DIY: Wet Sanding Paint (Video Tutorial)

[ProStreetDriver]

 

Tutorial video on how to wet sand paint to achieve a high gloss, removes any imperfections in the paint surface and achieve a mirror shine. This process can be used on a signal stage paint or on a multiple stage paint that does have a clear coat finish. Be very cautious around any edges were the paint can be sanded through easily and also be aware of what the thickness of the paint or clear coat to ensure that the final finish is no sanded through either.

 

Procedure:

-start by washing the area you will be wet sanding to ensure there isn't any dirt on the surface which could scratch the paint

-you will need 3 different grit levels of sandpaper which include 1000 grit, 1500 grit, and 2000 grit

-letting the paper pre-soak in a bucket of water with some soap mixed in to allow further lubrication

-starting with the 1000 grit, ensuring that the area is wet before sanding

-once you have removed most of the imperfections of the paint, you can now move onto the 1500 grit sandpaper to remove any slight imperfections

-after you've achieved a smooth surface, finish up with the 2000 grit sandpaper, always ensure the area is well lubricated with water and wash away any access material from sanding

-rinsing the area thoroughly, you can now move onto a polishing compound

-apply the polishing compound to a soft clothe and rub into the sanded area, apply any water if the compound does dry out which allows it to be more workable again

-after a majority of the fine scratches have been removed, you are now ready to move onto a scratch removing product

-similar to the polishing compound, you can add a light spray of water to the scratch remove if it drys out while rubbing it into the painted surface

-once you achieved an almost perfect shine, you now need to clean off any access polishing compound or scratching removing product before moving onto the wax stage

-ensure that there is no water left on the surface, you can now apply the wax

-rub wax into the surface thoroughly and then let it sit on the surface for a minute before you wipe down the surface

[Pisces69]

If u r not very experienced doing this.......I strongly suggest u dun try to DIY.

 

Very easy to spoil yr paintwork. Then u wil need a complete new re-spray.

[ProStreetDriver]

If u r not very experienced doing this.......I strongly suggest u dun try to DIY.

 

Very easy to spoil yr paintwork. Then u wil need a complete new re-spray.

 

Excellent point! Especially if one is unsure how thick the existing paint it from factory or if the vehicle was resprayed and has a thin layer in a particular location.

[Pisces69]

Excellent point! Especially if one is unsure how thick the existing paint it from factory or if the vehicle was resprayed and has a thin layer in a particular location.

 

 

Ya I heard of pple who do mechanical polishing till so shiok until the paint all wear off till can see undercoat even. Hahaha

 

Especially the edges n corners. Very easy to over do the polishing till can see undercoat. Or if never put water, ty burn the paint due to heat from the polisher.

[Mercury1]

I had the misfortune of scraping my bumper against a low wooden post a few days back anyway since it was the bumper and quite minor I decided to try to touch up and try my hand at wet sanding to make it look better? I'm a noob at this but documented this anyway so my mistakes won't be repeated if anyone wants to attempt something similar.

 

1. Bumper with paint chipped off

 

2. Started with 1500 grit sandpaper (Highest I can find at the time) and OEM touch up paint with a very fine paintbrush from a hobby shop (the one with the set was wayy to large). Also soaked the sandpaper for 2 hours before using

 

3. I touched up the area using the brush paint after cleaning up the area, you can see the paint bulging over

 

4. Next step I wet sanded the area, on initial inspection it looked okay but closer looked I realized I sanded too much of the area leaving a 20 cent coin of dullness, also the paint wasn't a 100 match. If I had a chance to redo I would definitely tape up the effected area only and sand that bit.

 

5. I decided to paint a the clearcoat on top to regain some of the gloss, using a larger brush and the accompanying clearcoat I taped up the area and clearcoated the immediate area

 

6. After painting the clearcoat it created a raised roughed clear coat path when I removed the tape. Because of that I decided to wet sand the area again but after taping it to the immediate section

 

7. This was the final result after some mild wet sanding, this time using 2000 grit sandpaper. Overall I'm happy with the result, its not noticeable unless you look really close up (i.e 1 feet) as before you could spot it from 3 feet away, not as glossy as I would like it but I will get a detailer (Revol) to polish up that area when if I do get the car cleaned up in the future.

 

That said I had taped the wet sanding to the repainted chip area I probably could have saved the clear coat effort and overall result would have been much better.

 

 

 

[ricleosg]

nice illustration, good for people to learn from!

 

Using the sandpaper, even if very fine 2000 grit will make the surface dull/matt. after sanding, you should try wax/polishing the impacted area with a little overlap on the other areas to get it to shine once again.

 

I had the misfortune of scraping my bumper against a low wooden post a few days back anyway since it was the bumper and quite minor I decided to try to touch up and try my hand at wet sanding to make it look better? I'm a noob at this but documented this anyway so my mistakes won't be repeated if anyone wants to attempt something similar.

