Over the years car paint has to endure a staggering amount of wear and tear. Swirl marks, bird mess etching, water spots, fading, dulled colour and a loss of shine; there’s a lot of reasons behind why your car paint may be looking tired.
Damage and wear and tear comes in many forms and can largely happen despite the best efforts to keep your car clean. Elemental damage such as UV, contaminants, staining, damage from repeated abrasions, bird mess etching, and most commonly improper wash technique all take their toll on your paintwork over time.
Even if your car is spotlessly clean, damaged and tired paintwork will result in a less than satisfying finish, especially in direct sunlight. Luckily, this is where paint correction comes in, and we offer a number of different paint correction and enhancement packages to meet your needs to bring back that flawless gloss.
Paint correction is an intensive process in which paint damage and imperfections of this nature are polished out using a multitude of different specialist compounds, cutting pads and equipment. Generally a lot of paintwork defects are in the top coat of lacquer, whether it’s swirls, polishing holograms, stains or etching. When direct sunlight (or any un-diffused lighting) hits paint with these defects, rather than hitting a smooth surface and reflecting a clear shine, the micro scratches and defects will catch the light in the low spots of the lacquer and produce that swirly finish, leading to a dull and aged looking paint finish.
During paint correction the paint depth is assessed to ensure safe correction, and a fine layer of the lacquer (or top coat, depending on the vehicle paint) is carefully removed using machine polishers to eliminate these defects, leading to a corrected, smooth, high gloss finish. All painted and lacquered areas of the vehicle will be corrected – not just the body paintwork! This process is highly bespoke, and different paintwork and wear and tear patterns may require multiple stages of correction and different techniques to produce a corrected finish. With the swirl marks, polishing holograms and etching removed, the smooth surface of the lacquer will result in an undistorted, clear reflection, even in the harshest direct sunlight, adding instant impact to the look of your vehicle.
Be aware that some detailers may use special ‘one step’ compounds which contain silicone fillers at a much cheaper price to produce fast glossy results without any paint correction and after a number of washes will usually break down to reveal the uncorrected paint once again. We specialise in true paint correction and protection using only the best combination of products and techniques.
After paint correction, we will always seal the car with a high gloss protective sealant regardless of which package you choose, however we highly recommend opting for a ceramic coating to ensure much stronger and longer lasting paint protection to maintain the corrected finish of your vehicle. We offer a number of different brand coatings, all from the best tried and trusted specialists in the world, in 2, 5 and 9 year coatings. Click here to read more about ceramic coatings and how they protect and enhance your paintwork. We can also advise you on upkeep, products and wash technique to ensure your vehicle stays looking its best!
An enhancement polish is the entry level paint correction package. An enhancement polish will remove fine swirls, light defects and oxidisation, but won’t usually remove some of the deeper marks if the vehicle has them, but will produce a high gloss finish. A great, cost effective way to renew gloss to your tired paintwork.
Completion time: 5-6 hrs.
A Stage 1 paint correction is the next step above an enhancement polish, utilising a longer, more advanced process and a heavier cutting compound and pad combination carefully selected for your vehicle to achieve better paint correction results. A Stage 1 correction will remove swirls, polishing holograms, oxidisation and a host of defects, and will generally remove deeper marks than an enhancement polish to yield great results and superb gloss.
Completion time: 15-20hrs.
A Stage 2 paint correction is a much more intensive process in which the paintwork is corrected in multiple stages – a heavy cut stage to eliminate more serious defects, oxidisation and deeper marks, followed by a refining cut to polish out any micro marks from the heavy cut stage, and a refining pass to ensure supreme clarity and gloss. Some vehicles will require additional polishing stages depending on the characteristics of the paintwork, but this is covered within the stage 2 package. A Stage 2 correction will generally take longer to complete but will yield the best results, eliminating deeper marks in the lacquer and restore the most refined level of clarity and gloss.
Completion time: 20-30 hrs.
We offer paint correction within our detailing packages found on our services page, however we can offer a personal service to fit your specific requirements. Each vehicle is different, so we always welcome you to come and see us for a consultation to assess your vehicles paintwork and discuss your needs in person!
Have some questions about our services, or just need some general advice? Contact us below or call on 01252 878752 and a member of our team will be more than happy to help!
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