Orange Peel...
Orange Peel... I've read through a couple of threads about orange peel, and I'm a little bit confused. Orange peel is in the base coats, not the clear coat correct? Or could it be in both? Obviously I'm no paint expert 
Anyways, after a fresh paint job I do have orange peel in certain areas, mostly on the doors, and I want to take a stab at fixing it soon since the paint is still faily fresh.
Do you have to hand sand with 1500-2000 grit/water or could you use a machine? I have a porter cable and it seems that would be a bit easier and quicker to use, unless that would destroy the paint. With a PC, what product would be best? Is there a good write up somewhere that I can read through?
Thanks folks.
Anyways, after a fresh paint job I do have orange peel in certain areas, mostly on the doors, and I want to take a stab at fixing it soon since the paint is still faily fresh.
Do you have to hand sand with 1500-2000 grit/water or could you use a machine? I have a porter cable and it seems that would be a bit easier and quicker to use, unless that would destroy the paint. With a PC, what product would be best? Is there a good write up somewhere that I can read through?
Thanks folks.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 701
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From: chicago
orange peel is something that we cant get away from doing when we paint, no matter how good you are there will always be orange peel, even porsche has it,
i wouldnt do it simply becasue you dont know how many coats of clear the painter put on, and when we sand and buff that process removes about a coat and a half, so take it back to the shop and have them re buff the car
i wouldnt do it simply becasue you dont know how many coats of clear the painter put on, and when we sand and buff that process removes about a coat and a half, so take it back to the shop and have them re buff the car
no theres really nothing you can do. the one thing that will give u a smoother finish is using a slow hardener and with low voc clear. for instants spies and hekker makes their "optimum clear" or "diamond clear." the only way to get the orange peel out is to put an extra coat or 2 of clear on top of the 2-3 coats normally applied is wetsand it down until its flat and then buffing the paint out.
If YOU are doing the painting, wet block sanding the color coats before applying clear will help big time...you'll burn less coats of clear off this way. If you are talking about a finished paint job, allow the paint to cure for al least a week...I'd wait a month, tho. After it's good and cured, block wet sand it. keep in mind you don't have to eliminate ALL of the orange peel to give it a stellar, flat, glass-like appearance. On dark paints you can see the low spots of the orange peel, they will appear glossy as the rest appears dull and/or gray. Use 2000 grit and put a little dish soap in a bucket of water. Also you can use a sprayer with the soap water to help you keep the surface wet/lubricated. JUST GO SLOW!!!!! Swat
P.S. Don't try to use any machines, just go by hand and take your time in the curves!
P.S. Don't try to use any machines, just go by hand and take your time in the curves!
What the guy above said all paint clear or not will have some orange peal to it. I never really sand the base though just all the primers even the sealer then the clear. So if you sand and block the coats under the clear that will help the clear be smoother. Wet sanding the clear is not a big issue either if you have enough clear on it. With the clear I use 2 wet coats is plenty enough. I also sand my clear the day after and start with 1500 grit the longer you wait the harder it is to sand.
Last edited by SpdFrk1990; Apr 13, 2008 at 12:08 AM.
yeah what was stated above isnt true. the only time i sand the color is if theres any dirt or fisheye that just happened to get on there. for clear i usually use 2 or 3 wetcoats and thats plenty of material like stated above aswell. and also as stated by spdfrk1990 i buff cars a day or 2 after(if the car is baked) depending on the clear used otherwise have fun trying to sand and buff the car. when i go to do my car ill be using a spies and hekker diamond clear which is a low voc ceramic clear(scratch resistant). if you wait a week to buff the car its gunna take forever but in my opinion the low voc clears with a slow hardener from standox and spies and hekker leave the best finish before wetsanding and buffing.
