SO yesterday I finished painting my car, clearcoat and everything.

Didnt get a glass finish so I decided to wetsand, grabbed some 800 grit black waterproof paper, put a little soap in the water and went to town, maybe 3 strokes per area.

I left the car all wet and soapy because I lost track of time and had to jet to the airport.

Come back this morning and the car was all soapy but dried up, so I bring the car outside and WATER DOWN THE CAR!

It looks ******* beautiful when >>>WET<< Like looks perfect how it should look, but when I wiped it down to dry it looked like complete *** again and all foggy and non reflective and like soap

WHAT DO I DO

Im freaking out, I biked all the way home to ask this so please help out

 

God I hope you are ****** kidding me.

First mistake was not washing the soap off. Do the car a section at a time, not the whole thing at once.

The paint is foggy cause you just sanded it. Continue wetsanding in increments to 1600 or 2000 and then you will need to polish. If you have never done it, pay someone to cause without the proper equipment or knowledge you could burn through your paint.

 

I sanded it last night, left it on for a good 12 hours, wow I am dumb.

So I can just go pick up some higher grit paper and Itll be good for?

I got some TurtleWax Swirl and scratch remover and some Turtle Wax Wax

But ya I did do the whole car at once

 

You can get higher grit paper just about anywhere. I suggest getting it from an auto paint store to make sure you get the right stuff. Warning, the higher grit gets a little more spendy but not too bad.

And it doesn't need wax, it needs polishing. You are going to need a rotary buffer. Not one of those cheese ball ones at Sears but a heavy duty one by Makita or Dewalt. They are usually at least $200. You will need a wool pad, about $20 and about another $20-$40 for compounds depending on what you get. Those are cheap end numbers but it will work as a minimum.

I would just take it to a body/paint shop and see what they would charge to buff it. Usually around $100 for a small car and then you won't have to worry about burning your paint.

 

So all these marks are just from wetsanding? Why does it look perfect when its wet, like how it should look, but when it dries, looks all scratched and cloudy and no reflection at all but when its wet its gorgeous everywhere

 

Because when it is wet it hides all the micro scratches you put in the paint by sanding it. That is the reason everyone always trys to get that "wet" look with their paint.

 

you forgot to finish with 80 grit polishing paper.

use moderate pressure and that should do it.