When you are working on a vehicle and preparing it for new paint it is important that you follow the proper methods of cleaning the surface or you will end up with paint defects that either cause initial failure or callbacks.

When working in larger shops such as dealership body shops there are often set standards and methods for working on customer cars.

The best thing that I found in larger shops is when you have a vehicle that isn’t totaled but can still be driven that you have a helper wash the vehicle thoroughly …

Removing runs is something that every painter has to deal with. No matter how many years you put in no matter how many cars you paint the fact is you are going to have an off day and cause some runs.

Really this is not the worst thing that can happen but it does delay you and if the run is in the color coat it will mean stopping the work until you can break out a uv light and cure the work for sanding or maybe wipe down the area with reducer and feather it …

I recently got a bunch of questions from a couple of guys I know that think they want to go into business together. They wanted to know if its a good idea and what they should do to get started. They met in grade school and have been friends for about 10 years. Both of them work in the industry but they have never worked together other then on personal projects.

As for personal life one of them is married with a young kid and the other wants to be single for the rest …

Chemical Stripper can be your best friend or a total nightmare depending on how you use it.  The benefit of chemical stripper is that it can take off large amounts of paint relatively cheaply. The one thing that you don’t want to do is think of chemical stripper the same way you would media blasting.

Chemical stripper is a caustic liquid that is a base similar to draino or lye. Most people understand the strength of Acids like the sulfuric acid in your car battery but caustic bases which are the opposite of an acid are …