Why isn't applying clear coat after wet-sanding or cutting standard auto detailing practice?

[vital2]

If wet-sanding and cutting strips a layer of the clear coat, why isn't clear coat re-applied before polishing/waxing?

[Calendyr]

Applying clearcoat perfectly requires a spray booth and training in painting. Even with that, you get orange peel that needs to be wet sanded after a day or two of curing. It's a different industry and the cost of spraying clear coat goes way above what a detailer could charge for a detail. If you are lucky, you are looking at around 300$ per panel for a quick job, a lot more for a high quality job.

[FUNX650]

To iterate:

Some Detailers may do painting/blending:
depends on their skill level; and, what the
Customers want...and are willing to pay for.

Bob

[Desertnate]

Applying clearcoat perfectly requires a spray booth and training in painting. Even with that, you get orange peel that needs to be wet sanded after a day or two of curing. It's a different industry and the cost of spraying clear coat goes way above what a detailer could charge for a detail. If you are lucky, you are looking at around 300$ per panel for a quick job, a lot more for a high quality job.

In addition to this, isn't most OEM-applied clear coat baked after it's applied?

[Calendyr]

In addition to this, isn't most OEM-applied clear coat baked after it's applied?

You can do that to speed the curing time but you don't have to. Most painter will use a 2K clear coat. 2K is a clear coat that is mixed with a hardener. This makes the paint much more resilient and it makes it dry and cure faster.

[Audios S6]

Applying clearcoat perfectly requires a spray booth and training in painting. Even with that, you get orange peel that needs to be wet sanded after a day or two of curing. It's a different industry and the cost of spraying clear coat goes way above what a detailer could charge for a detail. If you are lucky, you are looking at around 300$ per panel for a quick job, a lot more for a high quality job.

So true. A spray booth, lots of permits, and a completely different skill set. There are a few guys on here that paint, and some of the tasks translate from body shop to detail, but in general fresh body shop clear is much different than OEM or cured clear and some of those guys would be lost (I think many have seen body shop attempts to fix an issue), just like we are lost in there world.

[Calendyr]

I do know how to paint, but I would never offer that service to a client. Painting outside is a pain in the neck and you have to watch out for overspray that can get on a lot of things. I do it for my own vehicles, the result is okay but not great because without a paint booth there are way too many variables you have no control over. Let me give you an example...

I store my detailing truck in a garage for the winter. I stored it in December and took it out today despite the fact we have rain planned for an other 6 days. It's been raining almost non-stop here in Montreal for well over a month now. Getting petty bummed about it.

Anyway, I went to check the truck last week and noticed that the paint on the hood had bubbles in it. And that means RUST. So I got my painting supplies and went to fix it. Sanded the hood down to metal, applied rust converter after removing as much rust as I could then primed, painted and cleared.

Well the prep went ok, and the painting too. When I started to spray the clear, here are all the issues that happened:

1. After the first coat, a bug decided that a freshly clearcoated hood was the perfect landing strip for it's tiny ass. I grabbed my Metro Sidekick and expulsed it from the paint but it left a bit of damage.
2. After as I start my second coat of clear, the can of clear starts to send droplets along with the mist. That is really awerful. I could use my compressor and paint gun but there is no room in the garage to set it up permanently and I don't want to spend hours setting up and un-installing after each session so I got high quality paint in spray cans instead (2K clear).
3. As I am doing my 3rd coat of clear, the spray noozle starts to vary the width of the spray pattern randomly as I am spraying. So that makes for un-even coating and will need fixing.
4. Just as I finish applying the 3rd and last coat, a gust of wind rips the plastic sheet protecting the side of the truck and the flapping plastic lands directly on the hood. More stuff to fix.

If that had been a client's job, I would have been forced to re-do it all or just about. Since it's my own truck, I will wet sand it and bring it as good as I can. If I am not happy with it I will either re-spray or have the hood vinyl wrapped. But as you can see, even if the truck was in a garage, I had to leave the door open to have enough room to work. Imagine doing it outside! And for detailers who have their own shop, you can't paint in a detailing garage and expect it to look decent for long.

[Paul A.]

I have often wondered the same question you originally asked, vital2, but it isn't that easy as pointed out here. It's a laborious process to do it right. I have thought about maybe periodic additions of clear layers over the life of a car I have kept for a while but that means bringing it to a pro who has the setup and that's costly. I wouldn't run the risk of attempting to perfectly apply a thin layer from a rattle can either. I like Calendyr's experience but I'm wayyyyy too anal to expect myself to do it.

I do like your question as I've thought of the same thing. It's just that it isn't as easy as that and especially for us with very high detailing standards.

[Jester7677]

Allow me to add to this in a slightly different scale. This is purely focused on a Honda Civic we bought used. People discuss polishing to remove swirls and scratches, and I do polish as well.

But what about Scratches on a car that you probably shouldn't buff any further?

I'm a DIYer and I don't have a paint meter, but I know that the dealer polished it (and masked them with silicone), but the scratches are still there. They are on or around edges, almost like a tarp was pulled off it a few times. So I'm fearful on how hard to try and get the scratches out.

So what do you do when you can't buff the Clear Coat anymore. The choices that I see are...

1) Fill them with a Glaze and see what happens (if anything) after topped with and LSP.
2) Try DrColorChip and use their SealAct solution.
3) Touch up paint them, then wet sand that area (and pray you don't ruin the surrounding clear).
4) Try a Clear Coat Pen.
5) Maybe learn how to use a small air brush (I have one) for this purpose.
5) Live with it.
6) Bring it to a body shop.

This is the order I would try it in and probably will. Comments?

[RaskyR1]

To iterate:




Bob

If we're talking mid panel clear blend, that's a very poor practice IMO. The exception would be if were talking a spot repair on an expensive show car or exotic, especially something like a custom street rod given the cost to repaint when there is no panel seems, but it's a band-aid that looks like a giant poop emoji over time, especially when it comes time to polishing as the blend line continues to recede.

Just a few I've run into recently...