Clear Coat Not So Clear Cut

Clear Coat Not So Clear Cut
Full Article :[1car-detailing-training.com]

HABITS
HAD TO CHANGE
Old buffing habits had to change with
the inception of these “softer” clears. No
longer could a detailer “go to town” with
high speed, a course product, and an
aggressive buffing pad. Changes had to
be made in the form of softer foam pads
and the use of less speed while handling
a high-speed buffer. This also meant the
detailer needed more skill in buffing.
“Old school” detailers had to adapt to
newer buffing techniques. Clears would
end up full of swirl marks, holograms,
and have a general haziness to them with
far less gloss if buffed incorrectly.
Unfortunately, many detailers did not
understand the way that these newer,
softer clear coats had to be buffed and
did not change. Yes, they could easily
remove scratches and imperfections by
buffing the old way, but they never
really learned how to make the clear
produce a perfect gloss and clarity.
Fast-forwarding just the last couple of
years, car manufacturers were seeing
cars coming off lease with marred paint
finishes and too many scratches. The
clear coats were too soft, and far too
much reconditioning and paint work had
to be done to get these “pre owned”
vehicles ready for resale. So, the search
began for a new clear chemistry, one
that was harder than a urethane or powder
clear, yet retained the same brilliance
and gloss. At the same time the manufacturers
wanted the clear to be more
scratch resistant.
BACK TO HARDER CLEARS
Many manufacturers have now gone
back to a harder version of clear coat to
gain more scratch resistance. The term
for this new generation of clears is
simply “scratch resistant clears.” One
brand of scratch resistant clear uses nanotechnology
— microscopic ceramic
particles that migrate to and interlock at
the very top portion of the clear coat to
give it more scratch resistance to car
washing and normal everyday abrasions.
It’s a better version of the old Melamine clear coats. But some of these
scratch resistant clear coats are very
hard, which makes it very difficult to
remove imperfections. You will need to
be fairly aggressive to get anywhere
with some of these. Beware, though, I
have seen instances where buffing penetrates
the scratch resistant nano-particle
section of the clear to reveal a
softer clear underneath that can still
swirl and mar very badly. Working on
what is technically a scratch resistant
clear, this can be very confusing and
demoralizing for a detailer.
To add to the confusion, not all new
vehicles are using these newer, harder
clears. Some car manufacturers are
using the scratch resistant clears on all
their vehicles such as Mercedes. Some
manufacturers are using these clears on
some of their cars but not all of them.
For example, BMW uses scratch resistant
clear coat on all vehicles made in
Germany. However, on their vehicles
made at their plant in South Carolina —
such as the Z4, X3 and X5 — they are
still using the softer powder clear coats.
A couple of years ago, some BMW
plants in Germany made the change to
scratch resistant clear, while other
plants still use a soft clear. So it is not
inconceivable that you will see two vehicles
— same year, same model, same
color — with one having a soft clear and
the other a hard clear. That makes buffing
rather interesting, doesn’t it?
Some other car lines are still exclusively
using soft clears. So, it’s not so
easy being a detailer these days as you
can see. There are many different types
of clear coats still in use and each has its
own buffing characteristics.
FLEXIBILITY REQUIRED
Many detailers, especially those from
the “old school,” like to buff one way,
and one way only. They have their
favorite buffer with their favorite speed.
They also use their favorite pad and their
favorite product. And they never fluctuate.
This will cause problems. Maybe
some cars will buff out perfectly with all
the imperfections being eliminated
while producing a great gloss and
clarity with no swirl marks or haziness.
But then there will be cars that will
have swirls and marring all over them
because the detailer was too aggressive.
Other cars will still have the
scratches and imperfections left in
them because this clear was not
buffed aggressive enough. This is
because all the clears have various
chemistries that will buff out differently.
That is why this rigid approach,
or one-way buffing, just can’t work
anymore.
A detailer needs to be able to see
what’s going on with the clear as he is
buffing it. If you are overly aggressive,
you will have a lot of cleaning up of swirls
and hazing to do, which will take considerably
more time and effort. If you are
not aggressive enough, the car will not
look as good as it should, and you may
have to go back and get more aggressive,
again resulting in more time and
effort.
NO CHART
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a
handy chart that listed all the clears that the
car manufacturers have used and are using
and how each will buff out? Unfortunately,
there is not. Knowing how certain car
lines will buff out according to the year
and model will come with much experience.
If you don’t have that experience as
yet, then it’s essential to first buff a small
area of the vehicle you are working on to
see how the clear will react. It’s always
better to start with the least aggressive
buffing method and see what the results
are. Some vehicles may look good if
buffed with an orbital buffer, while some
vehicles will need to be buffed with a
rotary or high-speed buffer. Even if you
know from the start what kind of clear
coat a vehicle has on it, you will still need
the proper equipment, products, and skill
to get the job done correctly.
Once upon a time, a car had either a single-
stage or base-coat/clear-coat paint
system and they all buffed out about the
same. It’s not the case anymore. Many
detailers are genuinely worried, and try to
keep up with all the new clears and how
they will react to buffing. I know you
want to try to keep track of what’s on
each and every car, but it’s almost impossible
to distinguish them by sight. And
with some manufacturers using both soft
and hard versions of clear, our jobs are
made all the more difficult.
NEW GENERATION
OF PRODUCTS
With every new generation of clear
coats comes a new generation of buffing
products. The trend for new products is to
be labeled as “ceramic clear polishes.”
Simply, these are products that contain
larger-micron-size abrasives or a more
aggressive type of abrasive. Another
trend is in “polishes” that can perform
multiple tasks such as cutting and finishing.
In a future issue of Auto Laundry
News, we will look at some of the newer
styles of buffing products that are now
available and in use at several major auto
plants


Author of article:

Kevin Farrell owns and operates Kleen Car
(www.kleencarauto.com), a full-service
auto-detailing business located in New
Milford, NJ. Kevin is also an instructor for a
detailing program he developed for, in and
in conjunction with, BMW of North
America. His background includes auto
dealership experience and training through
DuPont, General Motors, and I-Car.

