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Clearcoat Thickness


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So I just received Adam’s 7424XP Dual-Action Car Polishing Kit and am pretty excited about trying it all out. I’ve watched all the videos on how to use it so I am not too concerned about that. But my question is say I use the orange pad with the swirl and haze remover and follow that with the white pad and machine polish exactly how much clear coat am I removing each time I do that? Certainly the paint is going to get more fine scratches and swirls over time and then it will have to be done again. Is it something that is pretty negligible or should that not be done more than a few times. How thick is the clearcoat? Does it vary a lot between makers? I just want to have peace of mind that I am not removing much of clear each time this process is done. Great forum by the way.

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usually depends on the manufacturer. also realize that factory clear is very thin compared to, say, if you have had your car repainted. As far as having to "do it again", once you correct your paint, keeping it protected with wax and using a proper washing/dusting technique will help prevent swirl marks from being reintroduced to the finish

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usually depends on the manufacturer. also realize that factory clear is very thin compared to, say, if you have had your car repainted. As far as having to "do it again", once you correct your paint, keeping it protected with wax and using a proper washing/dusting technique will help prevent swirl marks from being reintroduced to the finish

 

:iagree:

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Besides, even if you do eventually end up with more swirls, they won't be nearly as severe as the ones you will be initially removing, so the amount of time/product/pressure needed will be significantly less the second time - and, consequently, so will the amount of clear you have to remove.

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I had my TBSS for about 4 years... It was polished (meaning full correction) 2-4 times per year so if we average that out and say I had done it 3 times a year over the course of 4 years I polished 12 times... I was never anywhere near concerned about going thru the clear coat... the PC more so rounds off swirls and scratches than it does remove whole layers of paint.... You would literally have to orange pad your car to death before having to worry about it.

 

Now if you were using a rotary buffer thats a whole other story. :pc:

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usually depends on the manufacturer. also realize that factory clear is very thin compared to, say, if you have had your car repainted. As far as having to "do it again", once you correct your paint, keeping it protected with wax and using a proper washing/dusting technique will help prevent swirl marks from being reintroduced to the finish

 

Bingo.

 

Besides, even if you do eventually end up with more swirls, they won't be nearly as severe as the ones you will be initially removing, so the amount of time/product/pressure needed will be significantly less the second time - and, consequently, so will the amount of clear you have to remove.

 

Double-Yatzee!

 

I had my TBSS for about 4 years... It was polished (meaning full correction) 2-4 times per year so if we average that out and say I had done it 3 times a year over the course of 4 years I polished 12 times... I was never anywhere near concerned about going thru the clear coat... the PC more so rounds off swirls and scratches than it does remove whole layers of paint.... You would literally have to orange pad your car to death before having to worry about it.

 

Now if you were using a rotary buffer thats a whole other story. :pc:

 

Now you CAN completely level the clear to down to below a scratch in order to completely remove it with the PC, it just isn't going happen all that fast depending on the depth of the scratch.

 

Once you have completely corrected your paint using SHR and the orange pad, you should ideally, never have to get that aggressive with your paint again if you are caring for it properly with your wash, drying and wiping techniques. Even if you do create some scratches, FMP and the white pad should easily remedy the situation and that combination is NOT going to remove a significant amount of clear no matter how often you do it.

 

Again, SHR should be a one time correction tool. After that, FMP should be as aggressive as you should have to get. If you constantly have to go back to SHR, you are either doing a terrible job at maintaining your paint or you never got rid of the scratches in the first place.

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The only real way to tell is to get a paint thickness gauge that measures both base and clear. But don't lose any sleep over it, a PC is an extremely gentle way to polish :2thumbs:

 

 

 

But as always, be careful around edges. That is where the clear can be extremely thin.

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