# Open Letter to Myself: Paintwork Correction...



## Steampunk

This is something I've wanted to write for quite a long time...

Last year marked my tenure in detailing, and whilst life has changed and my interests sometimes taken me elsewhere (Often into areas that have helped me to understand some of the science behind detailing more, as typically they are fields which overlap with detailing to some degree.), something always draws me back. Detailing has been my predominant passion over the past decade.

Age has made me nostalgic... I made a lot of good friends along the way in the detailing sphere, and have had some really good times both detailing, and getting to share in it with the community as a whole.

Many of those people I used to know have moved on with their life; some of the 'giants' in the community like DaveKG (Now raising a family; my best regards. You taught me a lot with your Zenith Point Methodology for Menzerna & 3M Polishes.), Russel @ Reflectology (Thank you for the wonderful Scholl Concepts guide that got me started with their polishes.), Paul Dalton @ Miracle Detail (You inspired me; your dabbling in topographical readings of paint made me study paint and optics at a surface profile level, which got me into some industrial polishing fields that massively advanced my understanding of the subject.), Kelly @ KDS (Restoration Detailing... Wow! Some of the off-hand sentences you wrote took me time to fully understand, but you have an organic understanding of contouring and leveling with various types of tools and products that helped me to advance my craft, and your work always inspires me. Approaching detailing at a deconstructive level.), Kevin Brown (The 'KBM' - Kevin Brown Method - and your articles on paintwork correction, outright taught me more about the science of paintwork correction, polishing, and wetsanding than any other. I appreciate your generosity over the years, in sharing your knowledge. You totally changed the way I looked at abrasive science, and have helped me so much to learn.), Orca / PJGH (Paul: You are the one who inspired me the most... When I first got my old '77 MGB, I searched for classic car detailing when trying to learn to restore the paint, and found your old Saab's... Your approach to combining different products to create different optical effects made me realize there was some art involved in making a car look beautiful. You're probably the one who really got me started.)... Some friends and fellow learners, along the way; not all of who are posting anymore, but I wish you all the best... I have enjoyed the camaraderie of the detailing world, because of you.

I look back at myself ten years ago... I had so much to learn, and had so many misconceptions I held so firmly. I would like to write an open letter to that past me... Maybe, if you are learning about detailing now, it will help you avoid the same mistakes I made. Maybe if you have already gone through these stages, you will be able to enjoy the process of re-living the evolution of a detailer that you have gone through... There is so much I have learned over these past ten-plus years. This letter I will dedicate to Paintwork Correction... It's just one of many parts of detailing, but it's my favorite...

If I could tell my past self anything in regards to learning about paintwork correction, these are the lessons I would try to pass on:

"* (1) - There is a lot to learn... Detailing is a science, an art, and a craft... *Identify the look you want to achieve by viewing the works of others; this is how you learn the art and aesthetic of detailing. To start, train your eye to see. There is a science to how the aesthetic is then created; a manipulation of surface profile and topography through abrasives mainly, and secondly through the reflective and refractive index of various LSP's and Glazes... Paintwork Correction is the first step, though; without this, you will never achieve the look you want. It's like sharpening a razor: if the bevel is never ground to a keen apex, subsequent refinement will simply polish a turd... Lastly, there is a craft to detailing. The aesthetics of Art, and the cognizance of Science are not enough; you have to develop the Muscle Memory, and teach your hands to do what your mind understands... This takes hundreds and thousands of hours of practice. It's called 'Craft'.








_*(2) - Embrace Power Tools*_... Like almost all new detailers, I thought that machine polishing was some kind of damaging, needless process to correct swirls and scratches in the paint... That by hand, it must be kinder to the paint, and that other people must just be lazy to try to do it with power equipment. I carried this over from woodworking, I guess, where I have always been a bit of a hand-tool snob; simply as power equipment often scares me, since I have seen many accidents as a result of it... When it comes to detailing, at least, I was so wrong... Machine polishing removes_ less_ paint in the process of correcting defects, as machines level so much more capably than is possible by hand due to their ability to stabilize foam and textile pads using centrifugal force, and hand-polishing often just results in driving defects deeper, with inconsistent depth of material removal. Like grinding and polishing metal, it's also one of those things that takes way longer than you imagine it to do, so power tools are a massive help in making things happen in the time-span you imagine they should do (I.E. Within your lifetime.)...








