The Baggie Test - How to inspect for above surface bonded contaminants

[Mike Phillips]

The Baggie Test - How to inspect for above surface bonded contaminants


After washing and drying your car, the next thing you want to do is to inspect the paint for what we call,

Above Surface Bonded Contaminants

These contaminants can be,

• Tree Sap Mist
• Industrial Fallout
• Overspray Paint
• Air-borne Dirt and Dust
• Pollution
• Road Grime

You can check for above surface bonded contaminants by feeling the horizontal surfaces with your clean, bare hand using your sense of touch to detect what will feel like little bumps or surface texture on the finish. This type of inspection works well and is a good general indicator of above surface bonded contaminants.

The Baggie Test
If you really want to feel what`s going on at the surface level of your car`s paint or your customer`s car`s paint, then use "The Baggie Test" when inspecting the paint for above surface bonded contaminants.

Better yet, if you want to share with your customer one of the problems with their car`s paint that you`re going to correct, let them also do "The Baggie Test" with you. The average car owner doesn`t know what detailing clay is, how to use it or the benefits of using detailing clay to clay automotive paint, let alone how to test for above surface bonded contaminants.

Sharing this little tidbit of knowledge with your customer will demonstrate to them that you really know your business and later, after you`ve finished the job, letting them feel the now smooth and slippery paint will solidify their trust in your expertise. This can help you to retain their business and potentially led to referrals via word-of-mouth advertising.

To do "The Baggie Test", simply use a clean sandwich baggie by placing your hand inside the baggie and then feeling the horizontal surfaces like the hood, roof and trunk lid. The film of plastic acts to intensify the surface texture created by contaminants bonded to the paint making it more dramatic to your sense of touch when you feel the paint through the baggie.


The Baggie Test




You can also inspect the vertical panels and if you detect above surface bonded contaminants on these areas then they should be clayed also. Generally speaking, air-borne contaminants will land and settle on the horizontal surfaces but drift past the vertical panels where they will land on the ground. The main exception to this rule is any air-borne contaminant that is sticky, like Tree Sap Mist or Overspray Paint.




Resources

The 2 primary benefits of using detailing clay to clay paint


Show Car Garage Videos

How detailing clay works and how to use detailing clay to remove above surface bonded contaminants

[JaredPointer]

"The film of plastic acts to intensify the surface texture created by contaminants bonded to the paint making it more dramatic to your sense of touch when you feel the paint through the baggie."

What am I missing? I can feel the contaminants with my bare hands. I`m not sure what using a bag accomplishes, as I`ve given it a try and couldn`t really feel a difference as compared to my fingertips.

[Mike Phillips]

What am I missing? I can feel the contaminants with my bare hands. I`m not sure what using a bag accomplishes, as I`ve given it a try and couldn`t really feel a difference as compared to my fingertips.

One of the things I love about forums is how there can be such extremes in opinions or maybe the word experience is a better term...

Check out the reply to this same thread on CF

The Baggie Test - How to inspect for above surface bonded contaminants - Corvette Forum


It`s all good....

[JaredPointer]

There`s only one answer.... Luster is wrong!

I kid. I read his stuff on a couple other places I spy on and he`s a good guy with a lot of know-how.

Maybe I have dainty fingers that are very sensitive to tiny touch. HA!

[Beemerboy]

I`ve used the baggie trick for some time now, works like a charm. What I like best about it, is when I can tell new customers how it works and they try it on their cars. Most are amazed by what is on the car and they can`t / don`t even know its there

[Mike Phillips]

I kid. I read his stuff on a couple other places I spy on and he`s a good guy with a lot of know-how.

I agree, his posts are professional and help others to be successful at the topic of discussion.

[Mike Phillips]

What I like best about it, is when I can tell new customers how it works and they try it on their cars.

I agree, it`s actually a very simple thing but it really drives the point home and connects with the person doing the problem, above surface bonded contaminants and connects it to the solution, using clay to clay your car`s paint.

It`s also one of those things where sometimes you actually have to imitate getting a baggie and encouraging a person to put their hand into it and then feeling the paint.

I keep a full box of sandwich baggies in our studio and do this very thing, that is pick people out of the class to do the baggie test, if I just talked about it and didn`t do the coaxing most people would stand back all shy and watch. So I pick a few victims out of the audience in every class and have them do the baggie test and then share with everyone else what they feel with and without the baggie.

Simple and effective, two of my favorite words and ideas when it comes to a class.