Nick Chapman
April 18th, 2009, 09:31 AM
Detailing Is Detailing, Right?
In response to Sgt. Snatch's thread, I decided that most people, like Sgt. Snatch, are misinformed about my trade, and maybe instead of trying to be an ethug, and have an internet fight about it, I would try to educate people that have this mindset. I hope to educate you a little more on why we(as Paint Correction Specialist) do a little more than just wax your vehicle. We'll call it Paintucation :D
The claim that anyone can do perform this job with the same results is partly true. Yes, anyone can do what I do, it’s not very hard to rub some products on a vehicles paint right? But what makes my trade different is being able to obtain PERMANENT results.
First, let’s look at defects, and figure out exactly what they are.
Here’s a close up picture of some scratches on a Subaru Impreza that I recently did some paint correction work on.
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/DPP_0670.JPG
And here is a horizontal view of scratches in paint…
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/2scratchesinpaint.jpg
In that horizontal view, you can see that most of those scratches are confined to the clear coat, and only one extends out into the base coat. Anything that extends beyond the clear coat will require paint. Whether it be from a touch up brush, airbrush, or a complete respray. There is no way to permanently repair a scratch that deep with any detailing product.
Now, for the other scratches that are confined to the clear coat only, these can be removed permanently without having to repaint or do any touch up work.
Most “over the counter” products contain fillers. These fillers will make the paint surface appear to be in excellent condition once you complete the work. But over time, with washes and being exposed to the environment, these fillers will be removed, re-exposing the defects.
Example: Here in this picture, we can see the buffer swirls created by an inexperienced person with a rotary buffer and cheap "filler" products. When the owner picked up this car from the “Detailer”, the car looked absolutely perfect! But over time(about 2 months), this is what the final result looked like. He paid this “detailer” $250 for this. This is all too common in the detailing community, and is what seperates a “Paint Correction Specialist”(like myself) from a “Detailier”.
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/bufferswirls.jpg
Now, what does it mean to actually remove the scratches permanently?
In order to remove a scratch out of paint, you must remove material around the scratch until the upper most portions of the surface are level with or equal to the lowest depths of the scratch or defect you're trying to remove.
In essence, you are “leveling” the area around the scratch, to remove the scratch and not just cover it up, or using fillers. This is achieved using products and tools to actually remove clear coat. I know when you hear “remove clear coat” you get a little scared. But there is a very safe level of clear coat that can be removed, without any negative effects. If you remove too much, you will burn through, or strike through the clear coat, exposing the base coat, or worse, all the way through to the metal. In my profession, we use tools such as a paint depth gauge to monitor our progress, and make sure we don’t take things too far, risking the chance to burn through the clear coat.
Here is a picture of the paint gauge model that I use…
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/etgthicknessgagecase.jpg
Now, with the above picture of the Lexus buffer swirls. How myself , and other Paint Correction Specialists actually remove these, and prevent them from rearing their ugly head again, is to use the proper products and tools. As I said before, most “over the counter” types of products will contain fillers. There are very few products that do not contain fillers, and are priced a bit higher than their competition, and a bit tougher to get your hands on(internet ordering). Price is a big factor in why most detailers, body shops and individuals keep these cheaper products in use, and why they can turn out complete buff jobs for $200. They use these filler products, and run over the vehicle with them very quickly. Most of the time, you will have your vehicle back within a couple of hours. This is the incorrect way to properly complete a paint correction job. On an average, I will spend 15 hours on a vehicle. Sometimes a bit less, sometime a bit more. It all depends on the condition of the vehicle, and how far the owner would like to take things. The better you want it to look, the more time I have to spend on the job.
Here are some test spots on the above Lexus.Can you see the difference?
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/Lexus.jpg
Is it possible to achive these results by hand? Absolutely! But it would take weeks to finish(without using fillers). We use tools like a Rotary Buffer and Dual Action Polishers to complete the job in a reasonable amount of time.
These are just some of the tools that I travel with to preform my job...
Dual Action Polisher
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/G110.jpg
Rotary Buffer
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/MakitaRotaryBuffer9227C.jpg
3" Dual Action Polisher
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/MetaboSXE400.jpg
And a Flex Machine(Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher)
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/FlexXC3401.jpg
Also, we use things like alcohol to wipe the vehicle down with to REMOVE any traces of fillers that may be present.
So as you can see, there is a huge difference between what myself and other Paint Correction Specialist do, and what your average "run of the mill" detailer will do. I really hope this clears up any confusion on this matter, and please ask if you have any question, or if I need to elaborate a little more on anything.
