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Written By Greg Dumond
AUTO CARE TIPS
PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENT
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "POLISHING", "WAXING" AND "COMPOUNDING" YOUR VEHICLE
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The whole concept of polishing the paint before applying any type of wax
or sealer is to first clean out the pores of the paint and to smooth the
surface until it is optically flat like the surface of a glass mirror.
Even on round corners or curved fenders, every square inch of paint must
be made optically flat. If you were to inspect a car's paint surface
under a microscope it would not look flat at all. In fact it would
look rough and have the appearance of deep crevices and high mountain tops.
These are what is called high peaks and low valleys in the paint.
High peaks are caused by paint overspray, bird droppings, tree sap, surface
calcium deposits and dirt. Low valleys are pores containing dead
oxidized material, sludge and dirt.
Just by looking at the surface with the naked eye, it is usually too difficult to tell just what degree of roughness from peaks and valleys are present. You can get a better feel for the condition of the vehicle's paint by running your hand across the surface. Although you won't be able to tell everything by just running your fingers over the surface, a car that is well maintained should feel smooth - not dry. Generally, if the surface is not smooth or is hazy or dry, and doesn't bead water during the washing sequence, it is a sure candidate for polishing. To achieve a plane of an optically flat surface, like that of a mirror you must first abrade or cut the paint. Think of smoothing paint as the same kind of concept when you are smoothing down a piece of wood furniture. |
First you abrade the
wood by using a rough textured sandpaper. Next you polish the wood
again by using a lesser abrasive sandpaper. Lastly you do your final
polishing and buffing using a super fine sandpaper which leaves a silky
smooth finish. The last stage for protecting the wood from water
or temperature damage is to seal the wood by putting a protective layer
of material over the bare wood or metal in the case of an automobile.
The same holds true for polishing the paint. You must first cut the paint in stages by using different levels of aggressive, compound followed up by using lesser abrasive mild polishing products. Once this is achieved, the high peaks are removed from the surface and meets the plane of the surface and becomes one single flat piece of material. The low vallys in the paint remain until enough abrading is done to meet with the top surface just polished. The low vallys or pores of the paint hold the sludge, oxidation, and deeply embedded dirt which is pulled to the surface by way of the chemical cleaners in the polish. Next month, we'll take a look at the meaning of compounding. THE END |
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