So I've seen a lot of posts lately asking about how to remove something from the paint and a lot of answers have been "Oh just wetsand that." While this method will get rid of paint defects, it should be said that it's a very dangerous thing to do without any prior knowledge of wetsanding automotive paint. Now I'm no expert at wetsanding as I've thankfully never needed to do it, however I've retained this knowledge for those Just In Case scenarios. This is meant to give you a general idea of how wetsanding works. I'd still highly recommend practicing before doing it on the real deal.
Some facts on wetsanding:
Wetsanding, when done properly will remove defects faster and more uniformly than polishing and compounding.
Wetsanding never leaves a clean finish, so polishing or compounding is an absolute MUST after doing it. Be prepared to have to do this before wetsanding.
When wetsanding Automotive paint a specific automotive wet paper should be used. This is because certain wet papers have tracers in them which are grits of material that are larger than the rest of the abrasion material attached to the paper. These Tracers will leave deeper scratches in the paint and you'll be left off where you started. Meguiar's UniGrit wet paper is one of the best on the market, I'd suggest that if you feel you must wetsand.
Typically a backing pad should always be used. This prevents irregularities in the pressure being applied to the paper thus causing a uniform removal of clearcoat.
It doesn't take much. Typically for most scratches it'll never take more than 8 passes with medium pressure applied using a 2000 grit paper. Do about 3 passes then wipe the spot or squeegee it and look to see if the scratch is removed. If not, make 2 more, etc etc.
Always start with the least aggressive grit. Chances are 3000 grit can remove the scratch. If it looks really bad, it might need 2500, or 2000.
Proper soaking of the paper is a must. Most papers say 15 minutes to soak is good, but the people who regularly use the product report better results from soaking overnight or at least a few hours. Some guys add a drop or 2 of dawn dish soap in their bucket as well.
And now, here's some videos on it. They also go over Rotary and DA Polishing as well and are good videos to watch for paint correction information in general.
For the basics of other detailing methods, refer to my Noob's Guide to Detailing
Some facts on wetsanding:
Wetsanding, when done properly will remove defects faster and more uniformly than polishing and compounding.
Wetsanding never leaves a clean finish, so polishing or compounding is an absolute MUST after doing it. Be prepared to have to do this before wetsanding.
When wetsanding Automotive paint a specific automotive wet paper should be used. This is because certain wet papers have tracers in them which are grits of material that are larger than the rest of the abrasion material attached to the paper. These Tracers will leave deeper scratches in the paint and you'll be left off where you started. Meguiar's UniGrit wet paper is one of the best on the market, I'd suggest that if you feel you must wetsand.
Typically a backing pad should always be used. This prevents irregularities in the pressure being applied to the paper thus causing a uniform removal of clearcoat.
It doesn't take much. Typically for most scratches it'll never take more than 8 passes with medium pressure applied using a 2000 grit paper. Do about 3 passes then wipe the spot or squeegee it and look to see if the scratch is removed. If not, make 2 more, etc etc.
Always start with the least aggressive grit. Chances are 3000 grit can remove the scratch. If it looks really bad, it might need 2500, or 2000.
Proper soaking of the paper is a must. Most papers say 15 minutes to soak is good, but the people who regularly use the product report better results from soaking overnight or at least a few hours. Some guys add a drop or 2 of dawn dish soap in their bucket as well.
And now, here's some videos on it. They also go over Rotary and DA Polishing as well and are good videos to watch for paint correction information in general.
For the basics of other detailing methods, refer to my Noob's Guide to Detailing
