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Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
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Super Member
Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
Dear Mike
What a resource! Thanks for sharing.
I've been a member here for a good while and can't believe it's taken me this long to discover this thread.
My wife and I each have white vehicles. I can't see what I'm doing unless I position my head at an oblique angle to the paint and carefully study the light pattern falling across it. That's annoying.
The big difference I saw in my van after applying Ultima Paint Prep Plus, several coats of Paint Guard Plus, and a couple of coats of Liquid Souveran was distinction of image. The gloss wasn't just present, it was a really sharp gloss.
Of course, if the van had belonged to someone else and I hadn't been particularly interested in it, I would've never noticed.
If I could change the past, I'd have opted for a darker color Odyssey, maybe even black.
— Jaddie, Max's proud chauffeur
2012 Honda Odyssey & 2016 Ford Escape
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Super Member
Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
White is nice when it is glossy and clean.
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Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
Originally Posted by Jaddie
Dear Mike
What a resource! Thanks for sharing.
I've been a member here for a good while and can't believe it's taken me this long to discover this thread.
My biggest regret with this article is that I didn't take a picture of the black clouding effect I could see on the hood except for where bra covered the paint. The before pictures would have told the story and made it easier for people to make the connection better than any volume of text.
Here's the pertinent portion...
Dirty White Paint
About the time I polished out my wife’s Honda Prelude, I also polished out another white Honda for a friend. Both of these cars were daily drivers, exposed to lots of rain and highway driving. Another item these cars had in common was a protective bra on the front of the car.
While restoring the finish on these two cars, I discovered something very important as it pertains to daily drivers. Daily drivers get dirty. I know that sounds pretty obvious, but it’s not. I’m not talking about the kind of dirt you can wash off the surface with a wash mitt and car soap. I’m talking about deep down into the pores road grime that build up on the paint and in the paint.
The paint on both of the white cars was so dirty they had what I can only describe as a dingy, gray finish. It was a translucent gray cloudiness on all of the top surfaces of the paint. It was very apparent if you worked a little paint cleaner into a small area in the middle of a large panel like the hood and then removed it. After wiping the worked area clean, you would see very bright, white paint, surrounded by the dingy gray colored paint.
When I first looked at these cars, I didn’t notice the staining right off because it was evenly dispersed throughout the finish. The contrast of clean and dirty paint hit me like a ton of bricks when I removed the bras. The paint beneath the bras was a clean, bright white. The paint not covered by the bras was gray. It was a dramatic contrast. This drove home the point that paint exposed to the elements over time becomes grayed with embedded dirt on and in the paint.
This dirt revelation caught me somewhat by surprise. I know all about dirt build-up and paint staining. I just never paid much attention to it since it was never so apparent to me before polishing these two white cars and again, that's because in my detailing career I always tended to avoid working on white cars.
Detailing these two white cars taught me something very important. The paint on ALL cars becomes stained and dirty when continually exposed to outdoor environments and inclement weather, it's just on medium to dark colored cars the average person won't see the gray build-up.
Dirt and pollution, both in the air, and the water in the form of road spray on wet roads, accumulates in the pores of the paint. The paint on all cars used as daily drivers becomes cloudy and gray from exposure to outdoor environments and inclement weather, not just cars with white paint (it’s just more apparent on white paint).
The average person cannot see this staining taking place because it happens slowly over time, and builds-up evenly over the entire surface, so in most cases, there is never a contrasting section to tip-off the owner that their paint is becoming more cloudy and less clear. This staining effect grays your finish and hides the true color and beauty of the finish. This is especially true on cars with medium to dark colored finishes.
And a picture of the hood with the bra off after the car went through and Oregon winter to show just how much dirt built up and embedded into the paint would have been very dramatic. Oh well...
Originally Posted by Jaddie
If I could change the past, I'd have opted for a darker color Odyssey, maybe even black.
Be careful about choosing a black car, especially a daily driver and especially a LARGE daily driver like an SUV or Van. I have an article on this topic...
