Soft Paint Care?

[camino70]

I have a black 2011 GMC crew cab and have been told by a trusted professional that the paint is very soft. I am looking for advice on how to take extra care of it when washing/polishing?



Since having the finish corrected, I have stopped using my BHB and now using multiple wool mitts with 2-3 buckets. I also started using a real shampoo and having a hard time mentally with the sud action (my brain says more suds, more clean).



Searching becomes a little overwhelming with the amount of info!



TIA,

Ron

 

[Accumulator]

[Disclaimer- I'm the last guy to ask about soft paint; I'd sell anything that was softer than "medium". Yeah, really.]



camino70- A few sorta-random thoughts follow:



-Just because somebody says it's soft clear doesn't mean it really is See what *you* think, maybe based on how it responds to polishing

-Used properly (well, my version of "properly") a good BHB is so gentle it doesn't even get all the dirt off so it should't be a problem

-I'd use a foamgun and my "dislodge and flush" wash technique, which I really need to rewrite some time If you search on "Accumulator's Non-marring Wash Technique" you might find the thread with my old version of it, but there's a lot of kinda-useless [crap] on that thread too

-IME the best shampoos make it a lot easier to minimize wash-induced marring; I only use Griot's. And yeah, suds are of very limited value and of some detriment (they're just bubbles of encased air and you want *shampoo*, not air)

-Use a LSP that sheds dirt readily (FK1000P, Collinite wax) so you don't have to "scrub" as much

-Don't touch the paint between washes

 

[RaskyR1]

Not sure who told you the paint is super soft but in my experience with GM clear is that it's on the harder side but tend to scratch fairly easily.



When you say "real shampoo" I'm assuming you're talking about a real "car shampoo"....



IMO, invest in a pressure washer, foam cannon, CR Spotless System and a leaf blower or even better, a Metro Master Blaster! Coating with Opti-Coat/Guard would help too. The less you touch the paint the better and the more dirt you get off the vehicle before physically washing it with a mitt the better too.





Rasky

 

[camino70]

Sorry Rasky, by real shampoo, I mean car shampoo as opposed to OTC very sudsy car wash.



Any pointers in determining the softness of my paint? I recently had it corrected to a near mirror finish and don't want to cause more damage then I have to.



TIA.

 

[justin30513]

I'm sorry but every paint job is different. You can two of the same exact vehicles with the same paint and everything will be different!

 

[RaskyR1]

Sorry Rasky, by real shampoo, I mean car shampoo as opposed to OTC very sudsy car wash.



Any pointers in determining the softness of my paint? I recently had it corrected to a near mirror finish and don't want to cause more damage then I have to.



TIA.

When we (most detailers) say a vehicle has hard or soft paint it has to do with how much effort is required to remove the defects and not necessarily about how easily it swirls. An example would be comparing Honda paint to Audi paint. If both vehicles had the same amount of swirls with equal severity, they could typically be removed in the Honda paint by using less aggressive measures. If the Honda could be done with a polish and polishing pad, the Audi may require a more aggressive pad and a compound to get an equal amount of correction.



Hope this helps,

Rasky

 

[RaskyR1]

I'm sorry but every paint job is different. You can two of the same exact vehicles with the same paint and everything will be different!

True, but some car manufacturers paints are known for being a certain hardness, while it's not set in stone, it's usually correct most of the time IME.

 

[imported_DetailDan]

I'm sorry but every paint job is different. You can two of the same exact vehicles with the same paint and everything will be different!

Agreed, its best not to assume, but rather go based on experience with that specific vehicle. But when it comes down to it, the less you touch the paint the better. Work on perfecting your wash technique and use a metro blaster to dry to try like Rasky mentioned. A foam gun and CR system will definitely help as well.

 

[Accumulator]

Unless we're talking about "stupid-soft" paint, it's all just a matter of getting the wash regimen sorted out. My Jag's ss lacquer is a *LOT* softer than my Audi's b/c, but it's no harder to keep it marring free, just easier to correct when it does need it.



"Hard paint" is very seldom hard enough to really make a diff when it comes to wash-induced marring (says the guy who's owned single stage white cars that were *REALLY* hard).

 

[togwt]

The harder the paint, the easier it is to scratch...Hard and soft are relative terms; you can scratch the ‘hard’ surface of your car’s paint finish with a ‘soft’ towel with the application of sufficient (localized) pressure. Both pressure and mechanical stress are defined as force per unit area. These two forces are the subject of Newton's third law of motion; the law of reciprocal actions [: to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction]



So how can a dense (hard) clear coat be so easily scratched?

Force acts through a body that has a surface area; if the surface area is really small while maintaining an equal force, the pressure becomes astronomical and the object under pressure capable of penetrating the surface of an otherwise tough material. (Newton's third law of motion) That’s why a micro fine thread that is twice as fine as silk and a 100 times finer than a human hair, in an otherwise soft towel will scratch your paint. And the same reason a mosquito can penetrate a rhino hide with its proboscis (stinger).

 

[camino70]

I am only 3-4 washes in after a full correction and starting to see swirl marks again. I use two buckets, multiple wool mitts, foam gun and a leaf blower. I used my BHB today. I use z8 with an mf from time to time and fear this may be causing additional marks? I use zaino on my other cars and have used it on my truck, but should I be looking at something else? Would using carnuba more frequently help?

Thanks again!

 

[Accumulator]

I am only 3-4 washes in after a full correction and starting to see swirl marks again..

I'd study those swirl marks and see if you can figure out what's causing them.



For one thing, if the swirls are "long and sweeping", that'd tell me that the wash/dry motions were also long and sweeping, which I consider a :nono:



Well....OK, I do use long sweeping motions when I dry some of the time, but by then the vehicle oughta be clean. But yeah, now and then that does result in an "oops!" that I could've avoided by not doing it that way.

. I use two buckets, multiple wool mitts, foam gun and a leaf blower. I used my BHB today.

I only use the BHB to get the "big stuff" off, then switch to the mitts to get the "road film". Used properly (what I consider "properly" at least), the BHB is too gentle to get a vehicle *truly*, completely, clean.

I use z8 with an mf from time to time and fear this may be causing additional marks?

If you mean between regular washes, then yeah. I can't QD my vehicles without marring them up.

I use zaino on my other cars and have used it on my truck, but should I be looking at something else? Would using carnuba more frequently help?

As long as your LSP sheds dirt readily and you keep it fresh enough to keep doing that, I wouldn't think that's the issue.