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Technical
Washing your car helps remove loosely bonded contaminants like tar, tree sap, dirt road salts and insects However not all these surface contaminants can not be removed by washing alone. Quite often some surface contaminants can not be seen visually. If you run your fingers or hand along the bodywork for your car, these contaminates can be felt as a rough texture. A clean painted surface will however feel glass smooth.
Paint cleansers, polishes and solvents can remove these contaminants; however excessive polishing can affect the clear coat or paint on your vehicle over time.
Clay bar is similar in consistency to plastercine or blue tack; it is in fact a clay resin which contains abrasive particles. By massaging the clay bar over the painted surfaces of your car using a suitable lubricant, these particles car be safely removed. This is possible because the lubricant when used effectively helps the clay bar act on the bonded contaminants whilst helping prevent this affect the paintwork.
When using a clay bar sufficient lubrication must be present to avoid scratching the paint. It takes a few passes of clay to feel the difference on the surface of the paint. To evaluate the effectiveness of claying, dry the area and assess the paint and the clay bar.
It should now feel glass smooth and you can usually see the contamination on the clay bar. The visual benefits even on what may seem a clean surface are often quite striking.
What is a Clay Bar and what difference does it make ?
Most modern cars paintwork is made up of three layers
1. Basecoat or primer. This is the primarily applied to the car to help the paint to adhere evenly and smoothly
2. Colour or paint. This is generally the colour of the vehicle and will contain metallic flakes for metallic finish cars.
3. Clear coat or Laquer. This is the top coat of clear lacquer, this is to protect the paint from oxidisation and enhance the finish and the shine.
Most defects visible on a car like scratches, swirl mark or holograms are because the clear coat has been affected by improper care. Generally speaking we have found that the clear coat is usually thicker in depth than the base coat and paint together.
Overall depth of the paint on a car varies considerably from marque to marque, even on the same vehicle.
It is also possible to determine how a panel on a car has been sprayed because of varying depths record able. We use two specialist paint and coatings depth meters, The Positector 6000 that measures the over depth of base, paint and clear coat on metallic surfaces. Also a Positrector 200 Advanced that is capable of measuring individual depths of all three layers at the same time. And can obtain readings on GPU, carbon fibre and composite materials of a vehicle. It is thus possible to detect if the car has been re sprayed or been subject to aggressive polishing techniques it the past. The depth is measured in microns,, 1 micron being 1/1000 of a milimeter. The average paint thickness on a car can vary between 90 and 220 microns in depth. Heat fluctuations when polishing is also a factor an d temperature monitoring equipment is also used.
This information is use to determine safe levels of paint correction on your vehicle. It should be noted that there are defects that may be unsafe to remove or address. Please contact for further details.
Paint, paint thickness and technology
What are paint defects and how do they occur ?
There are few types of common paint defects like swirls, holograms, scratches and Stone chips. Swirl marks and holograms are usually visible under petrol forecourt lights or direct sunlight for example, they are very fine scratches and often appear circular in a pattern.
They are not circular however the light source be it a light or the sun can make them appear so in our retinas. They are usually the result of automated car washes and poor washing practices. Silicon based sponges (yellow Sponges) generally trap dirt and you will end up dragging them across the bodywork when washing, these create the scratches. Polishing a dirty surface can also cause them. Most of these defects visible are usually present in the clear coat of the paintwork.
Paint correction, methods & remedy
Paint correction Is the removal of common defects listed above present in the clear coat by polishing manually, via machine polisher, and other methods , These methods when used correctly reduces the level of the clear coat to the same depth of the defect or to a safe level to reduce the appearance of the defect. and can also increase gloss of the surface.
Caution should be used not to reduce or remove the clear coat protection or paint on older vehicles. Always ensuring adequate levels of clear coat or paint is left on the bodywork. This is facilitated by the use of our specialist paint depth equipment to check our work.
Polish. A polish is a carrier fluid containing tiny abrasive particles. The ability to remove clear coat or paint is determined by the hardness and size of these particles. There are different types of polish ranging in aggressiveness. Compounds are abrasive particle heavy and remove paint quickly for more severe defects. Finishing polishes with little of no cut at all , that improve the gloss of the paintwork. Some polishes contain fillers that effectively fill the defects in paint but they are not always a permanent long term solution.
Glazes. Generally speaking a glaze is a pure polish; it adds oils and nutrients into the clear coat or paint. Visually it adds good depth into the paint and a can sometimes also help mask very fine paint defects.
Sealants Applied after polishing or Glaze application they help provide an invisible tough durable coating to the paint work. They are generally man made engineered products. Over time they will wear off through weathering, but will protect and significantly enhance the appearance of your cars paintwork.
Polishes, Sealants, Glazes what are they & their uses ?
Natural carnauba wax is derived from the leaves of a tree native to Brazil called the copa cafernica or Carnauba palm. Hence the name carnauba wax.
Carnuaba wax is obtained when processing the leaves of the palm, The carnauba palm leaves protects itself from dehydration caused by the intense sun in the north eastern brazil where it is indigenous. The leaves acquire a waxy layer on its outside that after they are cut and dried is freed as very thin hard yellow brown flakes and powder. The residue is refined and bleached to be used in a multitude of product applications ranging from most types of polishes, confectionary and cosmetics.
It is nature's hardest, purest and most transparent wax. Carnauba wax generally produce a richer, darker, glossier finish to your paint , as well as providing a protective barrier. That is waterproof and wear resistant.
Carnauba wax is refined to different grades from pure ultra white, bleached and yellow grades for use in waxes for paintwork. Generally the higher the concentration and purity of carnauba in waxes will dictate the level of durability and finish achievable. Eventually, hard wear will strip carnauba wax from most surfaces, but a fresh layer can be reapplied. There are many different types of polishes and waxes that contain carnauba on the market. .
The concentrations in these products are sometimes as low as 1.5% and 5 % and provide limited protection and are relatively cheap at between £5 and £20. The carnauba waxes used by us are generally between 40 and 76% by volume. Well above the industry standard and retail between £500 and £1500 a container.
Carnauba Wax & types of ?
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