How to benchmark or measure the shine of your car?

[Kelpie]

How do you know your DIY shine is tip-top? Any benchmark or measurement to follow?

 

Thank you.

 

Regards,

[Bearbear1494]

My non-constructive reply :

 

When the paintwork looks so wet & deep that you change into your swimming trunks & attempt to dive into it.

[Kelpie]

I read from somewhere that there is a meter to calculate the shine intensity of your car.

 

Regards,

[Bearbear1494]

Hmmm... got ah? I noob in this area. Only heard before of PTG (Paint Thickness Gauge). This meter measure what exactly? Light reflection?

[Testa_ross4]

There is a meter to read light levels, mainly by photographers, you could use that as a benchmark against other cars.....maybe.

[Lv3338]

This seem not reliable as it gonna be affected by the different inconsistent intensity of light source and influence the reflection ?

Edited April 11, 2008 by Lv3338

[Calvin53]

i think the meter comes with a light attach to it..

[Altivo]

How do you know your DIY shine is tip-top? Any benchmark or measurement to follow?

 

Thank you.

 

Regards,

 

when you can see the reflection of a 's panty when she straddle over the bonnet????

 

hahaha... joke lah.

 

I think there is a meter which can be used.

[Testa_ross4]

There is a light attached to the meter.

 

The best procedure to determine accurate readings is, first, you must park in a completely dark booth with black velvet curtains to absorb all surrounding light, next mount the meter on a tripod and capture the light reading. Then you park a similar car in the booth and repeat the procedure. Next you can use a spectrometer to measure the wave intesity of light and red shift in the spectrum and calculate the wavelength according to the color code of your car. You may then access the database of reference readings from the Dupont Paint University in Texas through the internet and cross check with that of the readings from your car vs the other car to see whose car is more kilat.

[Gen2]

There is such a measuring tool call the Gloss Meter that will measure the shine of your paint work but it is not that cheap. You can follow the link here if you want to find out more .

[Danapj]

Ya the question will be to measure it at 60deg or at what angle cause if I remember correctly, for the measurement of the gloss, there are 3 angles to look at. But too long since I was away from the coating industry, can't remember liao.

Edited April 11, 2008 by Danapj

[Danapj]

haha looking at the link, there is in fact more than 3 angles to look at. For high gloss, should be looking at 20 deg readings. However, if I don't remember wrongly, it used to cost about 2-3k to get a gloss meter like this.

[Kelpie]

I asked because, all the Detailing pics shown here are so damn nice so how do you tell which is indeed better than the others. Just by shining a torch? or by the use of a more professional device? Without a benchmark, there is no way to compare.

 

Regardsm

[Gen2]

Sometimes it is not only the shine that we are comparing, different products combination will give different effect on the paint work. Given the same preparation work on the paint work, generally sealant will give a more shiny candy coating look on the car whereas a quality carnauba will give that warm deep glow instead. So does that mean the carnauba is a less superior product because it is less shiny, I really doubt so.

 

It really boils down to personal taste when it comes to how the car look. I believe you will not want to have a car that looks really shiny but without any depth and clarity. As long as the prep work is done properly, just top it with whatever products that work best for you.

[Julian]

I read from somewhere that there is a meter to calculate the shine intensity of your car.

 

Regards,

 

Gloss Meter?

[Enzomatrix]

When u see and touch and feel sibei shiok.. ok liao la