Black paint

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Mike lambert

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I apologize if this is a repeat,but could not find it elsewhere.
Is there a technical answer to why black shows defects the most.
I would like to sound more knowledgable when explaining it to clients.
Thanks
 
I don't know if it's correct or not, but I'll give you my SWAG (scientific wild ass guess).

Black pigment absorbs all colors of light. Any defect you have, or anything on it is likely going to reflect light. So the black background gives the best possible situation to highlight anything that may be there.

White pigment should reflect all colors of light. Therefore if something was on it, like a scratch, it'd be more difficult to see because it'd be lost in the sea of light reflecting off the white background.

I guess it's like looking at stars. Black backdrop of night and they stand out beautifully. They're still there during the day, but the flood of sunlight hides them from you.
 
hollerstiltner said:
I don't know if it's correct or not, but I'll give you my SWAG (scientific wild ass guess).

Black pigment absorbs all colors of light. Any defect you have, or anything on it is likely going to reflect light. So the black background gives the best possible situation to highlight anything that may be there.

White pigment should reflect all colors of light. Therefore if something was on it, like a scratch, it'd be more difficult to see because it'd be lost in the sea of light reflecting off the white background.

I guess it's like looking at stars. Black backdrop of night and they stand out beautifully. They're still there during the day, but the flood of sunlight hides them from you.
Click to expand...

Excellent description!
 
hollerstiltner said:
I don't know if it's correct or not, but I'll give you my SWAG (scientific wild ass guess).

Black pigment absorbs all colors of light. Any defect you have, or anything on it is likely going to reflect light. So the black background gives the best possible situation to highlight anything that may be there.

White pigment should reflect all colors of light. Therefore if something was on it, like a scratch, it'd be more difficult to see because it'd be lost in the sea of light reflecting off the white background.

I guess it's like looking at stars. Black backdrop of night and they stand out beautifully. They're still there during the day, but the flood of sunlight hides them from you.
Click to expand...

That was like the scene in Old School where Will Ferrell gave his response during the debate portion and blacked out. Well done.
 
hollerstiltner said:
I don't know if it's correct or not, but I'll give you my SWAG (scientific wild ass guess).

Black pigment absorbs all colors of light. Any defect you have, or anything on it is likely going to reflect light. So the black background gives the best possible situation to highlight anything that may be there.

White pigment should reflect all colors of light. Therefore if something was on it, like a scratch, it'd be more difficult to see because it'd be lost in the sea of light reflecting off the white background.

I guess it's like looking at stars. Black backdrop of night and they stand out beautifully. They're still there during the day, but the flood of sunlight hides them from you.
Click to expand...

I think another point to add to this answer is the scratches you see are in the clear coat on top of the colored paint, not the colored paint itself. Based on what is written above, the dark colored paint presents a perfect background to highlight your scratches in the clear coat.
 
Mike lambert said:
I apologize if this is a repeat,but could not find it elsewhere.
Is there a technical answer to why black shows defects the most.
I would like to sound more knowledgeable when explaining it to clients.
Thanks
Click to expand...


Most defects in the clear layer make the paint opaque, not clear.

Have you ever seen frosted glass or a scuff on a windshield? It's opaque, that is whitish.

When you scratch a clear coat, the damaged portion is opaque or whitish. Even swirls and scratches cause this effect because the paint that is physically scratched is now rough, not smooth.

The black colorcoat under the clear amplifies or magnifies the visual aspect of the defect making it easier for your eyes to see it.


I actually just wrote about this on Friday, December 13th.... here's a portion, note the red text in the third paragraph.


Clearcoats are Scratch-Sensitive


Clearcoat paints have a characteristic called,


Scratch-Sensitive


This means even though the paints are very hard they still scratch very easily and because there's a colored layer of paint under the clear, the colored layer works to amplify and magnify the surface or topical scratches making them easy for the human eye to see.


This drives car enthusiasts up the wall.





That's why only people that don't care one whit about how their car looks or are willing to either take care of their car or pay someone to take care of there car should own black cars.


"Black is not a color, it's a full time job"



I cover the topic of why scratches show up easily to your eyes in the above article also and it has pictures of a very cool truck I buffed out in Escondido, California years ago....


:)
 
In this article I wrote yesterday,


Rupes 5 Inch 2000 & 3000 Grit Sanding Discs



I pointed out how the red sanding disc turned whitish after machine wetsanding.... the whitish color is "sanded clear paint" which turns opaque or white...


Sanded clear paint turns white

The pad on the polisher started out red like the one to the right laying on the counter.

Rupes_Sanding_Discs_012.jpg





You can see what's called

Sanding Slurry

On the black panel, this water mixed with clear coat paint that's been sanded off. As the paint is sanded it turns opaque or whitish...

Rupes_Sanding_Discs_009.jpg




People that don't care about or want to deal with swirls and scratches should buy either WHITE cars or SILVER cars.


:D
 
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