What Is Paint Correction?
If you’re a professional detailer or just a weekend warrior that loves taking good care of your car, you’ve likely come across the term “paint correction.” Paint correction is often marketed as a way to achieve a flawless, showroom-quality finish. While that is mostly true, it’s important to manage your expectations when you pay for a paint correction service, or even when you’re the one performing the paint correction. Paint correction is often sold as a revenue stream for detailers, as many paints don’t require any paint correction, prior to protecting the paint itself. In this article, we will uncover how paint correction works, reasonable results to expect from it, and how to be delicate with your vehicle’s paint when purchasing one of these services or performing one.
Paint correction is the process of removing surface imperfections from a vehicle’s paint, which typically include swirl marks, scratches (and micro-scratches), oxidation, and hard water spots. This is achieved through a multi-stage machine polishing process, using a rotary, dual-action, or gear-driven polisher, in combination with a compound agent (liquid). This process carefully levels out the clearcoat, leaving behind a smooth and blemish-free finish that achieves better overall paint clarity. Unlike a simple wax or cheap polish, which temporarily masks these defects, paint correction eliminates them entirely, provided you have enough clearcoat to work with. Afterall, the average thickness of a modern clearcoat is between 38-50 microns (or about 1.5 to 2 mils). Saying that, the average thickness of a strand of human hair is between 70-80 microns (or about 2.75 to 3.15 mils). That means most modern clearcoat finishes are thinner than the average strand of human hair! This is why it is so imperative to protect your vehicle’s clearcoat from environmental harm and build up on the surface with a paint protection product, such as Permagard.
The Misconceptions About Paint Correction
Despite its benefits, paint correction is often misunderstood. While it is the most effective way at removing surface imperfections embedded into the paint, such as clearcoat scratches or deep-rooted contaminants, it is not a cure-all for paint. Paint correction cannot remove scratches that cut through the clearcoat and into the base coat. The only remedy for scratches that penetrate through a clearcoat is repainting. Paint correction is also not a one-time solution for customers that do not opt for any form of paint protection. If you use a compound agent to correct an oxidized surface, and no form of paint protection is laid down on top of that newly corrected surface, the oxidation will eventually return. This is another reason why it is so important to use a paint protection product, such as Permagard, to prevent oxidation from reoccurring again in the future. Ceramic coating manufacturers will also have you believe that paint correction is absolutely required before a ceramic coating can be applied to the painted surfaces. This is simply not the case. A ceramic coating can be applied to any painted surface, provided it is not oxidized. The issue is the average vehicle (which we’ve established has very thin clearcoat) cannot withstand more than 3 or 4 effective paint correction sessions over the lifetime of its paint. This is why it is so important for customers to maintain their ceramic coating over its lifespan, so that you receive the best longevity results out of the product.
The Process of Paint Correction
When it comes to the process of paint correction, each step will generally remove some percentage of clearcoat over the session. The majority of vehicles need to be clay barred to remove deep surface contaminants that cannot be removed with a simple deep exterior wash. Clay barring, just like paint correction, removes a small level of clearcoat when performing this process. Afterall, the only way to remove imperfections in the clearcoat is by removing a layer of the clearcoat from the surface. Whether it is clay barring, compounding, or polishing, all of these processes will always remove a small amount of clearcoat when performing them. And when you clay bar, compound, and then polish the surface all in one session, you can remove a significant amount of clearcoat in just one paint correction session. This is why clearcoat thickness is so important for maintaining a deep depth of shine for your paint, while keeping its structural integrity intact to protect the substrate underneath.
Paint Correction for Ceramic Coatings vs Permagard
Over time, all painted surfaces will incur scratches and imperfections. It’s just the natural order of owning a vehicle. But what if your car is already protected with a paint protection product, such as a ceramic coating or Permagard, and it gets a scratch or imperfection? Well, if it’s a ceramic coating, the coating would need to be removed in that spot to properly remove the scratch. And as we mentioned earlier, removing it would require paint correction, which in turn would remove more clearcoat. Permagard fills in micro-scratches when it’s applied, so no paint correction is ever needed to fix these issues over time on a Permagard-treated surface. A simple application of our Service Treatment will restore the original Permagard “wet look” effect to the treated surfaces.
As we established earlier, clearcoats are incredibly thin and paint correction will always thin down the clearcoat each time it is utilized. Greater clearcoat thickness is what gives the deep depth of shine to painted surfaces, which is ultimately what customers are looking to gain when they pay for a paint protection product, such as a ceramic coating or Permagard. The issue is that while both ceramic coatings and Permagard enhance shine on painted surfaces, only one of them can be applied without paint correction. And Permagard has never required to paint correction to be applied, therefore ensuring the maximum thickness of the clearcoat, while bringing a deep depth of shine and wet look effect that Permagard is so famous for. The “ultimate” gloss and shine is simply impossible to achieve if there is not enough clearcoat thickness on the vehicle’s painted surfaces. Once your clearcoat loses its original thickness, you end up with simply a shiny car. There’s no wet look effect to be had or any appearance of deep gloss. Anyone with basic polishing experience can learn how to make paint shine, but a good detailer will always try to protect and preserve as much paint as possible.
Is Paint Correction Worth It?
This answer can change depending on what type of vehicle owner you would ask. Some vehicle owners have no issue with scratches or imperfections on their vehicle’s paint. Others are more meticulous and prefer a flawless finish. The answer entirely depends on the customer’s needs when it comes to maintaining their car. For some, a simple automated car wash once a week is enough. But these automated washes cause many micro-scratches and swirl marks on your paint. Other customers prefer the full package. Full paint correction followed by a paint protection product, such as a ceramic coating or Permagard, followed by weekly hand washes to prevent micro-scratches. The need for paint correction falls entirely on the customer and their expectations. Paint correction has some great use cases that many customers can benefit from when it comes to maintaining their vehicle’s painted surfaces. Saying that, it’s also important to keep in mind how each customer wants to maintain their vehicle and what they feel is best for their budget and situation. Our advice is to be completely certain that you need paint correction for your vehicle’s paint before it is carried out. This is to ensure that you aren’t unnecessarily shaving away valuable clearcoat thickness off of your vehicle’s paint system.
Final Thoughts
Paint correction is a powerful detailing process that can rejuvenate and enhance your vehicle’s painted surfaces. It can shave off years of scratches and imperfections that are deeply embedded into the paint. And with the right tool in the hands of an experienced detailer, the results can be immaculate and impressive. However, paint correction requires years of experience to train and master it. It’s a skill that needs to be honed over time on many different types of paint to fully understand it on a fundamental level. Protecting your paint’s original thickness should be priority #1 when it comes to maintaining your vehicle’s paint. And paint correction does thin down your paint every time it goes through this process. But if the process is correctly carried out with the right materials, and then protected immediately afterwards, with an automotive paint protection product such as Permagard, you can enjoy a flawless, showroom-quality finish for many years to come.
If you would like to learn more about paint correction, contact our Permagard Headquarters office today at (305) 662-5070 for more information.
