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Hiding vs. Removing Paint Defects
While polishing and waxing a vehicle, you may have noticed that some fine scratches became less visible or even disappeared, only to reappear after the vehicle has been washed a few times. By using the correct system of products and procedures, many small paint defects can be removed and will not reappear when the polish and wax are washed and worn away.
To remove a defect from the paint surface, you must remove the very thin layer of paint that contains the defect by spending enough time with a compound or polish. By removing this thin layer of paint, you actually remove the defect.
See Illustration 1.
Some scratches, acid rain pits, or other more severe defects may not be able to be removed completely. If a defect goes too deep into the clear coat, sanding to the bottom of the defect may result in inadequate clear coat thickness, or may even require a repaint. See Illustration 2. Generally speaking, if you can feel a scratch with your fingernail, you should not attempt to remove it completely. However, even without sanding, many deep scratches or other more severe defects that are compounded, polished and waxed will be less noticeable.
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