What is Paint Correction?
/If you are looking for auto detailing services for your vehicle it can really help to understand what Paint Correction is. You may be familiar with terms like power polishing, buffing, wet sanding and clay-baring, these and other services such as tar-removal, sap-removal and headlight polishing all fall under the term Paint Correction. Paint Correction is basically all the other stuff an auto-detailer does to the exterior paint on a vehicle, outside of washing it and protecting it.
Paint that is flawed, scratched, faded or contaminated can be corrected using 3 different procedures that fall under the umbrella of paint correction:
Chemical decontamination - Virtually all road tar that splashes up on the sides of the vehicle can be removed with special asphalt removing chemicals. Tree Sap that falls on the top part of the paint can be mostly removed with sap removing gels with the exception of tree sap that may have sat for a long period of time and damaged multiple layers of paint beneath. Small rust spots caused by rail dust or brake dust on the paint can be removed with paint safe chemical rust removers.
Clay-bar treatment - Paint over spray and certain types of metal fall-out that are on the surface of the paint can be removed with a clay bar treatment. A soft clay bar is dragged on the lubricated surface of the paint and these sorts of paint contaminants get caught in the clay and are removed from the paint, done properly this process doesn’t scratch the paint. Clay bar treatment leaves the surface of the paint very smooth.
Power polishing - Scratches in the paint, oxidized paint and new paint imperfections can all be removed with varying degrees of success using power polishing. Polishing allows the auto detailer to remove the top layers of scratched paint or at least round the edges of deep scratches to make them less visible. The process of power polishing uses multiple steps, starting with heavy cutting polish or even wet sanding, then steps of gradually less aggressive polish, ending with a final finishing polish.
Complete Paint Correction pricing and the amount of time needed to complete it, is unique to every vehicle. It is a service that requires an initial inspection, maybe washing the vehicle, if necessary, to see the paint clearly. Then a quote is generally made with a detailed explanation of what may or may not be achieved. Therefore, it’s not something you can book, or quote over the phone or online.