Paint Correction & Ceramic Coating Packages

What is paint correction?

Paint Polishing or “Paint Correction” as it’s referred to in the industry is the process of utilizing a professional buffing machine to improve, and or, recondition painted surfaces to a high gloss and luster. This is done by removing/reducing surface imperfections like swirls, scratches, love marks, holograms and oxidation.

These defects effect the clarity of the paint and diffuses the way light reflects off of the paint. By removing or minimizing the defects on your paint, clarity is restored revitalizing color vibrancy, shine, depth and gloss!

Paint correction is a labor intensive process. The vehicles paint condition and the level of correction desired will ultimately determine how many hours a paint correction will take for each individual vehicle. We offer several different levels of Paint Correction Packages as a starting point to fit various budgets, vehicle types and client expectations.

Because auto manufacturer’s continue spraying modern vehicles with thinner and thinner layers of paint, our goal at Dream Machine Detailing is to recondition the paint to it’s best condition possible without compromising it’s long term durability. Our approach will differ based on if the vehicle is a show car with a custom paint job, a classic with very old original single stage paint or a brand new vehicle that simply needs a light polish and protection. We always strive for an exceptional looking finish, but our pursuit of perfection never comes at the expense of the preservation of your vehicle’s paint.

Paint Correction Assessment

It is important for us to achieve a decent picture of the vehicles history before attempting any paint correction service.

This is done through an extensive vehicle assessment and walk around with the customer prior to the paint correction service.

During the assessment we will inspect the paint visually for defects with a swirl finder light and determine the paints thickness with a paint depth gauge.

These tools allow us to determine to what degree the paint can safely be corrected and if there are any defects too deep to be fully corrected.

Gathering this information helps us educate you on what we see going on with your paint. It helps us gauge and set expectations based on what you desire and what we think is achievable with a correction. Based on these factors we can recommend the proper Paint Correction package for preserving the paint while achieving the desired results.

Paint Correction Prep

Since the paint must be completely naked and free of any industrial fallout and embedded contaminants, all paint correction services include a thorough “prep wash” and paint decontamination.

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Whats included?

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Dream Machine Exterior Package Plus:

Prep Wash:

During the sno-foam pre-soak and contact wash a specially formulated vehicle “strip wash” shampoo is used to help remove any residual wax or paint sealant residue so they don’t interfere with the polishing steps.

Fallout Remover:

An Iron/Fallout remover is used to “chemically” remove industrial fallout such as ferrous metals (rail dust, brake dust, etc.) from the paint prior to a mechanical paint decontamination with a clay bar.

Clay Bar:

If necessary, a clay bar is used to “mechanically” remove any remaining bonded contaminants from the paint, leaving a glossy smooth surface behind, that’s properly prepared for polishing.

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Doing a proper prep-wash helps insure the paint’s surface is truly clean and contaminant free which guarantees the best results possible when polishing. No shortcuts are taken.

Paint Protection

We provide several options for paint protection with our paint correction packages. We offer both short term, budget minded Wax protection, more durable Paint Sealants as well as long term protection in the form of Ceramic Coatings.

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Wax

Our Level One “Speed Polish” Paint Enhancement utilizes a Polish that also protects. It’s called an “All-In-One” Polish for that reason. The “All-In-One” Polish is similar to a traditional Wax as it creates a deep wet look and can last several months. This “All-In-One” Polish has a fantastic look, however it is the least durable of the paint protection that we offer.

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Sealant

Included in our Level Two and Level Three Paint Correction Packages is the application of a Ceramic Wax. The Ceramic Wax is hand applied and can last anywhere from 3-6 months. It provides a rich gloss, great water beading and has many of the characteristics of a ceramic coating without the cost, however it is not nearly as durable and slightly less hydrophobic.

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Ceramic Coating

For the ultimate in paint protection there is nothing more durable than a Ceramic Paint Coating. This is because a Ceramic Coating creates a semi permanent, hard candy like shell over the paint that is more chemical resistant than any wax or sealant as well as provide a highly hydrophobic surface for repelling water. This making for an increased ease and joy of cleaning. A Ceramic Coating provides years of protection rather than weeks or months because it cross links with the paint to create an ultra durable bond that’s far superior to that of a wax or sealant.