Nick
In response to Sgt. Snatch's thread, I decided that most people, like Sgt. Snatch, are misinformed about my trade, and maybe instead of trying to be an ethug, and have an internet fight about it, I would try to educate people that have this mindset. I hope to educate you a little more on why we(as Paint Correction Specialist) do a little more than just wax your vehicle. We'll call it Paintucation :D
The claim that anyone can do perform this job with the same results is partly true. Yes, anyone can do what I do, it’s not very hard to rub some products on a vehicles paint right? But what makes my trade different is being able to obtain PERMANENT results.
First, let’s look at defects, and figure out exactly what they are.
Here’s a close up picture of some scratches on a Subaru Impreza that I recently did some paint correction work on.
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/DPP_0670.JPG
And here is a horizontal view of scratches in paint…
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/2scratchesinpaint.jpg
In that horizontal view, you can see that most of those scratches are confined to the clear coat, and only one extends out into the base coat. Anything that extends beyond the clear coat will require paint. Whether it be from a touch up brush, airbrush, or a complete respray. There is no way to permanently repair a scratch that deep with any detailing product.
Now, for the other scratches that are confined to the clear coat only, these can be removed permanently without having to repaint or do any touch up work.
Most “over the counter” products contain fillers. These fillers will make the paint surface appear to be in excellent condition once you complete the work. But over time, with washes and being exposed to the environment, these fillers will be removed, re-exposing the defects.
Example: Here in this picture, we can see the buffer swirls created by an inexperienced person with a rotary buffer and cheap "filler" products. When the owner picked up this car from the “Detailer”, the car looked absolutely perfect! But over time(about 2 months), this is what the final result looked like. He paid this “detailer” $250 for this. This is all too common in the detailing community, and is what seperates a “Paint Correction Specialist”(like myself) from a “Detailier”.
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/bufferswirls.jpg
Now, what does it mean to actually remove the scratches permanently?
In order to remove a scratch out of paint, you must remove material around the scratch until the upper most portions of the surface are level with or equal to the lowest depths of the scratch or defect you're trying to remove.
In essence, you are “leveling” the area around the scratch, to remove the scratch and not just cover it up, or using fillers. This is achieved using products and tools to actually remove clear coat. I know when you hear “remove clear coat” you get a little scared. But there is a very safe level of clear coat that can be removed, without any negative effects. If you remove too much, you will burn through, or strike through the clear coat, exposing the base coat, or worse, all the way through to the metal. In my profession, we use tools such as a paint depth gauge to monitor our progress, and make sure we don’t take things too far, risking the chance to burn through the clear coat.
Here is a picture of the paint gauge model that I use…
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/etgthicknessgagecase.jpg
Now, with the above picture of the Lexus buffer swirls. How myself , and other Paint Correction Specialists actually remove these, and prevent them from rearing their ugly head again, is to use the proper products and tools. As I said before, most “over the counter” types of products will contain fillers. There are very few products that do not contain fillers, and are priced a bit higher than their competition, and a bit tougher to get your hands on(internet ordering). Price is a big factor in why most detailers, body shops and individuals keep these cheaper products in use, and why they can turn out complete buff jobs for $200. They use these filler products, and run over the vehicle with them very quickly. Most of the time, you will have your vehicle back within a couple of hours. This is the incorrect way to properly complete a paint correction job. On an average, I will spend 15 hours on a vehicle. Sometimes a bit less, sometime a bit more. It all depends on the condition of the vehicle, and how far the owner would like to take things. The better you want it to look, the more time I have to spend on the job.
Here are some test spots on the above Lexus.Can you see the difference?
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/Lexus.jpg
Is it possible to achive these results by hand? Absolutely! But it would take weeks to finish(without using fillers). We use tools like a Rotary Buffer and Dual Action Polishers to complete the job in a reasonable amount of time.
These are just some of the tools that I travel with to preform my job...
Dual Action Polisher
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/G110.jpg
Rotary Buffer
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/MakitaRotaryBuffer9227C.jpg
3" Dual Action Polisher
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/MetaboSXE400.jpg
And a Flex Machine(Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher)
http://www.dfwstangs.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10253/FlexXC3401.jpg
Also, we use things like alcohol to wipe the vehicle down with to REMOVE any traces of fillers that may be present.
So as you can see, there is a huge difference between what myself and other Paint Correction Specialist do, and what your average "run of the mill" detailer will do. I really hope this clears up any confusion on this matter, and please ask if you have any question, or if I need to elaborate a little more on anything.
Nick