Glossary
There are lots of confusing terms and jargon used in the detailing world. Here are some simple definitions to you decipher what we are actually talking about!
Carnauba Wax
Car waxes formulated with the highest-grade yellow carnauba wax will protect the paint from intense UV exposure, oxidation, moisture, and intense heat. Best of all, carnauba wax will give the paint a sleek, glossy, and intense shine.
Ceramic Coating
A ceramic coating is a liquid polymer sealant that chemically bonds to your vehicles factory paint, creating a layer of protection. Ceramic coatings formulations make them last much longer and protect the paint from UV rays, chemical stains, and etching. Ceramic coatings make it much easier to clean the surface of the paint as it creates a super hydrophobic surface that repels water and dirt. On top of all the protection and ease of use, it also adds a beautiful deep gloss to your vehicles paint be enhancing the reflective properties of the clear coat.
Checking crackling
Paint looks like shattered glass. Paint dries and loses its elasticity. Extreme temperatures cause the paint to expand and contract and pulls the paint apart.
Clay Bar
A clay bar is either a natural or synthetic engineered resin compound designed to remove or ‘lift’ contamination from your vehicles surface to provide a contamination free, smooth surface to apply protection to
Clear Coat
A thin transparent layer of paint usually applied over a pigmented layer of paint (base coat) to provide a deep, rich, shiny finish. Most vehicles have 1.5 to 2.0 mils of clear coat.
Compound
An abrasive product designed to remove heavy surface contamination and deep scratches. Can reduce paint thickness quickly. Can leave visible scratches (swirls) in the paint finish.
Contamination
Contamination is a term used to describe all residue on a vehicle’s exterior surfaces. This may consist of tar, sap, iron, or sticky organic material from the environment. It takes extra effort and processes to remove contamination than a normal wash routine will remove. Decontamination is required prior to any Proclean Solutions paint correction or polishing process.
Detergents/shampoos
Cleaning products for auto interiors and exteriors with different chemical formulations as the active cleaning agent. Differentiated by thickness and cleaning ability.
Dressed
The application of a coating applied to vinyl, leather, plastic, and rubber to protect or make shiny.
Dual Action Polisher
An electric or pneumatic tool that has a clutching mechanism attached to the spindle assembly that provides a smooth shifting motion between random orbital and rotary by applying force to the tool.
Foam Pad
A less aggressive foam pad that is used with a compound to correct paint finish problems and clear-coat finishes.
Microfibre Cloths
Microfibre is a textile made from super-fine synthetic yarns split into millions of microscopic fibres that are up to 100 times finer than a human hair. This gives it an enormous amount of surface area and makes it highly absorbent — a microfiber cloth can hold seven times its weight in water. Microfibre cloths in many forms are widely used in vehicle detailing as they are highly effective cloths that don’t mark surfaces.
Orange Peel
The nubby rough appearance on paint; looks much like the texture of an orange peel; surface lacks clarity of reflected image.
Paint Correction
Paint correction is a term used to describe the restoration of paintwork. It often includes scratch & swirl removal, watermark etching and oxidisation repair.
Paintless Dent Removal
Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) is a process to remove dents and dings in paintwork that have not broken the paint.
Paint Marring
Paint marring is simply another way of describing scratches and swirl marks in automotive paint.
pH Scale
Is a scale from 0-14 to determine the acidic or alkaline nature of a chemical. 0-6 is Acidic; 8-14 is alkaline, 7 is considered neutral. The lower the number the more acidic a chemical, the higher the number the more alkaline or caustic the chemical.
Snow Foam
Snow Foam is a Pre-Wash product that helps to break down and remove dirt and grime which accumulates on your cars paintwork, making this a great first step to washing a dirty car as you don’t have to make contact with the paint surface with a wash mitt or sponge
Spray Wax
Spray wax can be organic or synthetic and relates to any wax that is applied to paintwork a spray bottle. Spray wax is applied to each panel and spread with a clean microfibre cloth; the excess wax is wiped off.
Stage 1 Polish/Correction
A process where the paint is corrected, polished, and protected in one step. Or a chemical product that corrects, polishes, and protects.
Stage 2 Polish/Correction
A paint correction process involving two separate steps of machine polishing, typically a compound or cutting step followed by a finishing polish or refining step.
Swirl Marks/Holograms
Swirl marks are thousands of fine scratches in a vehicle’s paintwork circular patterned swirls are often referred to as holograms. These may be caused by poor polishing washing techniques.
Synthetic Wax
Are man-made synthetic waxes, applied to paintwork the natural equivalent is Carnauba wax. Synthetic wax has highly effective protective and sealing properties. Typically, synthetic sealants last two to three times the duration of Carnauba wax. The trade-off is the level of sheen isn’t always as high as carnauba wax.
Two Bucket Method
The two bucket is simply utilising two buckets for the vehicle washing process. Thsi is the safest way to wash your vehicle. One bucket contains the pH neutral shampoo the second clean water. The second bucket is used to rinse the wash mitt isolating the dirt you’ve wiped from the surface of the car as much as possible.
Wet Sanding
A procedure of simultaneously sanding and rinsing an automotive finish to remove imperfections. Regarded as complicated and should only be attempted by professionals.
Wool Cutting Pad
An aggressive 100% woven wool pad that is used with a compound to correct a major paint finish problem.