fender. This means the entire car was not a BRIGHT white but a grayish, cloudy white.

2: This staining effect takes place to all cars, you just don't see it on darker colors. But - it's still there.

[Mike Phillips]

And for anyone interested, "yes" we did polish off all the dirt staining and finished out the car.


1955 Chevy & 1947 Buick Slantback - Show Car Makeover! - Pictures & Videos

[Mike Phillips]

And this leads me to these articles,


The case against multi-year ceramic paint coatings - Road Grime = Surface Staining Daily Drivers by Mike Phillips




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






Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film


Where does Road Film come from?

Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid, Gear Oil and other fluids that drip out of cars





It's also on roads and highways...






Road Film or Traffic Film

And the big picture is - all the fluids dripped onto the roads is mixed with water and sprayed onto your car by the cars in front of you every time you drive your car in the rain. This is were road film or traffic film comes from.






And that's one way your car's paint gets dirty. Not the kind of dirt that will wash off, but the kind of dirt stain that must be mechanically removed via the polishing process.

[Bruno Soares]

Thanks Mike. That's why I say I'm fine if my coating lasts me 18 months, after that period one should consider polishing anyways. A 5, 7, 9 year coating as some advertise is useless if you might have to polish after 2 years.

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks Mike. That's why I say I'm fine if my coating lasts me 18 months, after that period one should consider polishing anyways.

Agree.

A 5, 7, 9 year coating as some advertise is useless if you might have to polish after 2 years.

I can see forever coatings for garage queens or the masses that are simply not “into” their cars.

It’s all good - something for everyone.