The primary purpose of automotive paint is to protect the substrate, which is a fancy term for the materials that make up the body panels of the vehicle. Such panels are typically made from steel, but can also be made from aluminum, plastic, carbon fiber, and fiberglass. The secondary purpose of automotive paint is cosmetic—to make the car look nice as well as unique.
A shiny automotive paint job has long been a source of pride for car owners. Regular washing and waxing will go a long way to keeping a paint job looking good for a long time, and most vehicle owners are perfectly happy with this level of paint appearance. Let it be fully understood that regular washing and protection application is absolutely recommended at a minimum to keep the paint healthy and looking good (please see the previous blog entry entitled “Paint Protection”). Some folks, however, desire a higher level of paint perfection that requires more than just a simple wash and wax. Further, sometimes the paint can develop appearance issues that washing and waxing alone cannot fix.
It is these scenarios that require physical manipulation of the paint surface, commonly referred to as “buffing” or “polishing”. More recently, a more appropriate term has been added to the detailing industry lexicon, and that is “paint correction”, which is what we are going to cover in this article.
Basic Terminology
First, we must ensure that everyone is using the same lexicon when referring to automotive paint maintenance. It is important that both the do-it-yourselfer and professional detailer understand what it is that the products in use are actually doing to the paint, and likewise, to understand the correct product choice based on the condition of the paint job at hand. Thus, one needs to understand the terms used on the labels of automotive paint enhancement products.
An automotive paint “polish” is a product that is designed to clean and shine the paint using mild abrasives in a solvent base. A polish, in it’s true form, will not protect the paint—it will only make the paint look shinier.
A “compound” is an automotive paint corrective product that contains more aggressive abrasives in a solvent base. Compounds are typically reserved for paint that has more extensive issues to correct, like hazing, oxidation, and heavy scratching. Some compounds are so aggressive that they may leave behind hazing or micro-scratches while ameliorating the more major paint defects. In this case, a follow-up step of polishing is necessary.
Contrast this to automotive paint protective products like “wax” or “sealant”. True waxes and sealants have no paint correction capability—they simply add a layer of protection between the paint and the environment.
Another class of products combines elements from the above list, creating one-step treatments that supposedly correct and protect the paint surface.
Paint Correction History
“Rubbing out” a new paint job meant hours and hours of elbow grease to compound and polish the paint job by hand. Early buffing pioneers simply adapted available power tools to make the job easier. One of these was the rotary grinder, which was fitted by early innovators with a bonnet of soft material, thus utilizing the rotary motion of the machine to work on the paint.
As rotary buffing became more advanced, backing plates and buffing pads were developed specifically to turn the rotary grinder into a rotary automotive paint polisher. Along with this spinning technology came the hated swirl mark and the dangers of “burning” the paint.
These experiences for many decades created a sentiment among the motoring public that “machine polishing is bad”, and, for many years, detailers ran into customers who would adamantly admonish the technician “don’t use any machines on my car!”
An initial solution for these woes was to adopt dual action sanders from the carpentry industry by creating backing plates and buffing pads for these machines, whose motion eliminates the possibility of creating swirl marks while greatly reducing the possibility of burning through the paint.
Nowadays, most professional detail technicians use “high-action” or “long-throw” random-orbit dual action polishers to work on automotive paint. These newer and highly advance polishing machines can yield fantastic results while minimizing potential problems as well as minimizing effort. And many do-it-yourselfers have successfully learned how to use these machines as well, thus greatly reducing the stigma of machine polishing of automotive paint.
A wonderful example of a new-age machine polisher is the Proje 21PRO Long-throw dual-action polisher. It is relatively easy to learn how to use this machine, allowing the user to achieve amazing results quickly, especially when used in conjunction with Proje’s 4-pad kits and Proje’s polishing compounds like Leveling Polish and Revive Final Polish.
Correction Versus Enhancement
It is important for the DIYer and professional alike to distinguish between trying to make the paint look “better” versus “chasing perfection”. The latter can send one down a never-ending rabbit hole that adds countless unnecessary hours to the job. To that end, the following distinction is offered: “Paint enhancement” refers to techniques that make the paint look “better”, and “paint correction” refers to techniques that try to make the paint look as good as possible.
A simple form of paint enhancement, for example, is the relatively simple process of washing, claying, and applying wax or sealant to the paint. Very often, this process will enhance the appearance of the paint to a level that satisfies both the paying client and the DIYer alike.
By Prentice St. Clair, CD-SV, RIT
Prentice St. Clair, CD-SV, RIT has been providing training and consulting for the professional automotive detailing industry since 1999, as well as providing detailing services to the motoring public many more years than that. Prentice holds many certifications within the detailing industry, and is a Recognized Industry Trainer through the International Detailing Association. Considered one of the industry’s leading experts, Prentice has been inducted to the IDA Detailer’s Hall of Fame.