We currently offer a 3 year Ceramic Coating Options as an upgrade to our Level Two and Level Three Paint Correction Packages. Ceramic coatings are by far the most durable protection available however they are more expensive to purchase and take the most preparation and care to properly apply, thus they are also the most expensive option.

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How to choose?

Ultimately the decision of which protection to choose will come down to budget and desire. Do you enjoy the simplicity and looks of a traditional wax, the increased durability and ease of application of a sealant or want that long term durability and ease of maintenance of a Ceramic Coating, the choice is up to you.

Paint Correction Packages

Level One: “Speed Polish” Paint Enhancement

The goal of our Level One Paint Enhancement package is to improve the overall appearance of the vehicle without breaking the bank. We make one quick trip around the vehicle doing a light machine polish with an “All-In-One” Paint Polish/Cleaner Wax that will improve paint clarity, enhance paint gloss and leave behind several months of water beading paint protection. This package is an accessible way to make your vehicles look fantastic without breaking the bank. Recommended for Daily Driver, Re-sale Preparation, Track Car, well cared for Weekend Toy.

Rates are estimated based on a $75 – $100 per hour labor rate. Actual cost will vary based on vehicle size, vehicle condition and the service options requested. A mobile mileage fee is charged at $0.67 per mile after 20 or more miles beyond our home base.

Level Two: “One-Step” Polish

The goal of our Level Two “One-Step” Polish is to get the best results possible while using a single step paint correction process. Our “One-Step” Polish is our most popular paint correction option as it’s the middle ground between a Paint Enhancement Polish and a Complete “Two-Step” Paint Correction. We aim to restore gloss, paint clarity and color depth by removing 50% – 80% of any paint defects (car wash swirls, love marks, light scratches, topical water staining, light oxidation etc). We do one trip around the vehicle with an excellent Hybrid Compound/Polish that’s capable of mild to moderate defect removal as well as restoring exceptional gloss and paint clarity in a single step. Following the One-Step Polish the paint is sealed with a high quality Ceramic wax for up to 6 months of protection. For additional protection a 3 or 5 year Ceramic Coating can be optioned. *Ceramic Coating options are an additional quote.* Recommended for Luxury Vehicles, Specialty Vehicles, Re-Sale Preparation, Track Car, Weekend Toy and Classics.

Rates are estimated based on a $75 – $100 per hour labor rate. Actual cost will vary based on vehicle size, vehicle condition and the service options requested. A mobile mileage fee is charged at $0.67 per mile after 20 or more miles beyond our home base.

Level Three: “Two-Step” Compound & Polish

The goal of our Level Three “Two-Step” Compound & Polish is to achieve a show car finish. Not all paint systems are created equal and sometimes it’s necessary to bring out the big guns. This package is recommended mostly for specialty vehicles, show vehicles or for vehicles that have rock hard paint system and need heavy defects (sanding marks, deeper scratches, holograms, heavy swirls, hard water/acid rain etching etc) removed/reduced. A “Two-Step” Correction involves a machine compounding step to remove/reduce heavy defects in the paint and a machine polishing step to refine and finish the paint down to a high gloss finish. We aim to restore gloss, paint clarity and color depth by removing the maximum amount of any paint defects present that is safely allowable based on our paint correction assessment. Following the “Two-Step” Compound & Polish the paint is sealed with a high quality Ceramic wax for up to 6 months of protection. For additional protection a 3 or 5 year Ceramic Coating can be optioned. *Ceramic Coating options are an additional quote.* Recommended for an extensive reconditioning for custom & show vehicles, Luxury Vehicle Brands with hard Paint Systems and Re-Sale Preparation on Specialty projects.

Rates are estimated based on a $75 – $100 per hour labor rate. Actual cost will vary based on vehicle size, vehicle condition and the service options requested. A mobile mileage fee is charged at $0.67 per mile after 20 or more miles beyond our home base.

