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Flashing On White Car


Gremlin85

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Hey everyone,

 

Getting ready to do a full detail on my 2013 White Pearl Ford Fusion and I am wondering if it's going to be as hard as I think it is to see the polish flash?

 

I'm concerned as I've never done a white car before and I fear I might work the polish too much or too little if I really can't tell if it flashes - I've read it's a bit hard to see.

 

Any tips or tricks on what to look for on white? I'll be outside as I do not have a garage to polish in.

 

Thanks!

 

 

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I have a white truck, I normally do as said above for the first panel and see how many passes it takes to flash, then I go from there and pretty much know how long it takes to flash.

Each panel is different in size but I always work a 2x2 area so no big deal:)

Kevin

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White is one of the more challenging colors because it is so hard to see what you're getting back from the polish in terms of flash/open times. I tend to polish white in the darkest environment I can make, with the lighting being perpendicular to the panel (if that makes sense). 

 

We had a discussion awhile back on here on which color was harder, and while black is generally considered the most difficult due to the fact it shows everything, I'd almost argue white is harder (at least during the process) because of how hard it is to see the imperfections and to see what the products are doing as you work. 

 

Each color has its own challenges you have to learn to adapt to. Experiment and you'll find some solutions for your car. 

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Here is the white hood of my 1996 work truck, I bought it new and now has 222k miles on it.

It is possaible to get a shine on older paints such as mine, it worked for me and it will work for you.

 

Do as I suggested and you'll be fine.

IMO white isn't a difficult color to work with if you know the correct procedure.

 

Using a PC, add 3-4 pea size drops on the pad, a mist of water, work a 2x2 foot area, four passes but not fast and it will flash if using the SSHR.

 

Once you get the timing right on the first area just do the same with the rest of the car, in sections.

 

Kevin

 

 

94CE3528-E745-49E0-991D-2DD6F072C41B-199

 

CF8BCFF2-5ABD-41B0-ACE9-104A3D978A49-199

 

See the red Camaro in my reflection?

 

5BF06F3B-8305-4CA4-9168-C1EAC6E71141-199

 

Keep in mind, this is a 1996 model, two hour drive each day for and from work on interstate.

Not bad if I say so myself.

 

I love working with white and black paints.

Edited by MrHot88
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Thanks for all the advice!

 

Makes perfect sense and I'll be doing some testing as soon as I can. I'm pretty confident it'll be fine but with a brand new car I'd hate to accidentally mar the paint and have more work for myself.

 

I have a rough idea on the time it will take as I've done a PC job on my black Cobalt SS a couple times while I owned it.

 

Never hurts to ask and confirm :)

 

Thanks again!

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John, I see you mentioned this will be done outside (not in a garage). Knowing your in MA and our weather up here is turning hot and humid quickly, especially this weekend. I would advise to try using the coolest parts of the day for your polishing process. I like to try and reserve the polishing for early morning and/or early evening while the sun is going down if I have to resort to polishing outside. However sometimes I won't even attempt this if the temps are just too high.

 

Basically you will have too many unfavorable factors against you trying to machine polish out in the sun. The paint will be hot, products won't perform properly and overall frustration may set in. You want to enjoy the process and results. Maybe even use a canopy as well to help keep the paint from being in direct sunlight.

 

Another option is checking with a neighbor to see if you could use their garage in exchange for a little clean up on their rides. Never hurts to try.

 

Enjoy and make sure to share some results!  :2thumbs:

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Thanks, John (JBlack151)!

 

I'm trying to prepair this to be done in the earliest hours of the day when it's at it's coolest. I'm trying to get ahold of a canopy or some sort of pop-up enclosure to work under as well. The neighbor garage thing is a no-go as everyone uses them for storage than to park a car inside :willy:

 

 

Another thing I meant to ask... anyone know how hard the clearcoat is on the new fords???

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White is one of the more challenging colors because it is so hard to see what you're getting back from the polish in terms of flash/open times. I tend to polish white in the darkest environment I can make, with the lighting being perpendicular to the panel (if that makes sense). 

 

We had a discussion awhile back on here on which color was harder, and while black is generally considered the most difficult due to the fact it shows everything, I'd almost argue white is harder (at least during the process) because of how hard it is to see the imperfections and to see what the products are doing as you work. 

 

Each color has its own challenges you have to learn to adapt to. Experiment and you'll find some solutions for your car. 

 

this is exactly what i do on my white vehicles. with the cars parked in the garage, i keep the garage doors open and the garage lights off. just makes it easier to see the products on the surface.

Edited by 2010TexasEdition
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I just started polishing my white Firebird last night and quickly found out its pretty tough to get a good look at everything.  I only got the hood done so it'll be a drug out process.  But I kept getting low and moving around a lot trying to catch the light in spots to see how I was doing.  Even looking into the bulbs reflection I found it hard to get my eyes to focus on the paint surface and not the light bulb.  But hey, I'm use to black, can't miss anything on those! haha, good luck!

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I just started polishing my white Firebird last night and quickly found out its pretty tough to get a good look at everything.  I only got the hood done so it'll be a drug out process.  But I kept getting low and moving around a lot trying to catch the light in spots to see how I was doing.  Even looking into the bulbs reflection I found it hard to get my eyes to focus on the paint surface and not the light bulb.  But hey, I'm use to black, can't miss anything on those! haha, good luck!

 

I'm used to black, too! haha.

 

Maybe I should just do it at night with halogen lights :lol:

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I actually thought about buying some of this stuff.  Putting a couple drops in my polish and buying a black light bulb for my drop light to polish my white explorer lol.  But I have a garage to work in.

 

bottles_label_auctionsm.jpg

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White is one of the more challenging colors because it is so hard to see what you're getting back from the polish in terms of flash/open times. I tend to polish white in the darkest environment I can make, with the lighting being perpendicular to the panel (if that makes sense). 

 

We had a discussion awhile back on here on which color was harder, and while black is generally considered the most difficult due to the fact it shows everything, I'd almost argue white is harder (at least during the process) because of how hard it is to see the imperfections and to see what the products are doing as you work. 

 

 

Ford Clearcoat is pretty easy.   JB and Dylan both have some good advice in here for White paint.  Darker the better if you ask me!

 

Yep, Black is a piece of cake....white isn't hard persay, it's just the most difficult IMO.  Like one of the other guys stated, you get a feel pretty quickly as to when your polish is flashing....and as long as your environmental conditions stay the same, like in a garage, it should remain the same throughout the detail.

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White as I said isn't hard to work with if you know the correct procedure.

Work a 2x2 area,

If you make four passes slowly it should flash, if not either your speed is too high, too much pressure, not enough pressure or simply going too fast.

I'm saying this in using a PC

After you work the area pull it out in the sun and see if it resolved your problem, the sun won't lie to you.

Then at this point you know what you must do.

The paint on my 1996 work truck looks as good as the paint on my 2010 RAV and that's saying a lot.

 

The hood of my truck,it has 224k miles on it, always outside and drive it two hours to and from work.

Bakes in the sun all day here in the Louisiana heat.

 

Put a coat of BG and Americana on it this past Monday.

 

94CE3528-E745-49E0-991D-2DD6F072C41B-199

 

CF8BCFF2-5ABD-41B0-ACE9-104A3D978A49-199

 

Kevin

 

Edit: sorry had pics already:)

Edited by MrHot88
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