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Here is what I am not following. Both Rustoleum and Brightside are "enamels". There is a lot of talk here about final sanding and buffing. I always thought that enamel had a "layer" of gloss, and if you went though that you lost the gloss.

Is that true anymore?



NO. Brightside is a one stage polyurathane.

Rustoleum and Tremclad are enamels....

Both handle a final finishing equally... and both require about the same amount of work...

All 'glossy' paints have a glossy surface when freshly painted. But by wetsanding that final coat of paint you will be removing that 'gloss' while at the same time removing any surface imperfections and further smoothing and leveling the outer surface. As such... when you go to the polishing stage and waxing stage you will end up with a 'glossier' and 'shinier' surface because you have removed the surface imperfections. The smoother the top surface is, the shinier and better depth of gloss you will get.

Think of it this way. Have you ever seen what happens to stones when the gemologist guys put a bunch of rough rocks into a tumbler ( sort of like a small cement mixer type contraption ). After a couple of hours of being spun around in that tumbler the 'rough stones' end up with highly polished and smooth surfaces that are pretty enough to make into jewelery.

The final wet sanding, polishing, waxing and buffing are simply taking the painted glossy surface and further improving on it.

But in answer to your question... just about ANY paint or surface coating can be improved upon with some degree of wet sanding, polishing and waxing.

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Last edited by Marq; 05/29/07 01:26 AM.