A car’s paint job is one of the most visible components of the vehicle. When it is shiny and beautiful, your vehicle shows off its best features, and you look good behind the wheel. However, over time a car’s paint will suffer from wear and tear. This can lead to scratches, swirl marks and other blemishes that will diminish the shine of your vehicle’s exterior. Paint correction is the process of removing these imperfections from your vehicle’s paint. It can be done by hand or with a machine polisher, and takes lots of trials and experimentation to find the right products and techniques that will work for your vehicle.
Getting your car’s paint back to its showroom luster is the goal of most people looking into paint correction. It is important to understand that this is more than just a cosmetic procedure, it can protect the underlying layers of your vehicle from UV damage, heat and airborne contaminants.
When is a good time to do a paint correction? There is no specific time, but most people choose to get their cars paint corrected when they notice that the luster has diminished over time. Scratches and swirls in the clear coat cause light to refract instead of reflect which gives the vehicle that dull appearance. A thorough paint correction will remove these imperfections leaving your car with crystal clarity and pure reflections.
To properly perform paint correction the vehicle must first be washed and free of all loose dirt particles. This can be accomplished with a normal car wash, but a clay bar is also a crucial step to ensure that all of the small particles are removed from your vehicles surface. This step will help to prevent scratches and swirls from occurring during the other steps of the paint correction process.
Once the vehicle is cleaned and ready for the next phase, wet sanding can be performed. This is where automotive sandpaper in sequential and diminishing grits is used to level out the clear coat. This is a very intense part of the process and requires great care to avoid mistakes that can permanently damage your vehicle’s paint.
After sanding and smoothing the vehicle the paint must be polished to remove any last blemishes or scratches. This can be done with a standard polishing pad or a machine polisher, and is usually a multi-stage process depending on the severity of the imperfections. Xclusive Autoworks Inc has successfully corrected and detailed 100’s of cars, and has the experience to perform any level of paint correction needed.
After a vehicle has been polished it is recommended that it be protected with a ceramic coating or other form of protection to keep the vehicle’s paint looking great and protected. Ceramic coatings are a great option as they will provide about a month of protection from the elements and environmental pollutants that can damage the surface of your paint. Getting your car’s paint back to a showroom luster is a worthy investment that can greatly increase the value of your vehicle.