Newbie me: You aren't wasting or hurting paint by machine polishing... You are doing so by being stubborn, and trying to rub-out a whole car by hand. :wall:

_Embrace the buffer: _:buffer:

*(3) - Upgrade Sooner*... Like many detailers, I tried to start off as cheap as I possibly could, and arrogantly thought I could do the same with a relatively inexpensive, beginner 8mm DA made in China, as the industry leaders were doing with 2-5X more expensive Rotary and DA polishers from European brands... I spent thousands of hours behind a Meguiar's G110 V2 (A common 8mm-Throw DA at the time.), and learned a ton, and was able to create amazing results that such a cheap machine shouldn't have been able to create. Like building an 800hp EVO, I learned how to optimize my parts and driving style to out-drive some far more 'exotic' machines...








The result: I sacrificed my health. I now have health problems as a result of spending too much time behind a machine which vibrated too much, and pushing myself to do things with that machine that created amazing results, but were physically abusive. My own fault... I should have upgraded sooner to a smoother machine, like my new Rotex. If you love paintwork correction, and do it often, upgrade as soon as possible to a better, less abusive machine... Trust me... I have a lifelong injury as result of this lesson. Don't make my same mistake. Upgrade from your introductory DA as soon as possible, unless you only polish a car out 1-2 times a year. Your health is worth more than the price of a single tool upgrade.

* (4) - Don't get locked into a box of thinking based on popular opinion*... Popular advice can sometimes be right, but sometimes it can also be very wrong.

For years - too many, in fact - I have followed the path that if you have soft paint, the only suitable machine which won't burn it or leave holograms is a DA polisher of some sort. That a rotary is most dangerous on soft paint, but is far better and more manageable on hard paint than soft. I heard this repeated time and time again, often from some of the leading figures who inspired me... Only in the recent time have I put this to the test for myself, and I have come to a totally different conclusion on my own.

However, because of this, I spent years locked into a totally DA centric paradigm, which severely limited my ability to advance and understand the subject of paintwork correction... My current experimentation is proving this. Rotaries can actually be finer finishing tools than DA's on crazy soft paints, and DA's more aggressive tools than rotaries for safe, heavy correction on insanely hard paints; it just depends on the situation... 








Part of it: I wanted to believe in the DA counter-culture which was growing at the same time as I was in the detailing sphere... My bias in wanting to think DA's were a superior new technology didn't let me see that _every single type of machine, pad, and polish/compound has its place, and that place isn't always what popular opinion says it is_.

Wool on a rotary can sometimes be the safest way to correct heat-sensitive paint or plastic; a DA can sometimes eat away at a hard paint more aggressively than a rotary. The current theory of swarf recirculation using long-throw DA's to create the best finish isn't always right for every situation; nor is the old-school theory that to level sanding scratches on tough paints you need a high-speed rotary always correct.

_*(5) - There is no universal '1-Step Combo'*_... The most disprovable of 'popular opinions' is the "1-Step Combo"... Every paint has a sweet-spot of a combination of pad, machine, product, and technique that will result in the ideal balance of correction vs. finish quality to the naked eye. However, what one influencer thinks is acceptable in that compromise (Some people can ignore hazing or micro-marring that others find unacceptable.), you may not, and no two paints will respond similarly enough that the amazing "1-Step" results you witnessed online will be repeatable in your situation.









(Wetsanding to final finish in 1-step? Yep.)​
I've found some amazing 1-step combos over the years; sometimes ones which are quite unorthodox... Outside of that particular paint section on that particular car, they do not always achieve acceptable results. This is the way of the world... You cannot always repeat results that you imagine should be universal. The variables involved in the real world are too vast. Even the most skilled detailer, with hundreds of different vehicles under their belt, will be able to make only a rough stab at what combo will be ideal for your situation... However, it will never be 100% accurate. Your situation is unique to you. The vehicle, material, and defects in front of you... Your skills, your weather conditions, your machine/pads/products.

* (6) - "It's better to believe in science..."*... 'Paintwork Correction' is simply the abrasive control of surface profile, which is applicable to any material with some modification of product and technique. It's actually quite a simple concept to make a car look the way you want; you just have to understand the basic mechanics of it... The art isn't in the voodoo of the specific products you use, but in the mechanics of how to alter the optics of the surface. It's simple, and controllable; you just need to know how the products you use act.

Surface Profile is the scientific measurement of surface texture; Topography is the the representation of textures on a grand scale. Abrasives in the form of polishes, compounds, and sandpaper are particles of different _shapes and sizes_ which cut into and re-grind the surface they are forced to interact with to suit their own image. The method by which they are applied (Material structure, stiffness, and centrifugal force vs. Pressure.) controls whether they bulldoze (Leveling the peaks until the lowest point is reached.), or adapt (Following and contouring to a surface, to maintain the existing topography.) to the surface they ride over. Pads control whether they clump together to interact in large groups to cut deep grooves quickly, or make a uniform, thin layer, and cut more shallowly.

