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Wetsanding, polishing, and wax

FIND

Addicted CEG'er
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Messages
6,103
Location
Vermillion, South Dakota
ok, well as promised, here is your guide to making your paint look purdy.

now if you are doing this with fresh paint, you want to do it around 24 hours after painting, dont wait to long cause the paint will be to hard, but dont do it to soon cause it will still be to soft.

buy waterproof sand paper, from 1000 grit, all the way to 2000 grit, and that should be plenty sufficient for a professional quality job. Soak your sandpaper in water for about 10 minutes before you use each piece. the best thing to do is to add a drop or 2 of soap to your water, this will help lubricate the paper even more and keep the sanding dust from clogging your paper as quickly.

You want to start with about 1000 grit sand paper, for those of you who have never been shown proper sanding techniques, you want to sand in long straight lines one direction, then sand in long straight lines perpendicular to your original passes. just make an X pattern. While you are sanding keep a spray bottle handy to keep a light mist of water over the areas you are sanding, this will keep the sanding dust out of your paper and will keep your paper lubricated so it doesnt scratch unevenly. Now this isnt like sanding when you are getting ready to paint. You want to take very little paint off of your vehicle. Wetsanding is to remove small imperfections in the surface. This is good for small scratches, little fisheye, eggshell, and minor runs or sags. With your 1000 grit you want to make sure you take even amounts off every surface of the car, you dont want to go very far through your paint though so be very careful. just sand until the surface is almost flat. There should be some very small barely noticable imperfection at this point.

Next you should be able to jump up to 1500 grit. you want to do the whole car again, light sanding. This will take out some of the scratching from the 1000 grit, and will completely eliminate the imperfections. once again though be careful not to go very far through. If you are starting on factory paint or an old paint job with not much imperfection you may be able to start at this point.

Finally we are on to 2000 grit. This stage is basically to remove the fine scratches from the earlier sandings, you will be at it for a week if you are still taking the imperfections out of the paint at this point. Your color should start looking more like the color you wanted in the first place. a lot of the haze will be gone when you are done with this, but there will still be some left.

NOW comes the rubbing compound. I have always just used turtle wax, but they are all pretty good. Now for the rubbing compound you switch from your cross pattern to swirl pattern. But before you use the rubbing compound make sure to clean the surface so all the sanding dust is removed. Rubbing compound will bring the color of your paint to life. If you are dealing with old paint that has just lost its luster then you can start at this step. This almost all the hazing out of your paint and remove all the scratches from sanding.

Lastly is polishing. Polishing is for bringing the shine to your surface. Swirl pattern once again. Use a polishing cloth that you can buy for 5 bucks anywhere. you want to use very soft cloths for rubbing compound and polish, make sure it is completely clean to. This is a step you should never skimp on. For paint jobs that have just lost their shine, this is the only step you need. This takes all the hazing out. This is what makes your car shine.

Now on a seperate subject is waxing, for old paint this step comes with the above, but on new paint you dont really want to wax it for at least 60 to 90 days after fresh paint. This is to allow the paint to fully cure and harden, you dont want the paint to cure with wax inside because it will mix with your paint and soften it, then it will come off. You all know how to wax right, well I am gonna tell you anyways, cause it wouldnt be a how to if I didnt.

Work in a shaded area, out of the sunlight. your wax will usually come with an applicator, use only that applicator to wax your vehicle. Now many people will tell you that with the advances in paint and clearcoat technology you do not need wax to protect your paint. Dont believe this. Most new cars are painted in single stage paint jobs. This means no clear coat, just a very hard base coat. Even if you did have a clearcoated paint job though, wouldnt you love to have that extra layer of protection? Yeah thats what I thought.

I digress, back to waxing. Now work in small areas at a time, some waxes allow you to do your whole car at a time, most dont. Follow manufacturers instructions as to whether or not you should allow the wax to dry(haze) before buffing off. Apply only a small amount at a time, otherwise you are wasting wax and your time. When you buff it off it should come off easily. If it starts getting harder to get the wax off, switch to a clean cloth or you are applying to much wax at a time. Wax should be applied in a back and forth motion, if you start creating swirls you are using to dirty a cloth or you are doing it wrong. When you are done waxing, there should be very very little wax actually on your vehicle. A jar of turtle wax for instance should have enough wax to do your entire car several times. When you are done waxing you should be able to mist water over your car and it should bead up immediatly and run off easily. If you run a squeegee over your vehicle it should take all the water off your car easily without leaving even a hint of moisture. When you are done sanding you will need a brush to remove wax residue from the cracks. if you still have some minor streaks, allow your car to set in the sun for a few minutes to get it warm, not hot, this will soften the wax and you can use a detail spray to buff the affected areas to that high gloss shine. Make sure you move your car back into the shade though before your car gets to warm. when you are done your car should have a beautiful shine and look like it is wet even dry.

I am gonna note, never use dish soap to wash your car. That means you really dont want to stop at those church car washes or cheerleaders or anything like that, I dont care if it is a good cause or the cheerleaders are cute. Dish soap is to harsh a detergent and will strip the wax right off your vehicle. just save that money for the offering plate or if you want to see the cheerleaders, go to the games. Car wash soap is formulated to not break down wax. It is available at your parts stores, hardware stores, retail stores, just about everywhere.

anyways, enjoy your beautiful cars
 
i know this is a little old but great write up!! i think my escort is going to be my practice on some of the sanding techniques.
 
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