How to Wet Sand a Vehicle

Wet sanding is the process of removing imperfections from your car's paint through the process of applying sandpaper to the clear coat. It is a process undertaken by only the most stringent perfectionist and is incredibly labor intensive. It requires great care not to damage the car's actual paint job. Please note also that wet sanding alone is not enough, as your vehicle will require a full buffing to bring out the full effect of the sanding.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sandpaper, grits ranging from 1200-1500 (1200, 1500, 2000 & 2500) Foam block Spray bottle of water Bucket of water Dry towel

1. Begin by thoroughly washing the area to be sanded, whether this is a small area of scratches or the entire car. If you are planning to wet sand your entire vehicle, plan to work panel by panel.

2. Begin with the 1200 grit sandpaper, and wrap it around your foam block. Using your spray bottle, spray the area of the vehicle that you will be sanding. If you are sanding an entire panel, dampen the immediate area that you are working in, and then continue to dampen the panel as you work.

3. Begin sanding; if you are sanding an individual scratch, sand lightly and hold the foam block on its edge, maintaining contact with the scratch only. If you are sanding the entire panel, hold the block flat against the panel and sand lightly and evenly, moving from left to right.

4. As you sand, rinse your paper in your bucket of water often to loosen and rinse away any clear coat that may be lodged in the grit. Also, before changing to the next grit, dry the area with your towel to assess your progress.

5. Work your way through the various grits of sandpaper. What you are working to achieve is using the larger grit paper to remove your initial scratches or imperfections, and then removing the subsequent scratches with the varying grits of paper. Never jump from one grit to another; keep working your way through the different levels of abrasion slowly or you will not accomplish the desired effect. For instance, the grit on the 2500 paper is far too fine to remove the scratches from the 1200 grit paper.

6. Take care that you sand lightly, as you only wish to remove portions of the clear coat. If you penetrate past the clear coat, you will be sanding into the base coat, creating scratches that cannot be removed, and that will require a complete repaint.

7. Once you have completed your sanding, the area that you have sanded will be flat, dull and lifeless. It is at this point that you will need to begin the complex and multistep process of thoroughly buffing your vehicle to bring out the flawless finish that you have worked so hard to accomplish.