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Marq, Ive laid down 3 coats of brightside on my trunk (see last picture I posted) it really reflective but its also got some orange peel. now, It seems like for every coat of BS, its like 2 coats of rusty\trem. So far Ive wet sanded with 600 and 800. The final third coat has not been wet sanded. I know to wet sand with 1000g now, but if I wet sand it using 1000g it will become dull. im guessing this is where the polishing comes in. but what im trying to ask is, when you polish a surface, will it become dull again when the wax eventually wears off?



Basically the previous writer got it right. Between every second coat you should use a lower grit wet sanding to knock back any orange peel that may happen. Otherwise, if you have successfully laid down two coats and it is looking pretty decent, you can just lightly skim or wetsand the paint in preparation for the next addition of two more coats.

When you reach the point where you have gotten enough coats on to give 100% color coverage and it looks fairly decent, you then move to your wetsanding to prepare the surface for maximum shine.

You will note at this point... the earlier wetsandings were more structural - in that they were knocking back any orange peel OR simply scuffing up the previous dried coatings to prepare them to receive the next coats of paint.

The final wetsanding should be thought of more like a polishing stage. Yes, you are going to lose the paints natural shinier outer layer - but that is all part of the plan. You start working your way up gradually through higher density grits until you make it to 1500 or even 2000.

What happens during this polishing type wet sanding is that you are smoothing the outer surface shinier and shinier.

Think of it this way. Have you ever seen those souvenier gem stones or rocks that they sell on keytags or for jewelerly or for rock collectors. The rocks are sooooooooooo smooth and shiny that they look like they have been dipped in liquid plastic.

What has in fact happened is that the rock guy has put those rocks into something that looks like a cement mixer or a laundry dryer with sand. They then set it on tumble mode and let it turn and turn adinfinitum. What happens is that the formerly rough and craggy stones rub against the sand and against the other rocks and slowly their craggy features disappear. Then as time goes on it simply smooths itself further and further until it reaches a point where that formerly rough rock has taken on a super smooth look and its surface is soooo smooth that it looks like it is glass or plastic coated.

Another quicky example to get this point across... are the pebbles you see along a beach that are all round and smooth. Over the years, the water and the movement in the sand has smoothened them out.

Ok... now look at the paint job. You begin with an 800, move to a 1000, move to a 1200, then on to a 1600 and even 2000 grit. At each of these polishing stages you are making that paint job shinier and shinier because each higher grit is making the 'scratches' on the paint surface smaller and smaller and smaller. THE LESS SCRATCH or the smaller the scratch the shinier the paint.

So yes... the paint will be dull at some point during your polishing wetsanding stage. BUT as you progress to the higher grits of sand paper things will reverse where it begins getting naturally shinier and glossier.

BUT we don't stop there... that is why we talk about the various rubbing compounds or polishing paste that we use on the paint once we are satisfied that we have done about all we can at the 1500 or 2000 grit stage. BECAUSE those polishing compounds are actually taking things to the 2500 or even 3000 grit level.

So in theory ( and in practice ) that surface should reach a mirror smooth finish. As noted, the smoother the outer skin of the paint, the more depth and gloss the paint will appear to the eye.

NOW when we finally get to the waxing stage, although it is also trying to add more gloss and depth to the paint, its main benefit at this point is to seal the outer skin of paint from oxygen and moisture.

In theory you don't have to do the waxing stage because if you did the polishing stages correctly and patiently, you should have a 'new car' level of shine to the paint. BUT as I said the main benefit of the addition of wax at the end of it is all to seal your work and to give it that final ooooomph of shine, reflection and depth to the paint.

NOW... yes... the odds are that in one year, or maybe even in 6 months, you may have to re-wax your car. If you invested in a decent orbital polisher like the Porter & Cable, that wax job will be a 20 minute snack that you can blow through easily. So future re-waxings are not something to worry about. The quality of the wax you use and your driving and enviromental setting will dictate how often you need to re-wax.

If you take the car through a brush style car wash... the lifespan of the wax coating will be shortened. If you go to a touchless car wash, the wax will last longer. If you bucket wash your car, the soap or cleanser you put in the bucket to make the lather will either help or shorten the life of the wax. I can't really speak of how some of those sprayers with wax and cleaner in it ( like the Mr Clean system ) would help or hinder the wax coating. So many variables eh...

But the whole point of this essay was to best explain how each of the wet sanding stages build upon each other to achieve as smooth as possible an outer finish in the end.

Oh... and just to give you some kind of measure to compare things with..

a ) most new car paint jobs are probably equal to about a 1200 grit sanding and wax.

b ) a clear coat finished paint job is on about par with a wetsanded car that has gone to 2000 grit and then been hit with rubbing compound up to about 3000 with a high quality wax.

The main advantage obviously of a genuine clear coating is that it is probably 5 to 10 times thicker then a wax layer. Hence it is capable of giving off a visually deeper depth of color and shine because the light ( sunlight ) is able to have more depth in which to refract.

So although a clear coat can probably kick our butts for sheer depth and accordingly gloss ( as well as durability ), the wax on our 2000 to 3000 grit wet sanded vehicle should be giving off visually just as much bling...

But I would be cautious about jumping over to some of the acrylic type car polishes in an attempt to boost your bling in the hope that an acrylic polish might rival a clear coat job or one of our wetsanded wax jobs. The acrylics normally only look good for the first ten days and then shortly thereafter start going downhill. Just take a look at any acrylic picnic glasses that you might have lying around and you will see how easily acrylic scratches ( and as such loses its over all shine ).
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Last edited by Marq; 05/01/08 09:34 PM.