My Response
I read constantly about whether a clear coat is soft or hard, and how it effects polishing them. Honestly, before I started coming on these forums I never gave it to much thought because I try not to polish if all possible.

The Quote from the article:

That is why this rigid approach,
or one-way buffing, just can’t work
anymore.
A detailer needs to be able to see
what’s going on with the clear as he is
buffing it. If you are overly aggressive,
you will have a lot of cleaning up of swirls
and hazing to do, which will take considerably
more time and effort. If you are
not aggressive enough, the car will not
look as good as it should, and you may
have to go back and get more aggressive,
again resulting in more time and
effort.
NO CHART
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a
handy chart that listed all the clears that the
car manufacturers have used and are using
and how each will buff out? Unfortunately,
there is not.

In this article the author discusses the problems of soft and hard paint in the terms of correction.He mentions how detailers use a one strategy approach to it, and not willing to change which leads to more time charged for his work.

He concludes the article by saying this.

With every new generation of clear
coats comes a new generation of buffing
products

I FEEL THIS IS THE REASON FOR THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. Maybe there is no universal polishing product that can work on soft or hard paint.

That is why it is important to look at a solution rather than a remedy. It seems the answer is always a new polishing product to remove the problem, and never a product to prevent the problem.

Buffer Bill

Kevin's article is actually very good. A bit sketchy in some parts, but overall he makes some very good points about clear-coat finishes.

The very hard ceramic clear coats are also very expensive so the use today is limited to the luxury car models. Not all cars have the ceramic clear coats on them. A detailer will have to do their own research to find out which cars uses ceramic clear coat paint.

These clear coats are very tricky to buff because they are formulated "not to scratch." This means that they are reall not formulated to be buffed either.

Incorrect buffing can result in a permanent hazing of the ceramic clear coat so it behooves a detailer to know when they are working on a ceramic clear coat.

Most of the detail chemical companies are searching for buffing compounds to use on these new and difficult ceramic clear coats.

A detailer needs to know what they are doing and what they are working on.

Bud ABraham

Bud. and then there other variables.
Such as what plant, which manufacturer of a vehicle, in which country and their VOC regulations, is it a high volume or low volume production vehicle, what price range and customer is the manufacturer attempting to market to which price point, which clear supplier, bake time, tailing solvents used, etc.
When it comes to a "clear", there are so many variables, from the supplier, to the time in the tunnel, how long, what temperatures, what tailing solvents were used, the age of the clear.
Let's allow the "refinish clear" issue to stay out at this time, however, does the "detail technican", have proper training from the vehicle manufactuer's, their paint supplier, to diagnois what is what.
It's a crap shoot, which is why, as you are aware, to put on the net a "one fits all" approach just demostrates that one is not truly educated on what the subject matter of OEM clears really involves.
Grumy

Ketch22 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bud. and then there other variables.
> Such as what plant, which manufacturer of a
> vehicle, in which country and their VOC
> regulations, is it a high volume or low volume
> production vehicle, what price range and customer
> is the manufacturer attempting to market to which
> price point, which clear supplier, bake time,
> tailing solvents used, etc.
> When it comes to a "clear", there are so many
> variables, from the supplier, to the time in the
> tunnel, how long, what temperatures, what tailing
> solvents were used, the age of the clear.
> Let's allow the "refinish clear" issue to stay out
> at this time, however, does the "detail
> technican", have proper training from the vehicle
> manufactuer's, their paint supplier, to diagnois
> what is what.
> It's a crap shoot, which is why, as you are aware,
> to put on the net a "one fits all" approach just
> demostrates that one is not truly educated on what
> the subject matter of OEM clears really involves.
> Grumy


Ron
I really have no idea what the hell you are talking about here.

Bud


Quote:


A detailer needs to know what they are doing and what they are working on.



You just have zero vision. You cannot see what I am saying here at all. All you continue to do is make excuses for
using waxes and poly sealants, and ignore the side effect. This continued crazy logic that washing causes swirl marks
is beyond belief to a rational person who does not sell these products.

Your answer to swirl marks is using the Buff Pro as a solution,but it is not. Wax and poly sealants do not bond to paint,
SO WHY DO YOU THINK THEY OFFER ANY PROTECTION EITHER?

By using these products, swirl mark problems occur given waxes and poly sealants are the most used. Well, since most people do not want this problem, then what is the solution to remove them? Correction of course.

Why do you think car manufactures change the clear between hard and soft? Because of the complaints they get from dealers and customers that are caused from polishing abuses. They are trying to find a solution to this problem, but their is no simple solution.This article points that out clearly.

Polishing cannot remove all damage without affecting the natural clarity of the clear coat. That is why I feel the answer is to use a product that bonds to the paint and protects it. If that was the case there would be no reason for me to harp on this issue.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2012 01:37PM by detailer.