How the Pros Avoid These Common Paint Mistakes
If you’ve never painted a car before, you might assume that it’s much like using a paint sprayer on an exterior wall of your home. But painting cars is far more complicated, and it’s easier to botch the final result. Never try a DIY approach to painting your own car—you’ll only end up taking it to an auto paint shop when you see your results. Here’s a look at how the professionals handle car paint jobs.
How the Pros Avoid Handprints
It’s very easy to inadvertently contaminate a panel. When this happens, the end result can reveal handprints. Handprints may first appear through the paint as small blisters. Within a month or two, you might start to see the actual print rising to the surface. This happens when the painter places a hand against the panel while prepping it, and doesn’t clean the area afterward. Salt and oil from the skin stick to the panel, leaving the handprint. To avoid this problem, professionals at an auto paint shop can wear gloves to prevent the transfer of contaminants. Alternatively, they can thoroughly clean the panel after sanding it.
How the Pros Avoid Blisters
Paint blisters are unsightly but easily prevented with the right prep work. Experienced technicians understand the importance of washing the car with a wax and grease remover. Amateurs often skip this step, reasoning that they’re just going to sand the panel anyway. The problem with this is that the sanding tool gets coated in wax and grease. As the metal is sanded, the heat generated by the tool melts the wax and grease and melds it directly into the metal surface. The undesirable effects might not be noticed right away, but the paint blister will definitely make an appearance later on. Pros avoid this simply by giving the car a thorough scrubbing with a degreaser before getting started with sanding.
The auto body paint experts at Michael J’s Body Shop use state-of-the-art equipment and modern techniques to make cars look like new again. We specialize in precise shade matching. Our auto collision center serving San Jose is available at 408-279-2070.
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