For those that don't know there are pastes made by just about every major paint manufacturer for scuffing up prepainted panels,mainly for doing blend work on cars but their use can also crossover into spotting in bikes.These pastes are usually used on a wet scuffpad and are excelent for helping abrade the panel and help immensely cleaning ground in grime off.Cleaning this stuff off is imperative and sometimes hard to see.The best way is to do a small area and rinse well and work your way from top to bottom,being carefull not to get alot of the paste around the nooks and cranies of moldings or any place water will drip out of later.When your done grab a fresh scuffy and the hose and rinse again.Have you ever noticed the dried water streaks running down a panel after it's been wetsanded and dries?These will show if there's any paste left in the drips.Prep solvent won't take it out either and looks like hell after it's cleared.Some pastes are colored too so all of a sudden there's a tinge of color under the clear-not good.Some things come off with water only,some with solvent only.To avoid catastrophies,wash the part in soap and water and then solvent wash.After any wetsanding or scuffing rewash with plenty of plain water.Before I tape I solvent wash again (mainly because service and detail love to spray things that paint doesn't like),and another one right before I spray.Another old trick before tacking is to wipe the surface down with water damp lint free towels until the towels show completely clean,you'd be surprised at the amount of dust still trapped in the sand scratches after you think it's clean.
Sanding pastes and cleanup.
- Thread starter rex
- Start date
K
kevsLX
Guest
Hey rex, what are some good lint free rags to use? Seems like everything I try leaves fuzz behind
Hah,good question because I haven't found them yet.We use Torx wipes at the shop,looks like a roll of butt wipe for the Jolly Green Giant and goes in a round blue wall mounted container.I don't remember the part# but they're for paint prep,they make all kinds of these for paint and mechanics.I think if you buy 2 rolls(a case) you get the dispenser free or dirt cheap-around $100 but they last quite a while.They're the best I've seen so far but once in a while you get fuzzies from them.We were using bulk polishing rags from the paint store for about $50 a 3' cubed box,but you had to shake the hell out of them before use.Much more absorbant than the Torx though.I've used a good brand of plain ol paper towels before but get plain white,no pretty prints on them and they go fast.I don't use a rag to apply prep solvent too.The best thing I've found to use is a One Shot qt sized pressurized sprayer,man are these great.It's been a long time since I've done the water wipedown because of the extra lint you had to deal with on the older masking paper.I prep wash a few times before I grab the gun so I think it's a waste for me,but the water wipe does work well and is cheaper than using all that solvent.
K
kevsLX
Guest
Cool man, I'll see if I can find the Torx and try 'em. Would be nice if I could get them with some nice flower or duckie prints, but I suppose I'll just have to deal with that
Thanks.
Thanks.
O
orange peel
Guest
best paper towel is called Rags in a Box, they sell them in most automotive places or sam's club or maybe at your jobber. Better than torx and softer too.
Good advise on the wet sanding paste. I would also like to add another reason to make sure all the residue is off.
I work in a large busy collision center, and we use the pastes everyday. We have had a couple cars come back with clear coat peeling, but only in some spots the rest stuck great. We called in the PPG rep, he came to the shop and looked at the cars. They were obviously scuffed good enough, but he said it was caused by not thoroughly cleaning off the cars after using the paste. Just rinsing is not enough you must rinse with water and wipe, either with a clean towel or a scotch bright while rinsing. Fortunatly its only happened on a couple cars, but the rep said it was getting to be a common problem.
Austin
I work in a large busy collision center, and we use the pastes everyday. We have had a couple cars come back with clear coat peeling, but only in some spots the rest stuck great. We called in the PPG rep, he came to the shop and looked at the cars. They were obviously scuffed good enough, but he said it was caused by not thoroughly cleaning off the cars after using the paste. Just rinsing is not enough you must rinse with water and wipe, either with a clean towel or a scotch bright while rinsing. Fortunatly its only happened on a couple cars, but the rep said it was getting to be a common problem.
Austin
T
TWISTED
Guest
If those are the same yellow rags I have seen they are flannel. They may scratch your finish. not a big problem until you get to the clear.
J
joe costanza
Guest
get some glass cleaner than prepsol than tac rag it