Under magnification, all surfaces will appear as a plane filled with random scratches. Polishing organizes those scratches in a finer, and more uniform way; like a plowed field. The polishes, machines, and pads you use control various properties of those furrows... Whether they are more 'U' shaped or more 'V' shaped, their direction, and how consistent in depth and shape they are, as well as how deep they are dug into the paint, metal, or plastic.

You can control how deeply they dig and the shape they create through polish choice (Some products dig a different furrow than others, which results in a different optical property... Sometimes perceived as wetness, or depth, or flake-pop, etc.), and through the medium and method through which it is applied (Pad and tool selection, controlling the structuring of the field you are plowing through centrifugal force, lubricant isolation/hydroplaning, and abrasive concentration/group structuring/shape via pad/polish selection.)...

Polishing and sanding are part of the exact same spectrum. Don't be afraid of either.









It's a pretty simple process. Once you can visualize it, you can control it.

*(7) - The Cost-Benefit Analysis*... Long story short: good gear pays off.

Starting out, one debates the benefit of a 9-quid polishing pad versus a 12-quid polishing pad; especially once one figures out that one needs half a dozen of them or more... Inherently, one tries to nickle-and-dime your way to the completion of your objective, as detailing a car is inherently more expensive than it feels it should be... Welcome to the world... Inevitably, and sadly, this penny-pinching ends up in disappointment. 

You've just been told you need several hundred quid's worth of gear to make your car look nice... How do you cope with this new reality? Answer: Treat it as an investment.








Are there deals in detailing? Yes. Are there products that are undervalued versus their results and longevity? Yes. If you make no mistakes (Not possible.) and can pick all the perfect products for the unique needs of yourself and your particular vehicle, can you save yourself spending an insane feeling amount of money? No; you'll still spend a crazy amount on detailing your car. Taking care of a car and making it look perfect is an expensive business. The best thing you can do is to realize this, and _not waste too much money trying to save money_... Good tools, good pads, good polishes, good sandpaper; they're all expensive. The benefit is: they last. Like good clothes, they last more than a season. If you can afford to invest big once, rather than invest small 10-times, you break even or ahead.

There are some places good gear investments pay off more than others... Microfibers and pads; these can last years. Good machines can last a decade. Liquids are dicier... Polishes/Compounds have a shelf life, and one must also factor in the time/quantity/cost analysis into your purchase. For example: Non diminishing polishes can sometimes be cheaper than some of the more expensive diminishing polishes, but they can require much more product to prime the pad, resulting in higher material usage. However, with skillful application, Non-Diminishing compounds can also result in less paint loss, and fewer visits to the body shop for a repaint if one plans to own the vehicle for a decade or more... Why nickle and dime 200-quid's worth of polishes and pads when a repaint can cost 2-5 grand or more? Yes, life is expensive, but if you're trying to detail your car, so are the investments you have to make... You can make your car look 'better' on a budget for a short time, but to make it look perfect for a long time costs.

Polishing is like sharpening... Vehicle paint, and hardened blade steel are expendable commodities if you have any standard of quality... The higher your standard, the faster you will spend the material you wish to keep perfect. If you can live with semi-marred paint, or a semi-dulled edge to your blade, you will be able to put off material expenditure longer. It's just a matter of personal taste... You'll have to repaint, or replace your edge-tool at some point, if you want it to be _better-than-new_ for the whole of its life.








If you're a detailer, and can only afford a Camry; spend 1000 quid, and make it the best looking Camry on the road which you can be proud of... Rather than buy a Lexus, and fail miserably to make it look like as fine a car as it is. This I guess is the detailer's mentality... When I first joined DW, it was full of the most beautiful Mondeo's I had ever seen. Detailers spend money to make normal cars amazing. Car collectors try to save like mad to make exotic cars look ordinary. What kind of person are you? Maybe you can afford both; to keep exotic cars amazing... Most can't. Identify the type of person you are, and live up to it.

