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Just for Fun!
Hey,
Normally I avoid wet sanding a paint finish unless it is a car destined for car shows. I usually spend a LONG time carefully going over the finish, making sure not to miss anything.
But sometimes a person can get a little bored especially when it is winter and cold outside. As my wife headed out to go shopping, I thought, “Hmmm…what can I do around home???�
Our washing machine is at least 12 years old. It is one of those heavy-duty 2-speed, with a deep stainless steel drum machines. It even has a brake that sounds like air brakes when it stops the drum from spinning! Pretty cool feature! Anyway, the machine is pretty scratched from being basically a basement workbench! I do not think a day has gone by where there has not been something on it—a clothes basket, pop cans etc… So, I decided to wet sand the lid!
Here are a couple of pictures of the lid before I began wet sanding.
As you can see, the lid was extremely swirled with really deep scratches. I did not intend to remove all of the scratches, as some were just too deep. But I did want to clean it up a little. Time to get started:
* Meguiar’s Unigrit Sanding Papers 2000 Grit S-2025
* Meguiar’s Backing Pad E-7200
In a bucket of water, I placed fresh water with a drop or two of Meguiar’s Shampoo Plus to use as an additional lubricant (I would have normally used #00 Hi-Tech Wash but sadly, I ran out of it!). I let the Unigrit paper sit in the water a good ½ hour, then proceeded to wet sand the finish.
I made several passes, applying plenty of water to the surface. After every 10 strokes or so, I checked my progress. I needed to take it REAL slowly as I had no idea how thick this paint would be; after all, it is an old washing machine!
After finishing the sanding, here is what the finish looked like. It looked better already!
So, I did the next step:
* Meguiar’s #85 Diamond Cut 2.0
* Meguiar’s W-4000 Wool Pad
* Dewalt Rotary buffer
The tools. I leave my Dewalt rotary set up for compounding and use my Makita rotaries for polishing work.
I buffed out the sanding marks with the rotary spinning 1800 RPM. Luckily, the paint was not too hard and the buffing marks came right out.
I followed up with the rotary and:
Meguiar’s #84 Compound Power Cleaner with W-7006 Cutting Pad (1800 RPM)
Meguiar’s #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish with W-8006 Polishing Pad (1800 RPM)
Meguiar’s #66 Quick Detailer with a W-9006 Finishing Pad (1400 RPM)
In the end, it turned out quite well. There are still deeper scratches I decided not to go after. But overall, I am pleased!
Now, I have to go finish the rest of the washing machine before the wife gets home!!! Next time I am bored, the dryer will be next!!!
Tim
Normally I avoid wet sanding a paint finish unless it is a car destined for car shows. I usually spend a LONG time carefully going over the finish, making sure not to miss anything.
But sometimes a person can get a little bored especially when it is winter and cold outside. As my wife headed out to go shopping, I thought, “Hmmm…what can I do around home???�
Our washing machine is at least 12 years old. It is one of those heavy-duty 2-speed, with a deep stainless steel drum machines. It even has a brake that sounds like air brakes when it stops the drum from spinning! Pretty cool feature! Anyway, the machine is pretty scratched from being basically a basement workbench! I do not think a day has gone by where there has not been something on it—a clothes basket, pop cans etc… So, I decided to wet sand the lid!
Here are a couple of pictures of the lid before I began wet sanding.
As you can see, the lid was extremely swirled with really deep scratches. I did not intend to remove all of the scratches, as some were just too deep. But I did want to clean it up a little. Time to get started:
* Meguiar’s Unigrit Sanding Papers 2000 Grit S-2025
* Meguiar’s Backing Pad E-7200
In a bucket of water, I placed fresh water with a drop or two of Meguiar’s Shampoo Plus to use as an additional lubricant (I would have normally used #00 Hi-Tech Wash but sadly, I ran out of it!). I let the Unigrit paper sit in the water a good ½ hour, then proceeded to wet sand the finish.
I made several passes, applying plenty of water to the surface. After every 10 strokes or so, I checked my progress. I needed to take it REAL slowly as I had no idea how thick this paint would be; after all, it is an old washing machine!
After finishing the sanding, here is what the finish looked like. It looked better already!
So, I did the next step:
* Meguiar’s #85 Diamond Cut 2.0
* Meguiar’s W-4000 Wool Pad
* Dewalt Rotary buffer
The tools. I leave my Dewalt rotary set up for compounding and use my Makita rotaries for polishing work.
I buffed out the sanding marks with the rotary spinning 1800 RPM. Luckily, the paint was not too hard and the buffing marks came right out.
I followed up with the rotary and:
Meguiar’s #84 Compound Power Cleaner with W-7006 Cutting Pad (1800 RPM)
Meguiar’s #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish with W-8006 Polishing Pad (1800 RPM)
Meguiar’s #66 Quick Detailer with a W-9006 Finishing Pad (1400 RPM)
In the end, it turned out quite well. There are still deeper scratches I decided not to go after. But overall, I am pleased!
Now, I have to go finish the rest of the washing machine before the wife gets home!!! Next time I am bored, the dryer will be next!!!
Tim
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