Paint loses its shine after polishing

[Aston177]

Hey guys! First time posting here. Im having a weird problem. About 8 months ago, I got the hood of my car painted. They wet sanded and polished it the next day. It looked great. Shined like a mirror. However, after about two weeks, the paint lost its shine. It started to look really dull and hazy. Nothing happened to the color. Its just not shining anymore. It seems like really tight orange peel. I don't know how to explain it. I have attached a couple of pics.

6 months ago (2 months after painting the hood) I got the hood wet sanded and buffed again, and it looked great again! Nice and shiny. But guess what! It happened again! It lost its shine again.


I got another panel painted by the same guys. They buffed it the next day. I told them not to wax it because thats bad. Panel looked great. Shined like a mirror. Today, 4 months later, its looking awful. Not shiny at all! Last Saturday I took it to a detailing shop and asked them if they could fix it. They said a cut and polish will do the trick, so I asked them to do a small section (to see the quality of the finish). They didn't even wet sand it, just polished with their orbital polisher and it looked brand new again! Shined beautifully! I told them that I'll bring the car in next week to get the whole panel polished. Its been about 4 days since they polished that spot, and now its not looking as shiny as it used to be. Its not dull, but I can see that the orange peel is starting to show again.




Please help! I have no idea what to do

[drumdan]

Re: Paint loses its shine after polishing

Orange peel has to be wet sanded off.

During sanding the peaks of the peel are leveled with the valleys. Thus resulting in a flat surface, which will give you that gorgeous reflection in and of itself- when properly polished.

Regardless of whatever topical you any, the dull appearance will return as the product wears off.

[Aston177]

Re: Paint loses its shine after polishing

Orange peel has to be wet sanded off.

During sanding the peaks of the peel are leveled with the valleys. Thus resulting in a flat surface, which will give you that gorgeous reflection in and of itself- when properly polished.

Regardless of whatever topical you any, the dull appearance will return as the product wears off.

That's the thing. It was wet sanded when we first got it painted! There was no orange peel after wet sanding and polishing. But after a few months, the paint lost its shine. It's not orange peel per se, more like tiny dots all over the paint. Check out the pics to see what I'm talking about.

[The Guz]

Re: Paint loses its shine after polishing

It could be solvent pop. Meaning the surface was not prepped correctly. The fix for that is a repaint.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Paint loses its shine after polishing

Hey guys! First time posting here. Im having a weird problem. About 8 months ago, I got the hood of my car painted. They wet sanded and polished it the next day. It looked great. Shined like a mirror. However, after about two weeks, the paint lost its shine. It started to look really dull and hazy. Nothing happened to the color. Its just not shining anymore. It seems like really tight orange peel. I don't know how to explain it. I have attached a couple of pics.

6 months ago (2 months after painting the hood) I got the hood wet sanded and buffed again, and it looked great again! Nice and shiny. But guess what! It happened again! It lost its shine again.


I got another panel painted by the same guys. They buffed it the next day. I told them not to wax it because thats bad. Panel looked great. Shined like a mirror. Today, 4 months later, its looking awful. Not shiny at all! Last Saturday I took it to a detailing shop and asked them if they could fix it. They said a cut and polish will do the trick, so I asked them to do a small section (to see the quality of the finish). They didn't even wet sand it, just polished with their orbital polisher and it looked brand new again! Shined beautifully! I told them that I'll bring the car in next week to get the whole panel polished. Its been about 4 days since they polished that spot, and now its not looking as shiny as it used to be. Its not dull, but I can see that the orange peel is starting to show again.

Please help! I have no idea what to do

In regards to the gloss, it sounds like the products and/or techniques the body shop is using are providing temporary results & hiding the true condition of the paint. Since you have had luck with the Detailer's work, it sounds like the products and/or techniques he is using it providing actual permanent enhancement & results.

In regards to the texture & the re-paint on the hood, from the look of the pictures it definitely looks like there are some issues which need to be addressed by a professional, unfortunately either sanding to try to repair or re-painting the panel.