How long do Paint Correction Services take?

Paint correction services generally require the most time out of all of the services we offer. It depends greatly on the condition of the paint, the size of the vehicle and the particular correction package. A paint enhancement is likely to take one day, while a multi-step correction can take several days.

Common Paint Defects

Swirls & Marring:

Swirls are ultra fine scratches, also called “marring” that often happen due to improper paint care. This can include hand washing the vehicle with dirty wash media or dry rubbing the surface without using lubrication. These ultra fine swirls also have the nickname “love marks”, thanks to those of us who religiously wipe down or dust our cars at car shows. Possibly the most common cause of swirls is a tunnel style car wash with poorly maintained brushes. These types of scratches are typically removed with a good One-Step Correction.

Buffer Marks & Holograms:

Body shops and dealerships are in the business of providing volume based services so they want to get vehicles in and out quickly. Sometimes this means a sacrifice in quality finishing steps. Many body shops use rotary buffers for their speed and efficiency in polishing out deep defects and sanding marks, but they will often leave holograms behind. Holograms and buffer marks being surface level defects can typically be removed with a good One-Step Correction.

Hard Water Spots & Acid Rain Etching:

Mineral deposits from unfiltered water, acid rain, bug guts, tree sap, bird dropping as well as industrial pollution from the roadways (oil, transmission fluid, gasoline, etc.) if left on the paint’s surface can permanently damage the paint. If left to bake in the hot sun the results are permanent etching damage. These etching marks can range from an above surface mineral deposit to a subsurface etching into the top coat. Depending on the depth of the damage anything from an Enhancement Polish to Wet-sanding may need to be used to remove them.

Random Isolated Deep Scratches “R.I.D.S.”:

Random Isolated Deep Scratches, also referred to as “R.I.D.S.” is a term coined by detailing expert, author and educator Mike Phillips to identify deep sub-surface scratches that are often masked beneath oxidation and top layer or shallow surface level swirls and scratches in the paint.

These types of deeper defects can pose a dilemma for a detailer because once the top surface level or shallow swirls and scratches are removed these deeper sub-surface defects will become more apparent. The rule of thumb is that if you can feel a scratch with your finger nail it is probably too deep to be remove completely.

This means that the visual impact of R.I.D.S. can often times be minimized, but not always fully corrected, “removed” from the paint. Sometimes preservation is more important than perfection and a shiny scratch is better than thin paint.

Crow’s Feet & Below Surface Defects:

Crow’s Feet is generally seen in older vehicles or vehicles that see a lot of hot sun exposure. It’s typically seen on hoods where the engine creates heat from underneath or other top surface panels exposed to the hot sun. It can happen on both modern base coat/clear coat paint jobs as well as older single stage paints, hens it can also be referred to as Lacquer checking.

This phenomenon occurs when the paint is exposed to many heat cycles where it expands and contracts many times. Over many years of this the paint will begin to crack and break down from the base coat upwards. In other wards this type of defect is below the Clear Coat/Top Coat layer. Crow’s Feet will ultimately lead to the clear coat pealing and de-laminating from the base coat.

Because this is a Below Surface Defect it is not something that can be fixed by paint polishing or correction. Any paint polishing could actually create more damage to the paint, especially if it’s already starting to de-laminate. In the case of below surface defects like Crow’s Feet the only solution is to re-paint.

How to avoid paint defects

Avoiding paint defects all starts with how you wash your car. There is no perfect solution, however there are certain bad habits and environments that can almost guarantee getting swirled up paint.

The biggest culprit is probably the car wash tunnel that utilizes brushes. If these brushes are not regularly cleaned or maintained they are pretty much guaranteed to leave scratches and swirls in your paint. Additionally, the metal rails that guide the car through the car wash tunnel have the potential to scuff up the lip of your rims.

