How To Use Clear Your Car Paint Like An Expert?
Do It Yourself (DIY)
When it comes to your car, you have a sentimental attachment to it. Therefore, you’ll like your car to look new and fresh from the showroom. The original paint provided by the manufacturer provides protection and decoration to your car.
However, your car is always exposed to an external environment that may cause discoloration, peeling, cracking, and marring of the paint, so you have to clean, treat, and condition the paint of your car properly and regularly. You can do it yourself if you know how to clean your car paint.
Frequency of Cleaning
It depends upon the manner in which you drive your car and how long it is exposed to the UV rays of the sun. Usually, the dirt and pollen get embedded in the painting coat of your car. So, cleaning it weekly will be your best option to keep it ever shining and glazing. You do not have to hire the service of an expert. Nobody can know the age of your car.
You need to take the following steps sequentially to make it look like an expert’s job.
Photo Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP6GAU2mSvU
Step 1: Preparation
Select a cool place where direct sunlight does not fall. Be sure that the paint is cool to the touch. Before washing, spray enough water on it so as to remove any solid particles or contaminants to avoid scratching.
Step 2: Washing
The basic objective of washing is to remove the top layer of dirt or dust embedded over the clear coat. Prepare yourself with the appropriate tools and materials. These may include a washing mitt or a soft piece of cotton, about five gallons of water, and automotive cleaning products that are pH-balanced and non-detergent. You may also use a clay bar. Such cleansers will not strip off the layer of wax or put over the paint coat but act as a protection against the glaze and shining.
Step 3: Ensure Proper Drying
Perfect drying prevents water spots that may be caused by the deposit of the pesky minerals. You have the option of drying with sheepskin chamois pure cotton cloth or paint-safe drying towels. If you use microfiber or polyester drying devices, they may put scratches over the paint surface. You may use drying towels specially designed for the purpose.
Step 4: Rewashing
After drying, if you still find some contaminating particles, you may use the clay bar, as it can pull off the obstinate contaminated particles from the surface of your car. You can get the clay bar in a kit. Spray the still unlearned area and slowly glide the clay over the clay over the surface of your car paint. For removing heavy tar deposits, use a specialty solvent.
Step 5: Old Oxidized Paint
Your car surface may still look dull if the paint is oxidized. In that case, you may apply the polish to remove the least of the paint. For a persisting condition, you may apply cleansers and may use rubbing compounds for the worst condition, which may remove a higher amount of paint surface.
Step 6: Waxing
A coat of wax protects the paint of your car. You may use a carnauba wax or paint sealant. Wax gives a better shine and protects the paint surface for eight to twelve weeks. The car sealant provides slightly less glaze but lasts for more than six months.
How to Touch Up Your Car?
While you are driving your car, a small solid particle of debris jumps up and strikes the car’s surface. This may cause chipping or scratches on your car surface that may be too small, equivalent to a pencil eraser. It does not need a professional painting. You can do it yourself by giving touch ups. Therefore, it is essential for you to know, how to touch up your car. The following stepwise process will ease out your job:
Photo Credit: http://centerlinewraps.com/paint_protection
Step 1: Buying Matching Paint Color
You cannot exactly differentiate the color shades of paints. You have to refer to the paint code number to select the matching color. You can get this code from the firewall or bulkhead; it is a piece of sheet metal that separates the engine from passengers sitting inside. Open your hood to find it. Also buy primer, along with the matching paint
Step 2: Arresting the Rust
If you find a rusted, chipped area, gently apply a small amount of the rust arrestor over the chipped area. Therefore, the rust cannot spread underneath your touch area.
Step 3: Washing
Wash only the affected area where you are going to put your touch up.
Step 4 Pretreatment of the Chip
Remove the wax from the affected area by applying wax remover. If you find loose paint, remove the same by using a nick sander. For proper sticking of the primer, once again, sand the area with 220 grit sandpaper. Finally, wash the affected area with water to remove the wax and any debris that might have been left over.
Step 5: Application of Primer
If the metal is bare, the paint will not adhere to it. If the chip is deep, squeeze a dab of primer onto the affected area. You can also spread the primer by using a tiny brush. Then allow it to dry perfectly.
Step 6: Test the Paint
To be very sure that the color of the touch-up paint perfectly matches the color of your car paint, apply the paint on an unexposed area, such as the lip below the car door, and compare it.
Step 7: Painting the Primed Area
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After shaking the paint bottle well, take some in a shallow dish. Apply two or three layers of the touch-up paint so that the spot looks elevated. Leave it for 24 hours before you restart the process.
Step 8: Finishing off the Surface
Restart the work by slowly sanding the area with sandpaper of 1000 grit, followed by sand papers of 2000 grit and 3000 grit. The elevated portion of the spot should be smoothed to become even and exactly cope with its adjoining areas. Finally, polish and wax the entire area of your car.
It is a little complicated to understand clear coats for the car. Some believe that it does not need waxing. In fact, it is painted without pigment. And it is also known as the 2nd stage paint. The pigmented paint is known as 1st stage paint. Light penetrates the clear coat and is reflected from the pigmented paint lying underneath.
It backlights if there is any imperfection of the clear coat. If there is any minor scratch or swirl on the surface of the clear coat, the backlight becomes more virtually obvious.
The clear coat protects the lower coat from UV rays and harmful chemicals, dirt, acid rain, bee pollen, and bird droppings. It is a protective layer to color coat and provides additional depth and glaze to it.
To test if your car is “Clear Coat Safe” or not, take some polishing compound on a clean rag and rub the car surface with pressure. If the color of car paint comes on it, your car is not clear-cut safe. You need to adopt the same cleaning, washing, and waxing method to maintain a safe, clear coat.
