# Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips*

The majority of cars being manufactured today and starting since the 1980's use what's called a *basecoat/clearcoat paint system*. With this system, a clear layer of paint is sprayed over the top of the basecoat which is also the color coat or the layer of paint that has pigment in it. If the car has a metallic finish then the metallic flakes are also in the basecoat.

The basecoat doesn't offer any gloss or shine and in fact it's dull or matte looking after it's sprayed. The basecoat gets it's gloss, shine, depth and reflectivity by the spraying of the clearcoat layer of paint over the top of it. This is why if a person removes too much clearcoat when buffing and they expose the basecoat it will appear to be a dull round or oval spot on a body panel. The part of the paint system that adds beauty has been removed revealing the dull or matte basecoat layer of paint.

*Just how thin is the clear layer of paint on a factory paint job?*

The _*factory*_ clearcoat on a new or modern car measures approximately 2 mils thin.

The average post-it not is around 3 mils thin.










*What does this mean? *

This means the factory clearcoat on a new or modern car is thinner than a post-it note. The next time you have a post-it note in front of you, feel a single post-it note between your fingers. Like this...










This experience will drive home the point as to just how thin the clear layer of paint is on modern car with a factory paint job.

It should also drive home the importance of using the least aggressive pad, product and even tools to get the job done.

When I say, _*get the job done*_, the context of this usually means someone is buffing out a car to *remove paint defects* like swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation to make the paint and thus the car look better.

By using the least aggressive products you "get the job done" _*while leaving the most paint on the car*_ to it will last over the mechanical service life of the car.

If you're working on your own cars and you're reading this you're already ahead of the game by reading the AGO forum and probably being a member so you can ask questions and get help.

If you're working on customer's cars take a professional approach as a service to your customers.

If you're reading this and you're going to do the work yourself or hire a detailer then do some research and make sure you hire a detailer that knows this type of stuff because the factory clearcoat on your car is thin.


----------



## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Thanks Mike. Much thinner that I would have expected.
I think it's worth clarifying that '1 mil' refers to a thousands of an inch, rather than 1mm.


----------



## Jeebsy (Oct 26, 2018)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Thanks Mike. Much thinner that I would have expected.
> I think it's worth clarifying that '1 mil' refers to a thousands of an inch, rather than 1mm.


I was watching a Ammo NYC video on youtube yesterday and they said the clearcoat was 3 mil - had a very brief confused moment.


----------



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Jeebsy said:


> I was watching a Ammo NYC video on youtube yesterday and they said the clearcoat was 3 mil - had a very brief confused moment.


Larry is a great guy, I don't know where he gets his info but I have an article where I back-up my information with a discussion with a real *PhD Organic Chemist* that helped to formulate modern basecoat/clearcoat paint technology back when the industry was still using solvent-evaporation lacquers and enamels.

I wrote this article in *2010*, note I circled the time stamp of the post.










Then a few years later in 2012, after speaking with Dr. David Ghodoussi, I posted a follow-up sharing the thin aspect of FACTORY OEM PAINT that I learned from Dr. Ghodussi

See post #14

I was asked a question and in answering it, I shared what I learned from the paint chemist.



glen e said:


> Mike - in talking about clear coat failure - is there any way to prevent it?





Mike Phillips said:


> There's only three people that I've ever spoken to that are knowledgeable about clear coat paint technology and what causes them to fail, these would be,
> 
> 
> Dr. David Ghodoussi
> ...


Just for what it's worth, I always give due credit where credit is due and share where I get my information so people can trust it's accurate and dependable.

*BIG PICTURE?*

When working on factory paint - use the least aggressive process to get the job done.

Try to preserve as much paint as possible so what's left can endure over time and future wear-n-tear.


----------



## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

I don’t think he was questioning your figure Mike; just mentioning about the ‘mil’ thing you Americans like to use. Most here (UK) likely won’t know what that is or are that old they forgot. 😂


----------



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

GeeWhizRS said:


> I don't think he was questioning your figure Mike; just mentioning about the 'mil' thing you Americans like to use.


No worries, I get that, I just don't want anyone to think I pulled these numbers out of thin air.

I trust Dr. Ghoudussi. And if anyone here isn't sure of who he is, he's the head chemist, owner, founder and President of Optimum Polymer Technologies.

:thumb:



GeeWhizRS said:


> Most here (UK) likely won't know what that is or are that old they forgot. 😂


Yeah I forgot about that. Us Yanks use mils, or at least I do, and across the pond you guys use microns.

I use the Post-it Note analogy because I think most guys can find a Post-it Note, hold it between their thumb and their index finger and the wrap their brain around how thin it is.

It's good either ways, whatever a person can calculate in thier brain.

*3 mils = 76.2 microns

2 mils = 50.8 microns*

And the BIG PICTURE remains the same, just keep this info in mind when doing any paint correction work and know the difference between working on factory OEM paint and custom paint.


----------



## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

If you want to visualise this - picture a scratch that's deep enough to be down to bare metal - you can barely catch it with a thumbnail, yet it contains an anti-corrosion primer layer, then a colour layer and then a topcoat clear layer.

That's how it came home to me a couple of years back when I was staring at a deep scratch on my car paint, and looking at the touch up kit that came with the car thinking "how can I put such thin layers down with this brush??" (took it to a proper spray shop in the end) 

Sent from my P027 using Tapatalk


----------

