As a car owner, you shouldn’t just focus on the smallest details of your car. Many car owners have misconceptions on how fixing scratches and vehicle paint relate to each other. Because of this, they often confuse the effects of one car detailing treatment over another—or even end up having unrealistic expectations on its outcome.

In this article, we will answer four questions about paint correction and how they affect your car’s frame.

1. “What does the clear coat have to do with paint correction?”

Depending on the type of scratch, your paint can go through a paint correction process, which allows it to polish and smoothen its surface of shallow dents and light scratches. The goal of paint correction is to treat your vehicle’s damages without damaging its protective clear coat.

The clear coat gives your car a pigment-less layer to protect the layers of coloured paint beneath it. It provides a clear gloss and shine that varies from a thickness of 1.5 to 4 mills, or .004 inches. If a scratch is too deep on your vehicle, a clear coat won’t be able to repair or hide its presence, unless you treat it with a re-spray.

2. “What gives my car a perfect coat of paint?”

Many people confuse the term paint correction with paint perfection. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a seamless way to paint over a vehicle’s damages. In fact, even freshly painted cars have imperfections or contaminations that will require paint correction procedures. Listed below are the common causes of paint imperfections:

• Oxidation: Exposure to the elements causing paint colours to fade
• Clear coat failure: Improper application of the clear coat, leading to exposure of the coloured layer
• Dirt nubs and crow’s feet: Light scratches and cracks in the paint from environmental sources
• Solvent pop: The presence of air bubbles trapped from clear coat curing

Depending on your car’s paint imperfections, different car detailing solutions are available to resolve them, such as wet sanding, paint decontamination, and paint correction, among others. Some of these damages are superficial and are treatable, while others are much harder to fix.

3. “Do multiple paint correction treatments improve its effects?”

Some car owners have the misconception of performing multiple treatments of paint correction, believing that it can improve its healing effects on their car’s damages. Unfortunately, doing this will potentially lead to burning the clear coat of their vehicle. This leaves their car’s surfaces vulnerable to degradation from the sun’s UV rays, among other environmental sources. 

Even if you end up not burning through your clear coat, you can end up increasing the chances of clear coat failure when getting your car treated. You should remember that paint correction won’t give your car a perfect treatment that’s free of any visible damages. Instead, it focuses on achieving the best colour possible without compromising your car’s clear coat.

4. “How do I protect my car’s paint from getting damaged?”

There are different levels of treatments available for cars to undergo to improve its protection from damage. Anything from waxes and sealants can improve your car’s defences from the UV rays and the environment. Final polishes often include using a sealant or wax build to fill in the minor scratches and return the gloss and shine of your car’s frame. However, you will need to reapply them frequently to maintain its effects.

Conclusion

If you want to give your car a robust treatment to protect it from future damage, we offer ceramic coating to our clients who want to get the best level of protection on their vehicles. It removes scratches and swirl marks while applying a protective layer on your car’s surface that can last for many years.

In giving your car ceramic treatment, you need to make sure that well-trained professionals handle it. At Drip Detailing, we offer car detailing in Calgary to give your vehicle its much-needed protection and maintenance. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our other detailing services!