*(8) - Practice Makes Perfect*... When I first started detailing, I thought that wasting money on scrap panels and supplies for practice was just throwing money down the tubes. How wrong could I be?!?!? :doublesho

If you want to abrasively correct your paint, you should own a scrap panel... Just like if you own a straight razor, you should own a 'Gold Dollar' alongside your pristine vintage Sheffield or Heljestrand. No, it won't feel exactly the same, and yes, you will use good materials to perfect something unworthy of your efforts…








However, along the way, you will feel the freedom you need to push boundaries... To burn through paint and learn what that feels like without remorse and a trip to the bodyshop. To examine the different effects of your tools, pads, polishes, and sanding abrasives. To do things you'd never do to your own car, so it feels 100% comfortable when you want to attempt something more mundane. To spend 100-hours practicing a job which will last 10-hours, so that it looks like your 11th job rather than your first. To have something which you can polish just when you get 'the itch', and need some 'zen time' with your machine, buffing off some paint. Your scrap panel is your punching bag... It's there so you can teach yourself to deliver a knock-out in one strike when you need it, and to take out the frustrations of your week. If you're a detailer, you know it feels the same as kick-boxing. Sometimes, when you've had a bad day, that scratch just has to go... In such a mood, it's better to take it out on your scrap panel, than your car.

Detailing is a craft... You'll learn it via mistakes. Give yourself the chance to safely make them. You'll be a far better detailer for it. Fear is the enemy of learning.

*(9) - There's all the time in the world*... Rushing a job ends in tears. In 'The League of Extraordinary Gentleman', Sean Connery instructs Shane West on how to make the impossible shot... The trick was to take a breath, and let everything else fade away; time, fear of failure, the sensation of causality... It doesn't matter if it's 100-yards or 1000-yards away. You'll miss if you're stressed... You'll nail it if you aren't.









(Take your time.)​
Pick up your machine. Hold it in your hands. Close your eyes, and take a breath... Let the tool settle in your grasp. You don't have five hours to accomplish the job. _You have all the time in the world_... Breathe... Preconceive your motions. Envision the panel; the motions to make the machine glide over it... Begin, and let the machine balance; feel it. Let it adjust itself. It'll tell you what it wants to do... Just guide it. In time, you'll start to be able to give it instructions, and control it; guide the physics in plane... For now, just let it happen. Breathe. See the polishing inside your head; abrasives rolling around the panel, controlled by the structure of the pad. Feeling it with your hands and in your mind's eye, more than your eyes or ears. Feel the balance. The harmony. Polishers, pads, and machines can feel violent when you try to manhandle them, but are like the eye of the hurricane when they are in balance... A little pocket of harmony, waiting to become powerful. Center yourself on that place... That place is your 'home'. A slight tilt of the pad will throw you back into the storm. Experience will teach you how to ride it and use its power. Letting it dig. When you want to refine the paint and need the calm, return to the center; the 'eye' of the storm. Balance = gentleness. Shifting that balance out from the center creates more power. This is the same for both DA and Rotary polishers of all sorts; for sanding blocks, clay bars, wash mitts, etc...

Some call this 'Mechanical Sympathy'. Others call it 'Meditation'... Whatever you call it, it's the trick to matching what you imagine in your mind with what your hands do. It's how you take 'knowledge', and tap into 'craft'. It's a wonderful feeling... You're making something perfect, and there's all the time in the world...

_*(10) - You Don't Have Enough Pads*_... If you think three are enough, you probably need six. If you think six are enough you probably needed 10-12... You can do more with one 250ml bottle of polish, and 36 pads, than twelve liters of different polishes, and three pads. Pads are the key. They can make cheap machines powerful, and aggressive machines refined... They can reduce vibration, increase polishing efficiency, last for countless details, run cool rather than hot, refine a challenging paint without switching polishing liquid, and change the balance between being defeated by a defect and conquering it.








The mistake is to switch polish or compound before pad... Constantly, I see new detailers making the mistake of trying to chase correction on a tough or finicky paint by searching for the ultimate polish to pair with an utterly inadequate pad. This mistake is perpetuated by influencers, who say all you need is one or two sorts of pads, and they end up screwing over countless detailers as a result... Often recommending the most mediocre combinations as the solution to all problems. Why do they do so? Maybe there's money involved... There are a lot of sales made by trying to make complex subjects seem simpler than they are... "

Maybe someone else will be able to make use of this info... It's too late for my newbie self. He already had to learn these lessons the hard way.









_(You have so much more to learn…)_

- Thank You For Reading -

*Steampunk*​


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## Pembroke_Boy

WOW! Just wow! Thank you sir, an amazing post yet again. You are a legend!


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## MrPassat

Great write up, well done and thankyou.
Very inspiring.


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## GSD

That must have taken quite a bit of time to do well done excellent write up.


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## nbray67

What a cracking but en-lighting read Steampunk.

Hat's off to you pal for taking the time to write this.


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## AndyN01

The most useful and inspiring thing I've read in a long while.

Thank you for taking the time to help us all.

All the very best.

Andy.


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## BsrGT

Very inspiring read. Thanks for the write up, I liked the "there's all the time in the world" part the most. Bookmarked for future reference.