Touch-less car washes are definitely safer, however they are not without their shortcoming as well. They tend to use harsher soaps and chemicals that may strip the wax from your paint. If your vehicle has no protection on it or is relatively dirty the water jet may be able to blast the loose dirt and debris from the paint, but there will still be a thin layer of road film and bonded contaminants on the paint. After exiting the wash bay If you go to dry your vehicle off by hand, you’re likely going to be rubbing what ever dirt is left on the paint over all over the car creating more scratches and swirls.

There really is nothing better than a good old fashioned hand wash, but even then improper washing and drying technique can cause scratches, swirls and love marks on the paint. There have been quite a few updates to the old fashioned Sunday driveway ritual since the sponge and shammy days.

Our favorite washing techniques

In our exterior details we use a pressure washer with a foam cannon attachment. This foam cannon coats the vehicle in a thick sudsy, shaving cream like sno-foam.

Beyond looking cool and being an extremely fun and satisfying step, the sno-foam acts as a pre-soak, clinging to the paint allowing it’s surfactants to dwell and emulsify road-film and carry surface grit and dirt safely off the vehicle. The sno-foam will help remove a majority of dirt making a contact wash even safer.

If you don’t have a fancy power washer or a foam cannon using multiple buckets during your hand wash can be a good way to go. One bucket strictly for the wheels, since they are usually the dirtiest part of the vehicle and two additional bucket’s for washing the vehicle.

This has become a popular washing method and utilizes a wash bucket and a rinse bucket. The wash bucket is used for dunking the wash mitt or wash media into some nice foamy car shampoo in order to keep everything lubricated while washing each panel. The rinse bucket is used for rinsing the mitt with clean water in between panel wipes to reduce the amount of dirt that’s being transferred from panel to panel.

The “Two-Bucket” method as it’s called helps minimize the potential for scratching the paint by keeping your wash media largely dirt free.

We also use a circular screen like device called a “Grit-Guard” in the bottom of our buckets that acts as a dirt trap.

In situations where we may not have access to water or want to minimize our water usage we’ll use what’s referred to as the rinse-less wash method.

One bucket is filled with water and a rinse-less wash solution. Multiple wash mitts or microfiber towels are then soaked in the wash solution. The vehicle is pre-soaked with a pump sprayer with the rinse-less wash solution to help encapsulate the dirt. Then each section or panel of the vehicle is washed top to bottom with a separate, uncontaminated wash mitt while using a low volume of water.

We’ll typically use this method for cleaning vintage or antique vehicles to minimizes their exposure to water.

With the exception of starting our washes off with the wheels we like to wash a vehicle from the top down. This is because there is typically more dirt and grit closer to the wheels so we’d rather start at the least dirty area and work our way to the most dirty area.

This will help minimize contamination of the wash buckets as well as prematurely soiling the wash media.

Water spots can be a big problem especially when you’re fighting the sun. When it’s time to rinse the vehicle we use De-ionized water that is mineral free. This prevents the mineral deposits known as water spots from happening when the water drys out or evaporates in the hot sun.

In the drying stage of the wash we like to minimize contact to the vehicle by utilizing forced air. Similarly to how a car wash has jet blowers, we’ll use a leaf blower and compressed air to dry the car.

We can get water out of every nook and cranny this way with almost no need to touch the car with a drying towel. This technique drastically reduces potential of creating swirl marks.

Replace Old Habits with New Habits

There are a lot of old habits out there and most people simply aren’t aware that how they are touching their cars is contributing to creating scratches and swirls.

Use Clean & Safe Wash Media: First, use CLEAN premium microfiber towels, microfiber wash mitts and microfiber drying towels. Microfiber has become the workhorse in any detail operation and for good reason. They are soft, absorbent and offer incredible cleaning power due to their static cling ability. They are also incredibly versatile and there is truly a microfiber towel designed for every job. Replace all of those sponges, beach towels and shammys with the latest and greatest microfiber towels. They work better and are much safer to use on the paint.

Second, keep any towel, mitt or any wash media you use to clean or wipe down your car clean at all times. Avoid the old habit of chucking that beach towel in the back of the trunk and then proceeding to use it over and over again after each wash to dry the car. It’s just building up dirt and in tern you are creating scratches and swirls each time you use it to dry the car. The same goes for reusing the same old wash mitt over and over again.

