wendy_garcia16•1mo agoMost Upvoted

Tried wet sanding with 400 grit on a fresh clear coat and it messed up my whole day

So last Thursday I had this silver Honda Accord in my shop in Phoenix, and I figured I'd speed things up by wet sanding before the clear coat fully hardened. I did a test spot with 400 grit after about 30 minutes, and the paper just gummed up and left these deep scratches that wouldn't buff out. Took me another 2 hours to respray that panel and fix the mess. Has anyone else made that call too early and regretted it?

2 comments

2 Comments

sarah_hart1mo ago

Man I feel your pain. I did the exact same thing on my buddy's truck about two years back, a dark blue Ford F-150 that I was helping him with after he backed into a pole. I sprayed the clear coat and I was so eager to get it done that I grabbed some 400 grit like 20 minutes later thinking I was being efficient. That paper turned into a sticky mess almost instantly and left these horrible swirls that looked like a cat had used the hood as a scratching post. I ended up having to completely strip that panel down to the primer and start all over again, which cost me a whole Saturday and a six-pack of beer to apologize to him. I swear clear coat is like a moody teenager, it does not care about your schedule and will punish you for rushing it every single time.

river_rivera451mo ago

Blame the clear coat all you want but 400 grit on fresh paint is just asking for trouble, you should have known better than to touch it before it had time to fully cure.