Paint Decontamination
Just like people, our vehicles are in a polluted environment. Over time, this affects your car’s paint. What is paint decontamination, and how does your car get contaminated in the first place?
How Is Your Paint Contaminated?
Even in the cleanest air, there are natural contaminants like tree sap, bird droppings, and insect residue. Your car’s paint is also exposed to things like brake dust, industrial pollution, and hard water from sprinkler systems. And while it seems that just a simple wash would remove things, that’s not always the solution.
What Do Contaminants Do To Your Paint?
No matter how much you clean your car yourself, these contaminants can remain. This causes your car’s paint to lose its shine and lustre. The paint becomes lifeless and dull, and one way to check is to run your hands along your car’s hood while it’s wet. If you feel a rough surface, then you have contaminated paint. The contamination looks different in different colors. A white car will sometimes show orange spots, and these are iron deposits. On darker colored cars, tar spots in black or brown are often evident.
How Can You Fix It?
Washing alone is not enough. Our decontamination process starts with a two-bucket wash system to gently hand-shampoo away any sand, debris, or loose dirt. This reduces the introduction of marring and micro-scratches.
Second, a clay bar is then used to remove bonded surface contaminants. A common misconception is that once a vehicle has been washed, it is clean. While it may be clean to the naked eye, the surface is often still embedded with dirt and covered with stubborn contaminants. These contaminants settle on your car’s paint and become “bonded” after baking in the sun. And we all know how strong the Florida sun is, and how much damage it can do.
The next process is a machine polish to smooth out the micro-scratches, spider-webbing, and swirl marks.
After all correction has taken place, it is time to seal up the vehicle’s paint to protect it from further scratching. Waxes and sealants are used to maintain a protective layer on your paint.
Want your car’s paint looking glossy? Call us at 850-248-2270, and ask about our paint enhancement service.