 

1. Bumper with paint chipped off

1.JPG

 

2. Started with 1500 grit sandpaper (Highest I can find at the time) and OEM touch up paint with a very fine paintbrush from a hobby shop (the one with the set was wayy to large). Also soaked the sandpaper for 2 hours before using

3.JPG 4.JPG

 

3. I touched up the area using the brush paint after cleaning up the area, you can see the paint bulging over

5.JPG

 

4. Next step I wet sanded the area, on initial inspection it looked okay but closer looked I realized I sanded too much of the area leaving a 20 cent coin of dullness, also the paint wasn't a 100 match. If I had a chance to redo I would definitely tape up the effected area only and sand that bit.

IMG_4445.JPGIMG_4559.JPG

 

5. I decided to paint a the clearcoat on top to regain some of the gloss, using a larger brush and the accompanying clearcoat I taped up the area and clearcoated the immediate area

IMG_4561.JPGIMG_4560.JPG

 

6. After painting the clearcoat it created a raised roughed clear coat path when I removed the tape. Because of that I decided to wet sand the area again but after taping it to the immediate section

IMG_4584.JPGIMG_4600.JPG

 

7. This was the final result after some mild wet sanding, this time using 2000 grit sandpaper. Overall I'm happy with the result, its not noticeable unless you look really close up (i.e 1 feet) as before you could spot it from 3 feet away, not as glossy as I would like it but I will get a detailer (Revol) to polish up that area when if I do get the car cleaned up in the future.

 

That said I had taped the wet sanding to the repainted chip area I probably could have saved the clear coat effort and overall result would have been much better.

IMG_4612.JPGIMG_4613.JPG

 

 

 

 

[Mercury1]

Hi thanks for the kind words and advise,

 

I did try to use a basic polishing compound but am afraid the gloss or shine didn't hold, not sure if it requires a rotary buffer and some compound to get it there, the saving grace is I have a package with Revol so I hope they can apply some pps on top and do their magic to revive the shine.

 

I noted the new paint was as glossy as the unaffected parts after sanding, really should have tapped it to that pin prick of an area before sanding. Lesson learnt.

 

I didn't mentioned on the post but I painted the effected areas thrice with 15 minutes drying between layers and sanded after 3 hours, clear coat was applied and left to dry for 24 hours before sanding. Painting really had to be in light layers to prevent a huge glob sticking

 

nice illustration, good for people to learn from!

 

Using the sandpaper, even if very fine 2000 grit will make the surface dull/matt. after sanding, you should try wax/polishing the impacted area with a little overlap on the other areas to get it to shine once again.

 

 

[ricleosg]

icic, for paint application, you should try to do thin coats, with each layer fully drying. best is to use spray application (enable very thin coats), tapping out the unaffected parts.

 

the sanding is done purely to even out the paint layers as the new application will definitely result in overlaps with the existing paint, that will prevent the "globs" as you mentioned below.

 

hope Revol can finish off the fix for you and make everything glossy again!

 

Hi thanks for the kind words and advise,

I did try to use a basic polishing compound but am afraid the gloss or shine didn't hold, not sure if it requires a rotary buffer and some compound to get it there, the saving grace is I have a package with Revol so I hope they can apply some pps on top and do their magic to revive the shine.

I noted the new paint was as glossy as the unaffected parts after sanding, really should have tapped it to that pin prick of an area before sanding. Lesson learnt.

I didn't mentioned on the post but I painted the effected areas thrice with 15 minutes drying between layers and sanded after 3 hours, clear coat was applied and left to dry for 24 hours before sanding. Painting really had to be in light layers to prevent a huge glob sticking

 

[Mercury1]

Cheers man, definitely noted although I hope I won't have to try it again haha. Fingers crossed on Revol's work

 

icic, for paint application, you should try to do thin coats, with each layer fully drying. best is to use spray application (enable very thin coats), tapping out the unaffected parts.

 

the sanding is done purely to even out the paint layers as the new application will definitely result in overlaps with the existing paint, that will prevent the "globs" as you mentioned below.

 

hope Revol can finish off the fix for you and make everything glossy again!

 

 

 

[Mercury1]

Following up on the thread, I had some a**hole in a white suv ding my door on the weekend. Left no dent but he took out some paint and transferred white paint from his door. It was a minor scuff so I didn't take a before picture but it was obvious from 3 feet (paint missing). I use the below method and it seems to provide consistent results.

 

Ps, I used to do make miniature dioramas so this is kinda an extension of an old hobby.

 

* clean up the area using alcohol pads before doing anything.

 

1. Tape up (masking tape) the impacted area leaving 1 mm gap from the missing paint section.

 

2. Use a fine brush to paint up the area, the objective is to fill up the section making it as level as the original paint but not overly so

 

- For this I job I dabbed some paint on my fingertip, and roll it on the impacted area so it wasn't painted over too thick. Masking tape ensured only the impacted area was painted over.

 

3. After the paint dries, lightly wet sand the painted portion till smooth. (keep the tape on!)

 

4. Once the repainted area is smooth, remove the tape and lightly rub the section over with clean cloth and a small amount of Maguire's Ultimate compound. This will give the repainted area a better shine and smooth it down further. (Light pressure only, reviews online indicate issues when too much pressure/product is applied.

 

Below are the after pics, 1st one is without highlighting the repainted section. 2nd one highlights the part repainted in case you can't spot it. Both take at the same angle/time.