Machine Wash your wash and drying media between each wash and keep it in clean storage such as an air tight cabinet or container. We recommend washing your microfibers separate from your regular laundry using a free and clear soap, no fabric softeners or dryer sheets and avoid the hot settings on your washer or dryer. Microfibers are great at picking up lint so be sure your lint trap is clean.

Lastly, dish sponges are too harsh for washing cars so keep them in the kitchen and don’t dare let anyone near your car with a California Car Duster, it’s just dry wiping the surface, dragging dust all over your finish and creating swirls. Don’t ask me how I know.

Use Lubrication: When ever you touch your car use lubrication. This can be in the form of a car wash shampoo or rinse-less wash when washing the car, a drying lubricant like a quick detailer while drying the car and a good quick detailer or water-less wash for those car show wipe-downs.

When you encounter situations with stuck on bonded contaminants such as hardened bug remains or bird droppings use a proper soap or cleaning agent and a little patience. A simple technique is to lay down a damp microfiber towel over the hardened bug or bird dropping and allow it to soften it before gently removing it. This avoids scrubbing on the paint. Although tempting in a pinch, avoid using paper towels on your car paint. They are far less absorbent and a more abrasive material compared to microfiber and risk marring the paint.

Avoid Cross Contamination: If you drop your wash mitt on the ground it’s done, get a clean one. Avoid cleaning your wheels with the same mitt you use on your paint. All of the brake dust and dirt on those wheels will be transferred to your paint. Have separate mitts, brushes and towels to use for the specific areas of your car and make sure you clean them between each wash.

The name of the game is to “work clean” and minimize harm to scratch sensitive surfaces like the paint.

Maintaining a corrected vehicle

As detailing legend and educator Mike Phillips likes to say, “It takes hours to remove scratches and swirls, but it only takes a second to put them back in”. Something to keep in mind. Paint Correction is the reconditioning of the painted surface, by leveling down (removing) some of that surface. In other words the more you polish your car the more you are removing paint from your vehicle. This is why we approach every paint correction from a preservation mindset. We have to consider that the vehicle may have been buffed on before and we don’t want to be the ones to find the end of the line of the paint. This is why it’s so important to follow proper maintenance and washing techniques to help preserve your reconditioned finish for as long as can be.

This means that the way you care for your vehicle after a correction becomes even more important if you want to maintain your gorgeously reconditioned finish. Learning and Practicing safe washing techniques and keeping your vehicle protected with a wax, sealant or coating will help you preserve your corrected finish. We are available and more than happy to show you the tools, tips and methods that will help you if you wish to maintain your car on your own.

If you’re not the DIY type or simply don’t have the time or interest to maintain your own vehicle, we can set up a maintenance program for keeping your vehicle in tip top shape. This typically consists of a maintenance wash which is a hand wash services with a PH neutral car shampoo that keeps the vehicle clean in between more extensive detailing services. Utilizing a PH neutral soap means that it won’t strip the layer of protection from the paint prematurely. We’ll also top the protection off with an appropriate “booster” product to help keep the surface nice and slippery for water beading.

Exterior maintenance washes typically take roughly 3-4 hours and start at $150 dollars per wash. A 10% discount can be applied for regular bi-weekly or monthly maintenance washing services.

Addendum:

This menu is designed as a reference guide. Prices vary with the size of the vehicle and scope of services required. As related to paint correction, an “imperfection” or “defect” in the paint refers to swirls, scratches, etching, buffer trails, holograms, spider-webbing, love marks, etc. Protection longevity and performance can sometimes be effected by “real world” variables such as climate, weather, vehicle usage, type of storage as well as owner upkeep. The scope of services is determined by an in depth vehicle assessment prior to detail services being rendered. Hourly rates may apply in situations that require extensive paint correction or reconditioning work. Tools, techniques and cleaning methods vary from situation to situation. Our rates and services are subject to change as industry standards and customer demand evolves over time.

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