Car Paint Protection
Protecting car paintwork
Having spent many years in the car paint supplies business a question I would be asked many times over would be what is the the best car paint polish? If there was only one, my job would have been a lot easier.
Over the years many manufacturers of car paint protection products have launched new polishes that they claimed would be the answer to all of the car polish buyers prayers.Many times we have been told that this new wonder product would be easy to apply,easy to wipe off and leave a shine that would be so long lasting that you will never need to wax again.Well admitedly some have fared better than others but in general they all fall short of the mark in some respect,I am still seeking that everlasting shine.
What is important to know about modern car paint protection is this,if you have a modern car built within the past ten years or so your paint finish is already protected!How come,well all major motor manufacturers now use what is known as basecoat and clear paint finishes.What this means is that the paintwork on your car is made up of a base colour and is then protected with a layer of clear lacquer over the top.This lacquer has properties that prevent the base colour from fading by blocking harmful uv rays from the sun and also minimise scratching,consequently your car paintwork will look good for many years longer than the old single layer paint systems.Some manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz are now using clearcoats that contain ceramics to make their paint finishes extremely hard and resistant to wear and tear such as car the roatary brushes in car washes.The only thing modern car paints can’t do for you is clean themselves,but no doubt someone is working on that!
Now we can take a look at car paint protection from an aesthetic point of view and for me this falls into two main categories.
Firstly,the traditional car paint polish systems applied by hand or machine .
Secondly,the thermoplastic type clear films for stone and chip protection.
There are hundreds of car polishes on the market from the original hard type waxes to the more modern liquid types of polymer and other resin technology products.
If you are the type of person who likes nothing more than to polish your pride and joy as often as possible
I would say that using a good quality hard wax with a high carnauba content is the way to go.These types of waxes have virtually no cutting agents in them that will scratch your paintwork and although not as easy to apply as the liquid varieties give very satisfying results with superb depth of gloss, particularly on dark colours and older well maintained cars.If you have an old car that is faded you will want to use a quality cutting compound to renovate the paint before applying this type of wax.
If you have a modern car and want to maintain the shine for as long as possible without having to reapply regularly then there are some excellent car paint protection liquid products available.These are generally applied in two stages with a surface conditioning treatment applied first then followed by a liquid polish over the top which bonds molecularly to the paint finish.They are easy to apply and will give a long lasting shine even after hundreds of washes.These types of car paint protection systems are identical to those offered by your auto dealer when you purchase your car for which they typically charge hundreds of dollars to apply for you.You can easily do it yourself at home in a couple of hours and save a lot of money and achieve the same results.
So now we will take at look at car paint protection clear film.This type of product is not designed to enhance the shine of your car paintwork but to protect it from scratching and stone chipping in vulnerable areas.
Many manufacturers use this type of film on their cars in areas succeptible to stone chipping or scratching such as the leading edge of real wheel arches and in door shuts where there is likleyhood of damage by passengers shoes as they get in and out.You may not even have noticed this film on your car as it is difficult to detect when applied correctly.
This type of product is now available to the public to buy and apply yourself at home,it is simple enough to apply as long as you follow the instructions carefully.If you are not confident about doing it yourself there are many professionals who can do it for you.There are kits available to protect many different parts of your car and some of the more popular would be front bumper,leading edge of hood ,and top of rear bumber near trunk all these areas are likely to suffer from chipping and scratching and the application of the car paint protection film will eliminate damage in those areas.
I hope you have found this information useful,please take a look around the website where you will find many articles and tips on paint protection for your car.
check out this video the most expensive wax in the world!
Bird droppings are highly acidic and should never be allowed to remain in contact with your car’s paint job. They will react chemically with your paintwork and damage the coating as we…
To make things easier on the DIY car detailer, and provide the most protection for your paint, Turtle Wax has combined their Ice liquid clay bar with a standard clay bar for the …
Introducing Detailer’s Domain’s Uber Interior Kit for Leather Interiors. This is the most comprehensive interior car care kit available out there for. … Leather Master Strong C…
nterested in protecting the front of our car from rock chips, etc. Has any forum member had a "clear bra" paint protection kit installed? It protects the front of the car with an …
The gloss and protection that most paint protection coating imparts is far beyond that of ordinary car, aircraft, or boat waxes, polishes or sealants. Indeed, a record of produci…
Dealers get paid a substantial profit by selling you expensive car paint protection systems. How much they charge you will depend on how much they feel they can get out of you. Original post by…
Mail this post