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## Alan W

Steampunk,

You are a modern day legend in my eyes like the 'old skool' legends you described above and threads such as this only go to prove the point.

In this fast paced life we need to slow down, draw breath, and think about what we are doing but very few are able to get off the merry-go-round, unfortunately.

We need more people like you on DW and I hope you are able to find time to further your learning and write about it so we can all benefit.

*Thank you*.

Alan W


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## suds

You just reminded me that my given name is 'Grasshopper' :lol:
Pads and patience :thumb: 
Another pass with distinction Steamy - I think you just earned some more BL

Btw - after something of a hiatus on this forum, you keep putting 'centre of excellence' back in to DW. For the sake of repeating myself, even though members all operate at different levels, each acceptable to the individual, I have always thought it important for members to at least recognise (if not understand) what the 'Gold Standard' is in detailing - only then can an informed decision be made as to how to approach your task in hand and achieve your goal safely, maximising results in each individual's scenario.


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## diesel x

Excellent article! 

I appreciate the time you put into your writing.


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## Citromark

Awesome :thumb:.

Mark


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## Steampunk

Wow! Thank you all so much for your very kind words... I've had this writeup in my head for awhile, and it makes me really happy to know that people enjoyed it, and found it useful.  

I love learning about detailing, and continuing to test products, and practice technique. It's just one of those crafts that you can spend a lifetime doing and still be learning new things every day... I just am glad I have the opportunity to share that experience with fellow detailers doing the same. :thumb:

- Steampunk


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## Lewis_RX8

Woah, As just getting started found this at the right time.

Great Read


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## dhali

Great read . Thanks for taking the time to post


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## muzzer

suds said:


> Btw - after something of a hiatus on this forum, you keep putting 'centre of excellence' back in to DW. For the sake of repeating myself, even though members all operate at different levels, each acceptable to the individual, I have always thought it important for members to at least recognise (if not understand) what the 'Gold Standard' is in detailing - only then can an informed decision be made as to how to approach your task in hand and achieve your goal safely, maximising results in each individual's scenario.


As in everything in life, there are 'experts' and then there are those who should be classed as experts and the trick is sorting through the mine of information - wanted to call it something else - to find the relevant information that is backed up by peer reviews for the chosen topic you wish to approach.


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## BoxsterBlue

Excellent read, thank you.


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## Titanium Htail

Many truisms here, I too joined around the same time have seen people come and go, expand plus have great success.

Key that many started will limited knowledge plus experience those stalwarts of DW encouraged all to become more experienced and above all practice. 

We have 100's of combinations across the range covering all manner of polishing requirements. 

DW encouraged us to find a solution with what we had, in that incremental step change of cutting one idea is to change the pad, to one with more bite, a remedy is not to suggest something the OP does not have. Most of the high tier products will all get the job done in a range of varying techniques or methods. 

All the professionals give advice time support plus encouragement for the love of detailing itself, sharing those hard earned ideas over many years, a true short cut to those seeking improvement. 

From online tutorials and Vlogs the industry itself is embracing technology to educate and reach a wider audience.

Everyone has supported each other given time to those new or improving, the emphasis on sharing those acquired skills with others.

Every era has had those who helped make this a great detailing forum, for that I thank you all plus long may that continue. 

From wax to ceramic the transition of improvement has been dramatic it helps those seeking quality protection for vehicles of every form, this is about the love of cars of every type or stature.

John Tht.


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## Socal Brian

such a thoughtful and insightful write up! Thank you for all your amazing contributions! I must confess I always check to see if you have any new posts or write ups since I know it will be something special! Thanks again for all you do!:thumb:

-Brian


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## SBM

what a terrific article, thank you Op :thumb::thumb:


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## M4TT17

Just found this. What a great read. Thanks for taking the time to write this :thumb:


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## K777mk2

brilliant.


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## bigcarpchaser

Ace read, thank you 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## MAXI-MILAN

Great write up Thanks for taking the time to post.


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## polt

I read this before when I first joined, I was terrified to machine Polish. Reading this put me at a bit more ease. I still get frustrated with certain paints and i read your bit about swapping polishes rather than pads and....yup made that mistake again just recently. Fact is i don't yet have enough pads. This has reminded me that I certainly need to take a step back from the car I am working on (normally mine or close family member) think about the paint and possible combinations. Then tape off 3 areas and compare the results before going further. Would certainly have saved me alot of frustration and time!! 

Thanks again steam punk....you, Cueball and Whizzer are the 3 I remember from my first stint as well as Dave


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## Richors

Great read and very helpful...………...Thankyou


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