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TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 701
Likes: 0
From: chicago
i used spies, never liked it, used ici never liked it, du pont hate it, PPG is my favorite and has been for the past 15 yrs, what i do from time to time, is apply 2 coats of clear, sand with 1,000, and re clear, i wait 2 days my self, sand with 1,500 and buff
if you ever used ppg`s dbc system you know that the base coat mixed with dx57 in my opinion is one of the best base coats that lay down flat, and the ncs sealer also lays down flat, those steps also help allot in a good paint job
i have my own way and it works for me and i have had no complaints
if you ever used ppg`s dbc system you know that the base coat mixed with dx57 in my opinion is one of the best base coats that lay down flat, and the ncs sealer also lays down flat, those steps also help allot in a good paint job
i have my own way and it works for me and i have had no complaints
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. Well, let me clear myself of ridicule. I'm not a pro painter and so I know my color coats aren't going to be as smooth as one would expect them to be. That's why I just plan to sand the color coats...if it don't need it, it doesn't get it. I was just saying that it's an option of you don't think it went on as flat as you wanted it to.
Block wet sanding makes all the difference in a paintjob whether it's a CNC factory job or an outside shade-tree job because no paint applies perfect EVERYWHERE on the car. I've gotten better at painting, but I'm far better at the 'after-work.' Just like Hot Rod Magazine showed, you can use a paint roller to apply paint, and make it look like a perfect show-quality finish if you do the 'after-work' right. Swat
Block wet sanding makes all the difference in a paintjob whether it's a CNC factory job or an outside shade-tree job because no paint applies perfect EVERYWHERE on the car. I've gotten better at painting, but I'm far better at the 'after-work.' Just like Hot Rod Magazine showed, you can use a paint roller to apply paint, and make it look like a perfect show-quality finish if you do the 'after-work' right. Swat
my car when I bought it had the original paint job and a little orange peel I took 1000 then 1500 then 2000 grit sand paper and wet sanded each then buffed with medium compound then a glaze and turned out fine and buffed at a low speed car shined like new and still seems to have enough clear coat left
Staging Lane
Joined: Apr 2007
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Good call. I've only sanded black with a very fine metallic fleck in it as far as metallics, and even then I kept the sanding to a minimum...just enough to knock down the highs in a spot that had bad orange peel. The silver on my T/A will not get any sanding as I re-do it, but will get plenty of clear for me to work with. I gotta say tho, I've never seen 2000 or 1500 grit sanding scratches show thru any coatings, clear or more base. Swat
My car is a Metallic blue color (not factory) and I won't be doing any painting myself. I just have the orange peel on the doors, but it sounds to me like tackling it is a little out of my ability, guess I either deal with it or have a shop do it for me, but thanks for the advice everyone 
A shop will charge a lot compared to what it'd take for you to do it. Just find some reading material on wet-sanding techniques and don't use anything more course than 2000 grit. Like I said before, you don't have to sand off ALL of the orange peel to get an awesome look. The hard part is the buffing. Gotta have a buffer (not orbital) and the polishing compounds. Ultimately it comes to this...Do you WANT to do it yourself? Do you WANT to learn how? If you're not a DIY kinda guy, then wet sanding will bore you to DEATH!! LOL Best of luck whatever you choose. Swat
A shop will charge a lot compared to what it'd take for you to do it. Just find some reading material on wet-sanding techniques and don't use anything more course than 2000 grit. Like I said before, you don't have to sand off ALL of the orange peel to get an awesome look. The hard part is the buffing. Gotta have a buffer (not orbital) and the polishing compounds. Ultimately it comes to this...Do you WANT to do it yourself? Do you WANT to learn how? If you're not a DIY kinda guy, then wet sanding will bore you to DEATH!! LOL Best of luck whatever you choose. Swat
That's how I started. I have a strong will and a drive to do things myself..besides I know I can be as gentle or rough as I need to get the best results for my perfectionist tastes! Once you get the hang of it, you just want to keep going...eventually you'll have the whole car done. I plan on doing a panel at a time so I can finish it and will still be able to drive to work. Just remember, it's not like sanding wood...with 2000 grit think of it as massageing the paint smooth...not grinding it smooth like with wood. Swat
He doesnt know how much clear is on the car and if he has never used a buffer b4 and there is not a lot of clear on the car it is very easy to burn through. Thats if the sanding alone doesnt go through in the first place.