# What causes a 'hologram' effect in paintwork and how do you get rid of it?



## Bristle Hound (May 31, 2009)

What causes a 'hologram' effect in paintwork and how do you get rid of it?

I saw a 10 plate all black Cooper S convertable yesterday.

It looked really nice until the sunlight caught the paintwork :doublesho

Every panel had a hologram effect in the paintwork! What a bloody mess! & a shame too!


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## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

Many things, unrefined after correction, claying, even washing !

To get rid, use a Rotary or DA and refine with a refining pad and polish like 3M Ultrafina


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## Bristle Hound (May 31, 2009)

Thanks! :thumb:

Forgive my ignorance, but the onlly way to get rid is a machine polish then?

Can't be done by hand?

Sounds like sloppy work to me on a 10 plate car tho' :doublesho


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## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

No it could be done by hand, but a lot longer working time and harder work !

You will be suprised with the amount of cars coming out of the showroom with defects in the paintwork !


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

Unfortunately it's par for the course with a new car. probably sealed in with lifeshine too!


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I've found what looks like marring from using a quick detailer that contains wax in direct sun light. Dried to quick and effectively smeared on the paint which looked like marring. 

Sadly, 99% of the cars are marred from bad wash techniques. Friend of my neighbour has a fairly new Mini Cooper and the paint is unbelievably marred which shows up in the direct sun. 

I guess it only takes one crap wash to cause it so new cars from a dealership preparing the car could make it look really bad from new.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

it is amazing how careless dealerships are's its like they do it on purpose to perpetuate a problem. My line of work took me in a honda garage once and i watched a grease monkey washing a civic from what looked like a mop bucket. I later found out that it was a mop bucket and the reason the water coming off the car was so black was not that the car was dirty, but that the water being used was quite literaly black. Whoever buys that car will be lucky to only get holograms and not more. Add some idiot with a rotary trying to make it look nice before it leaves, e voila!


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## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

I got my van right off the truck, not touched by the stealers and still had holograms, told them not to touch it at all :speechles


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## Dodo Factory (Apr 11, 2007)

There are essentially two types of holograms:

1) abrasion holograms, often reffered to as buffer trails or machine marring, which are microscopic scratches in the paint caused by micro marring of the surface by a very fine abrasive pad or compound - when viewed in the sun you get a sort of holographic effect, sometimes with the small scratches appearing to move; buffer trails tend to be in circular trails, following the path of the machine. These need to be polished out, typically by machine with a fine finishing compound/pad.

2) oil holograms, caused by residues of products (oils, waxes or sealants predominantly) curing at different levels on the surface. These high spots and low spots alter the depth of the surface visually speaking, so the paint can look darker and lighter in different places and reflect light in odd ways. Typically this looks like smearing or blotching. The causes of this is either buffing off a product too early or buffing it off too late. By buffing too early, you inadvertently spread fresh product whilst attempting to clear the panel. If you fail to remove all fresh product and it remains on the surface in a small - perhaps near-invisible amount - then it could overcure or remain 'unlevelled' and lead to hologramming. If you buff it off too late, as in the second instance, and leave it on too long, then the product could cure/set at different levels and may be difficult to buff or remove. Oily products can also soak into mildly UVdamaged clearcoats if left too long (mainly reds and blacks) and again, these soak into microscopic pits in the paint if left for a longer time and may be unable to be removed/buffed totally. The final type of oil hologram resembles fine scratches - it is simply fine lines of product that have been spread rather than removed. This is why a second buff is often worthwhile. People often mistake these for scratches caused by the cloth or product, but it is really just the peaks and troughs left behind after a single pass of a cloth (the fibres causing the channels). To remove, reapplication and removal of the product can sometimes work, some people apply water as a spritz onto naturally-based waxes with good effect, you could use a solvent or degreaser to thoroughly clean the surface or you could simply wait for the oil/product to diminish over time.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I think it also depends on how dirty the car has got in the first place.

Potentially you have a combination of a car being washed with a gritty sponge as well as being covered in contaminents which also scratch.

I was lucky with my Megane in that the paint arrived (in 2006) and looked and I think still does like this. Escaped lightly by the sounds of some new cars.


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