You may or may not be familiar with the term “wet sanding”. Sanding of a cars paint surface may sound like its being destroyed or getting made ready for re-painting. It doesn’t seem to make sense to a person who is not familiar with the process. However, sanding of the paint, or more specifically, the clear coat portion of the paint system, can significantly improve the appearance or help eliminate imperfections. Please click here to view our wet sanding articles
Wet sanding has been done for many years on cars that have just been painted. It’s a process that “shaves” down the imperfections such as dirt nibs and excessive orange peel. This procedure flattens the surface, prepping it for better reflection and clarity. Of course after the paint has been sanded it needs to be extensively buffed and polished to reveal the true brilliance and clarity. Some ultra high end luxury cars such as Rolls Royce wet sand their clear coat and then meticulously polish it to give the vehicle a truly breathtaking appearance. Also many show cars are given that special “wet look” by wet sanding the paint job. A show car paint job will have been carefully wet sanded and then meticulously buffed in numerous steps to get a truly perfect finish and shine.
The problems of wet sanding a vehicles paint job are many for an inexperienced detailer. Only a specially skilled and knowledgeable detailer can even attempt to tackle a job such as this. We train detailers in wet sanding in our classes. We developed a special wet sanding class for BMW of North America. We have spoke and presented on this subject in various industry events. And of course we have written articles on wet sanding. We are the leaders in wet sanding instruction in the detail industry. We have been doing this for a long time and our students have benefited greatly from our instruction. When wet sanding clear coat a detailer needs to know approximately how much material is there and how much can be removed without damage. We know because we have access to the paint chemists and key people within the car manufactures who pass this information along to us. We possess the special tool that will measure film thickness and guide us through the process. We know the chemistry behind the clear coat and know how it will react to the sanding process and the subsequent buffing procedures. Is there anybody else that you would trust to wet sand your vehicle?
If you have a harsh scratch on your vehicle it may benefit from wet sanding. There are some blemishes and imperfections that will not be able to be buffed out, but may be greatly improved with wet sanding. If you have a vehicle that has just been painted and you want to level the orange peel and get rid of some dirt nibs and other blemishes, it can be wet sanded and buffed to produce a flawless finish. We specialize in wet sanding and buffing entire vehicles. We have various processes that can be applied to factory paint, refinish paint, harsh scratches and blemishes or any paint issue where buffing wont be the solution.
Keep in mind that many detailers are afraid of wet sanding. Some actually have never heard of it, and the vast majority just doesn’t have the skill and knowledge to do it at all, let alone correctly. Again, we wrote the book on this subject. Who else would you trust with such a highly skilled procedure? This is also one of our favorite subjects to talk about, so feel free to call us and come by and show us your vehicle.