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In the detailing world when it comes to polishing paint , soft paint is a detailers worst nightmare. Some describe as trying to polish pudding. It takes a lot of practice , technique and proper equipment to polish it safely and efficiently.
The current shop project, this 1997 Porsche Boxster is no exception . Porsche’s are known for soft paint, some of the softest in the industry. For this project after measuring the thickness of the paint and doing numerous test spots to determine what pad and polish would be the safest. I determined that damp polishing would bring the severely neglected paint back to its maximum potential in the safest possible way . Damp polishing goes against what most body shops and detailers are taught their whole career, most are taught to use a high speed rotary polisher with an aggressive wool pad and aggressive compounds. This method heats the paint up very quickly and removes the vehicles clear coat harshly. Damp polishing is a technique that uses water, spray wax , or rinse less wash sprayed on the pad of choice to aid in keeping the heat to a minimum. With the damp pad and low speed polishing we are able to polish soft paint safely and not potentially cause clear coat failure from heating up the clear coat and thinning it down to the point of no return.
Damp polishing takes years to get good at , but it is a great method to use on softer paints like Porsche’s and Subaru’s. It keeps the vehicles paint safe while achieving maximum potential . It takes patience and steady arm speed and pad rotation. You can see in the pictures below , the results are outstanding ! They were achieved safely with the integrity of the paint intact now we can ceramic coat the paint and add more layers of protection to preserve the finish