"Black is not a color, it's a full time job"
1956 Ford F150 paint polished by Mike Phillips in 2006 in Escondido, California
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Super Member
Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
I really like white and or Silver for my own vehicles.
Currently have an 05 Ram 1500 and 06 Jeep Liberty Sport 4WD, both white and thankfully both are clear coat.
The really good thing about white and or silver is they really don't show dirt all that much as people would think they do compared to black and darker colors. So if you don't wash it every week it still looks good for awhile unlike the darker colors that really show the dirt.
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Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
Originally Posted by jankerson
The really good thing about white and or silver is they really don't show dirt all that much as people would think they do compared to black and darker colors.
And that's why white and silver metallic colored cars are a good choice for people that don't want to worry about swirls in their car's finish.
If I were to ever purchase another SUV it would probably be white. I'd apply a coating and forget about it. But the chances of me buying another SUV are pretty slim...
My next purchase will probably be another full convertible 1969 to 1975 Jimmy or Blazer.
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Super Member
Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek
And that's why white and silver metallic colored cars are a good choice for people that don't want to worry about swirls in their car's finish.
If I were to ever purchase another SUV it would probably be white. I'd apply a coating and forget about it. But the chances of me buying another SUV are pretty slim...
My next purchase will probably be another full convertible 1969 to 1975 Jimmy or Blazer.
I hear you, but white and silver really looks great when it's taken care of.
It's bad I know, but I went like 8 months without washing my white truck once and it still looked good to most people. LOL
But I could swipe my finger over the paint and it came off black.
If the weather ever breaks I can get to my truck, already did my Jeep, Megs UC, UP, NXT 2.0 with a Megs G110 V2. The truck sits out in the weather and the Jeep in the garage. The Jeep was a lot of work, bought it used and it had bad swirls and scratches all over it, looks one heck of a lot better now though, still has some deeper scratches here and there. Don't know what the other owner did to it but it was pretty bad and it took a lot of time to do it.
The finish isn't all that bad really so it won't take all that long to do the truck, but I do keep Megs 105 and 205 around also just in case.
I like the DA Polishers over what I used to use years ago, the rotary polisher, wool bonnets etc. Burned up a long time ago so it's been by hand until lately. The DA is a lot lighter and with the options today they are really nice. And I can edge the Pad on Megs G110 V2 and it still rotates so that a really good thing.
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Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
Great article Mike!! I really like your article.
I want to ask a question Mike :
Can I remove the contaminants by using compound (for example Ultimate Compound)?? Don't the contaminants get abraded by using compound?
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Super Member
Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
You would need to clay the car 1st to remove those before compounding.
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Re: The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us
Originally Posted by hardysukito
Great article Mike!! I really like your article.
I want to ask a question Mike :
Can I remove the contaminants by using compound (for example Ultimate Compound)?? Don't the contaminants get abraded by using compound?
I cover this in my how-too book and also in a brand new booklet coming out on claying in iTunes.
The answer is it depends upon the type of contaminant and how strong the bond it has to the paint. For example, here in the United States some people have to deal with things like DOT or Department of Transportation Highway Paint and this type of paint can have a very strong bond to your car's paint.
The other part of the question has to do with the type of pad and tool you're using.
Foam pads on dual action polishers, and even rotary buffers, will tend to GLIDE over bonded contaminants and make them pretty by polishing them.
A wool cutting pad on a rotary buffer on the other hand will tend to cut or kick-off contaminants with a compound as both the compound and the fibers of the wool pad are abrasives and can be very aggressive.
Originally Posted by jankerson
You would need to clay the car 1st to remove those before compounding.
The way I "type" the answer is,
Claying is the most effective way to remove above surface bonded contaminants prior to machine polishing.
Now that cool products like the Nanoskin Autoscrub Towels, Wash Mitts and Pads have been introduced, these types of tools are as good or better than detailing clay for removing above surface bonded contaminants prior to machine buffing.
Like shown in this article...
How to remove overspray paint using the Cyclo Polisher
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