Mr. Phillips,
First off, many thanks for the article. It has really catalyzed my concerns regarding a service I offer.
I have edited your original post to highlight the areas I think are most pertinent to my concerns and if I am reading correctly, what topics you are trying to target...which are:
A.) How to provide a good service at a good price for budget minded clients
B.) How to do it in a profitable manner
C.) How to do it without inflicting micro-marring and hazing.
You nailed it.
What I found interesting (and my thought here will speak to "C" from the list above) was that you specifically mentioned that current Cleaner Wax/ AIO technology cannot guarantee the ability to finish out to a micro-marring/ haze free finish on dark base colors.
Correct.
I'm trying to tread *lightly* here because I know there are various avenues to mis-categorize your words. But, if in fact, I have summarized correctly, then I absolutely agree with you.
It's no ones fault. It's the nature of modern clear coat paints. They
scratch easily and the
scratches are easy for the human eye to see.
That's the problem
s.
Here is my example-
Recently I completed a wash/clay/wax on an '07 Honda Accord, metallic blue. The paint was in decent shape but was in need of chemical cleaning. Swirls were present but nothing horrendous and the customer did not care for their removal. Thus the 'Clean & Shiny' project.
After a careful decon with a fine grade, Nanoskin mitt, I proceeded with a 5.5" black pad, DG501, and a traditional D/A on speed 4 with quick but steady arm speed using only the pressure of the machine.
After a final wipe of the 501, I pulled the car out to inspect in the sun. Sure enough, there was some very, very faint hologramming in one place 2ft. wide on a door.
I quickly grabbed some dedicated polish and removed the hologramming. My concern is- that could have been over the entire car and then my budget service would have been a budget buster!
Exactly. This is why it's so important to test and inspect an area before buffing out an entire car.
Had this car been a light color, chances are very good you would not have seen the hazing of the paint.
The bigger point is that when it comes to clear coat paints systems, where you're NOT actually working on the "colored" portion of the paint but the clear layer, then all of a sudden it doesn't matter what the color of the car is because you're not working on the color, you're working on the clear.
Then to extrapolate this out even further, if you're seeing induced defects on dark colors these same defects are being induced on light colors you just can't see them.
DON'T feel compelled to respond to the below... I'm just 'thinking aloud' and maybe it will spark some further discussion on the points you made.
So, I'm unsure of how to proceed on projects going forward... am I:
A.) Pushing only 1-step details on softer OEM paint systems and dark base colors?
First, the fact that clear coats scratch easily is not your fault. It's no ones fault. So keep that in mind.
Second, your customer base, (for most customers), doesn't want to and won't pay big bucks for high quality work using multiple steps. That's reality.
The above all said,
something is better than nothing, that means using a one-step cleaner/wax on a neglected finish might not be the perfect process but it's better than nothing and will satisfy about 99.9% of the masses.
Doing nothing isn't good either, exterior paint needs to be maintained in some fashion.
B.) Would a red pad or 'waxing' pad have done the same regarding the hologramming?
Probably. The DG501 is a one-step cleaner/wax specifically for
marine application and specifically for gel-coat surfaces.
Generally speaking, products formulated for gel-coat surfaces can be a lot more aggressive than products formulated for automotive clearcoats. While it's generally safe to use automotive products in the marine world you want to be careful when you bring marine products into the automotive world.
I know a few guys like DG501 as a one-step cleaner/wax in the auto world but like
ANY product, before buffing out an entire car you should test first and then inspect.
C.) Was my technique totally wrong?
I doubt it. Just goes back to clearcoat paints are very scratch sensitive, that is they are very easy to scratch and when machine applying any type of paint care product with abrasives there's always the risk of micro-marring.
One term I use a LOT when I type is the two words,
abrasive technology. While there are some guys out there, even detailing gurus of sorts, that will say,
Technique is Number #1
I 100% disagree.
When it comes to doing any type of compounding, polishing, jewelling or using a one-step product on automotive paints the number #1 important factor that will determine if your results are good or if they are bad is the
abrasive technology in the bottle.
After abrasive technology I would say number #2 most important factors are technique and tools
together. The reason why is because you need to have the right tool for the job and then use good technique with it.
You can use good technique with the wrong tool for the job and either not get the job done or do it a lot more slowly and in this case the word slowly means you're not being as
effective or efficient as you could be with the right tool.
And the
least important factor is the
pad type. I"m not saying pads are not important as they are, for example you don't want to try to cut out sanding marks with a rotary buffer using a soft, gold foam jewelling pad just like you don't want to try to finish out using a rotary buffer and an aggressive wool cutting pad.
But when
common sense prevails and all three of the other factors are correct, then pad type becomes the least important factor or has the least important influence in the end-results.
D.) Was the feint hologramming something that was there before prior to the wash/stripping/decon?
Holograms or hologramming is a specific word or term for the type of scratch patter inflicted by the use and misuse of a
rotary buffer.
When you leave a
trail pattern in the paint using a dual action polisher this is micro-marring, DA Haze or tick marks and "yes" you can leave a pattern that shows up like a trail following the path you moved the buffer over the paint. But this pattern of scratches is not what have traditionally and historically been referred to as holograms.
Small detail but just want to point this out for others that will read this into the
future.
From the description of the paint condition before you buffed and then the description of what you're seeing I would say the pattern of DA Haze you're seeing was caused by you.
To troubleshoot, simple place a tape-line down the middle of the affected area and then re-polish on one side of the tape-line with a known good dedicated medium or fine cut polish and either a polish or finishing foam pad. Wipe off the residue and inspect.
IF the defects are gone the defects that remain were induced by your previous process. You can also test a product and pad combination using a black test panel.
E.) Would a hand application be more suitable on softer OEM clears and yield noticeable results?
I'd say no.
I'd say look for a product more specific to automotive application to start with. Soft paints scratch easy just like hard paints scratch easy. What separates good paint from bad paint is
how well it polishes. (In my opinion).
The best paints systems are not too hard nor too soft but somewhere in-between. A good paint system is a paint system that the average person can work on and get good results.
When paint is too soft is scratches when you wipe it softly with a microfiber towel. When paint is too hard it's time consuming and difficult to abrade and level it to remove defects.
My favorite paint is the factory Ceramiclear paint systems on Mercedes-Benz. I find this paint system buffs well and resists scratching from normal day-in, day-out, wear-n-tear. The best of all worlds.
Besides that it's a case by case situation and you won't know if a paint buffs well or not till you go out into your garage and start doing some buffing.
I was
surprised by how easy it was to sand and buff out my sanding marks using ONLY a Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher on the factory paint on a brand new 2014 Corvette.
How to detail a 2014 Corvette Stingray
When doing one-step production work, always try to use the softest foam pad you can get away with and of course, use the least aggressive product to get the job done. This is why it's a good idea to have 2-3 different one-step cleaner/waxes, even from different manufacturers so you have three products with different abrasive technology in them. Now you can do some real testing and find out which one works the best on the current car in front of you.
Mike, thanks again for the article... and while I, along with probably everyone else here, enjoy what you post, I definitely enjoy the articles that focus on budget projects.
Best regards,
-Gabe
Good questions and good feedback.
I have a
multi-step show car detail coming up and a
one-step production detail too, I'll try to share a little from both of them.
