Description
How much difference does wet sanding really make compared with polishing alone?
On this neglected black 2006 Ford truck, I create three side-by-side sections so you can see the difference for yourself: untouched paint, polished paint, and paint that was wet sanded with 2000-grit before receiving the same polishing process.
This truck has spent years outside in the Southern California sun. The paint is scratched, faded, weathered and, in several areas, damaged all the way through the paint.
The goal here isn't to make every defect disappear.
It's to understand what wet sanding actually does.
Wet sanding isn't creating the shine. I'm using the sandpaper to level the surface. The polishing process that follows removes the sanding marks and restores the gloss.
And that's where this comparison gets interesting.
Polishing alone dramatically improves the black paint. But when you look beyond the shine and watch the reflections moving across the panel, you can see what the additional wet-sanding step changed.
Some of the texture is flatter. The reflected lines are cleaner. The surface has been leveled to a greater degree.
But there's a tradeoff.
Wet sanding removes clearcoat. Polishing removes additional material while removing the sanding marks. And on a 20-year-old vehicle with an unknown paint history, I don't know how much correction has already been performed before I ever touched it.
That's why I'm not trying to remove every scratch.
I'm trying to make a meaningful improvement while knowing when to stop.
The question isn't: “How much can I remove?”
The question is: “How much do I need to remove?”
That, to me, is paint correction.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Neglected Black Ford Paint
0:49 Claying the Paint
1:00 Taping off Panel
1:07 Three (3) Areas of Panel to Compare
1:13 Wet Sanding Panel w/ 2000 Grit Sand Paper
1:41 Scratches Too Deep
1:55 Making Paint Worse
2:12 Rotary Polisher and Wool Pad to Remove Sanding Marks
3:32 Dual-Action Polisher to Refine Paint
3:50 Revealing the 3 Areas
4:19 Examining the Panel
4:45 Leveling diagram
PRODUCTS / TOOLS USED
Chemical Guys Clay +Luber clay: https://amzn.to/4yrYzyt
2000-grit wet/dry sandpaper
Ceramic XX polish: https://amzn.to/4rCRtEx
Milwaukee cordless Rotary polisher: https://amzn.to/4AIXxPZ
CSi 100% Wool polishing pad: https://amzn.to/4AzEasC
FLEX Dual-action polisher
CSi Blue foam Euro polishing pad: https://amzn.to/4B0lbYH
IMPORTANT: Wet sanding is an aggressive paint-correction process that permanently removes paint/clearcoat. The purpose of this video is to demonstrate the process and the decision-making behind it—not to suggest that every damaged finish should be wet sanded.
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Some links in this description may be affiliate links. If you purchase through one of these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
#WetSanding #PaintCorrection #AutoDetailing