Zilicium Detailing
Wet Sanding (Orange peel removal)
What is Orange Peel?
Before we discuss wet sanding, we must first understand what we are removing.
The 'wavy' texture is a car's paintwork is known as orange peel, simply because it resembles the undulating surface of an orange peel. Orange peel removal is the process of flattening the wave in the paintwork (which could be as little as 4 microns or 4/1000 mm).
Wet sanding
The most time consuming process of detailing is wet sanding, anywhere from 150 to 300+ hours can be spent ensuring a flat surface for the perfect reflection. All dependant on severity of the texture, size of the car and hardness of the paint. Although wet sanding by hand for this length of time may seem excessive, the loss of paint can be as little as 1 to 5 microns (Clearcoat can vary from 20-200 microns, the lower end of which, consideration of the whether the work can be safely carried out has to be made), equivalent to a couple of passes with a polish and machine.
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So you probably think, why not use a sanding disc on a machine and cut your work time by a factor of ten?
The answer is simple, the results pale in comparison. A number of passes may still leave orange peel because of a sanding disc's design, whilst cutting through clear coat at a rate more than the most aggressive compound we use (this statement may seem contradictory, however, the discs often have a sponge backing which mould to the contours of orange peel, reducing the efficiency whilst cutting all paint regardless, unlike hand sanding which cuts the peaks more efficiently) Oftentimes, bodyshops use machine and sanding disc combinations to 'flatten' the new paint or clear coat. However, these pads are unforgiving with the risk of dust or dirt being caught on the face and potentially leaving 'pig tails', small circular scratches which require a long time to correct. Sanding by hand reduces that risk because you can feel and hear any dirt between your hand, the paint and the paper whilst introducing straight scratches which are easier to correct instead of circular ones.
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Cleanliness is key and the surface is washed frequently and the paper changed often to maximise efficiency and reduce time.
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Once the sanding is complete, the whole car is polished to remove the fine scratches and the haze left behind by the sanding process. These scratches look far worse than they are. The finest scratches are a result of 3000 grit wet sandpaper and consequently, easier to remove than general 'swirl' scratches you'd find on most cars.
The result is a car with a reflection far better than the day it was bought and a permanent improvement in reflection. The car is then protected with nano coatings.
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To some, spending considerable time and money on wet sanding areas with less of an impact to the overall look of the car may seem excessive (bottom of the doors for example may not be as important to you as the bonnet or the wings.) Prior to every job of this scale, time is taken with you to decide which areas are paid special attention to. That may be the whole car of course, or certain areas such as the driver's side wings and doors which you see every time you enter the car.
Here are some rough guidelines to which areas you may want sanded. Of course removing or adding areas will increase time and cost. A wing or door may add upwards of 20-40 hours work for example and vice versa.
Stage 1 encompasses the boot, roof and bonnet. Some cars will need more time for certain areas. The long sweeping bonnet of a GT car will of course require more time than that of a Hatchback.
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Stage 2 adds both front and rear wings and roughly the top 1/3 of doors (usually stopping at the natural lines of a car, if not, it can be graduated and blended in from removed to partial removal and then standard or however agreed with you beforehand.)
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Stage 3, every part of the car's exterior paint (provided enough paint is measured safe to use) is sanded to remove orange peel, minus a 5-10mm border around fixtures, badges, seams and panel edges. (Specifics can be discussed relative to the make and model, such as removal and reapplication of badges etc.)
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However, these are merely guide stages to give a rough idea of work involved ranging from 50 hours to 300+ hours, you can of course choose which parts are sanded, you may want the driver's side only sanded, the work carried out is entirely up to you.