The water acts as a lubricant and vehicle to remove the paint dust that would normally just clog up the sandpaper and get in the way. With a clean car, you're ready to dive into the process of wet sanding.Įssentially, wet sanding is the process of sanding a car with water. If you've been doing any bodywork there might be tape residue or other leftovers waiting to corrupt your efforts. The water that runs off as you sand the paint's finish will be full of tiny bits of paint that can stain the floor and be difficult to clean up once dry.īefore you begin it's always a good idea to wash your car to remove anything that you don't want to mix into the sandpaper-like wax, grit or other foreign matter. Unless you have a very nice garage with a drain in the floor and nothing at all stored in it, you will probably want to conduct all of your wet sanding outside. With your materials chosen and bought, you're ready to get started.

Wet sanding require water and a back and forth motion. And we both know what that amounts to-more work! Let the sandpaper do the work, and don't apply too much hand pressure as this can cause grooves or uneven sanding. Remember, when sanding anything, it's always important to take it slow. For a finished paint job that just needs a little more smoothness and shines, starts with an 800, or even a 1000 grit sandpaper. If you are wet sanding a finished paint job, you definitely do not want to start with a 400 grit sandpaper as it will be much too harsh and can ruin your paint finish instead of restoring it. After some time with the 400 grit, you can move to a 600-grit paper to give yourself a nice, smooth surface to work with when you are painting the car. As a starting point, if you are sanding a coat of rough primer, you can start with a 400-grit sandpaper to knock down all of those little bumps. Start with too fine a grit and you'll be sanding until your arm feels like it's going to fall off. If you start with a grit that is too coarse, you'll be creating more work for yourself and might be left with a thinner paint or primer coat than you wanted. Instead, you need more of a misty sprayed pattern that can saturate your work surface while you use one hand for spraying and the other hand for sanding.Ĭhoosing what grit sandpaper to use is important. In other words, you don't want a spray bottle that throws a thick splash of water. Be sure to buy a bottle that has an actual spray pattern. You can find spray bottles at just about any home repair store, box stores, or grocery store in the cleaning section.

A car or truck that needs some smoothin'.

The only equipment you'll need is a spray bottle and sand paper.

How to chop and section a car