clear coat?

[imported_joet]

The more we wax the more clear coat we take away?

[Richard Grasa]

No. Wax protects the clear coat. Abrasive compounds/polishes are what diminishes the thickness of the clear coat.

[togwt]

TOGWT® Autopia Detailing Wiki - “Clear Coat Thickness and UV Protection Removed by Polishingâ€� - http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...-removal.html#



These Detailing Wiki informational resources contain everything you’ll ever want to know about automotive detailing and are an invaluable addition to your detailing knowledge base.

[imported_joet]

Great information thank you.



For those polymer waxes that includes polishing component such as bead-like partials or some form of solvent, it should remove a slight bit of clear coat with every used? If that is the case then there will be limited number of waxing allowed with products for examples Nufinish, Duragloss 105, armor all extreme shield or similar products?

[C. Charles Hahn]

Great information thank you.



For those polymer waxes that includes polishing component such as bead-like partials or some form of solvent, it should remove a slight bit of clear coat with every used? If that is the case then there will be limited number of waxing allowed with products for examples Nufinish, Duragloss 105, armor all extreme shield or similar products?

If the product has an abrasive in it then yes, it will remove a small amount of clear coat. If it`s just a chemical paint cleaner it`s not likely to remove any material unless you`re using aggressive application media.



In theory there is a "limited number" of applications with abrasive products, but in all honesty if that`s all you`re ever using on the finish it will probably take you longer than the life of the vehicle to hit that limit.

[togwt]

The average clear coat paint has a thickness of ~25.4 µ





Rotary: using a medium abrasive polish and a rotary polisher will remove approximately 2.5 - 3µ (micron (0. 13 Mil) from the paint surface, which is typically four passes at 1500-1800 RPM; however many variables such as polish/compound and speed / pressure used that may affect the paint removed)



Paint renovation / correction, Wet-sanding: using 1500, 2000, 3000 grade finishing paper, polish to remove sanding scratches (using medium and fine abrasives) will remove approximately 5 µ (0.2 mil)



Random orbital polisher: using a medium abrasive a cutting pad, speed #5 will remove ~ 4 µ (0.17Mil)





Order of Magnitude (Thickness)



• Standard printer copy paper 76µ (3Mil) thick.

• A standard sandwich bag 28µ(1.1 Mil)

• Dollar ($1) bill 73.5µ(2.9 Mil)

[Accumulator]

joet- Adding to Dan`s post about "theory vs. practice" and how mildly abrasive products are nothing to worry about, note that many of them are not really *functionally* abrasive by any meaningful measure. When a product that contains abrasives is unable to remove even very light marring, you can rest assured that it`s not taking off enough clear to matter. And some ingredients such as "clays" that sound like they`re abrasive are actually milled so fine that they are *not* (functionally) abrasive to (most) auto paint.