Paint care: professional versus consumer products

Paint care: professional versus consumer products

Each of us is probably familiar with the advertisements on the teleshopping channels where some paint protection miracle cure conjures up a nano effect on the car's sheet metal that can even withstand a flamethrower, extreme stone chips and stubborn pigeon droppings. The reality is of course different. Car manufacturers are using ever thinner layers of paint on new cars - they want to save weight and costs. Solid rust protection and good paint ex works are an absolute quality criterion. Especially for the second or third owner of the used car. This makes it all the more important to care for the paintwork of your dream car just as we care for our teeth: regular brushing should be standard, oral hygiene once or twice a year won't do any harm, so refreshing the paintwork and polishing won't do any harm either. Always with the aim of preserving the vehicle's condition (the car paint) as well and for as long as possible. 

Price: a quality criterion?

Paint care products are a dime a dozen: polishes, waxes and cleaning agents have been a reliable source of income for decades - and not just in the workshop. Car magazines and testing institutions repeatedly test car detailing products for their effectiveness and it is not uncommon for the test results to differ as widely as the prices: good is not always expensive and expensive is not automatically good. So the finish is not a question of price. Tip: You should always compare the milliliter or liter price and not the package or container price.

However, there are differences in the ingredients of the care products and polishes. The comparison to the lubricant market is valid: we basically know what an engine needs to be well lubricated. You also know which ingredients are good for the paint, which waxes ensure the appropriate depth of color and which polishes and their formula make the color really shine again. Nevertheless, every care product manufacturer has to position itself on the market. To do this, it is important to find the right mix of product and processing quality as well as price. The easiest way to regulate the price screw is through the quality of the content and marketing activities.

Professional vs. consumer

Anyone who seriously deals with the topic of vehicle care and car preparation will soon notice that there are basically two product categories: end consumer products and professional car care products ( see expert interview ). The difference lies mainly in the processing. 

Professional products require certain technical aids (tools) and craftsmanship to properly refresh the paint. The appropriate polishing machine may be purchased quickly, but the correct use of it, when to use which abrasive (pad) and with a lot of pressure and revolutions on the paint, is professional knowledge. Of course, a layperson can also learn this. And there are enough car fans who polish better as a hobby than many professionals - but it's not the norm. 

We have taken part in several training courses ourselves and even participants who say they have been preparing cars for years were always able to learn something new. In addition to using the right tools, it is important to follow the work steps exactly. Certain professional polishes would attack plastic and rubber parts. The professional knows this, works quickly and cleanly, meticulously tapes off any adjacent plastic parts and then even goes over the parts using plastic care or polish remover. All of these little tricks make the difference in professional car preparation. 

The professional also knows that proper cleaning is important. Even the smallest imperfections on the body can have dramatic consequences when polishing - the paint can be permanently damaged, the color becomes dull, matt or gets holograms. Therefore, rule number one in car care: always clean the vehicle as well as possible before the car preparation begins. By the way: Intensive car paint care can pay off, especially when selling used cars. If the color shines like it did in the showroom, noticeably higher prices can be achieved for the used car. Interesting: Washing by hand does not necessarily have to be more gentle on the paint than a well-adjusted car wash with soft, paint-friendly brushes. Choosing the right cleaning chemicals is also crucial for the paint finish.

Polishing is about studying

Almost every vehicle detailer has their own peculiarities when it comes to car care: some work faster, others slower. One with more pressure, the other with less force when polishing. As a result, different care products can lead to the same result when car detailing. At a polishing machine training course in Austria where we were present, a participant was able to skip one of four polishing steps because she worked differently. 

However, the training manager and full professional could not notice any difference in the car paint. This means that the work was equally good, but the path to the goal was different. In the end, the car's paintwork was just as well-refined as the one where one more step had been done.