I assume wearing protective gloves is a good idea; do you suggest technicians where gloves?
Yes. The chemicals will not immediately harm skin, however as with any paint related material gloves provide protection against long term effects.
Color Enhancer & Touch Paint?
How Can I use Color Enhancer with touch-up paint?
On paint CE can minimize your time with scratch and chip repairs. CE is meant to be used on damage that has not penetrated into the basecoat color. CE creates a finish within the damage that allows the existing color to shin be through.
The best method to apply is as follows:
Clean damages areas with a microfibre cloth and laquer thinner. Using a blue shop towel or other soft cloth rub small amounts of CE into damage. Wait for solvents to flash off. The wait time can be from seconds to several minutes. Much depends on temperature, sun or shade and color of car. To quick will pull the CE out and to late will make it hard to remove excess. After wait time return with a microfiber folded flat and using light pressure wipe log strokes over area. Wipe until area shines, however avoid over wiping. The idea is to remove the excess CE while leaving as much as possible in scratch. Look from different angle to make sure no excess CE is left. Vehicle should not be wash for 2-4 hours after application. After these steps are complete, tech can proceed to touch up deeper damage with color.
Different touch methods can be used with CE to achieve great results. (Always test a small area to see how well CE works with the basecoat brand you use.) For instance when tiny chips cover the front of a car. Clean area with a microfiber towel dampened with lacquer thinner. Then using a blue shop towel or a small t-shirt cloth rub and dab basecoat into chips. (Adding some Adhesion promoter to basecoat may help bond to damage). Then wrap a soft block tightly with a t-shirt cloth. Make sure bottom side is smooth with no wrinkles. Dampen bottom side with CE. After paint has dried rub area to remove excess. If paint seems stubborn to remove mist a small amount of wax and grease remover (paint prep solvent) from a spray bottle over area and immediately rub again. To much Remover will pull paint out of chips. After all dried paint is removed use a dry, clean t-shirt cloth and block to clean off the excess paint and CE. By removing this excess with a clean cloth save a good microfiber. When mixing color adding a small amount of CE may make it easier to remove.
For deep scratches, we would suggest cleaning with lacquer thinner and microfiber, applying CE, shine with microfiber, apply color with bondo spreader (plastic razor blade might work), remove excess with wax and grease remover, if necessary after paint dries apply more CE and shine. This method requires a spreader to be free of nicks. Check carefully, if you feel anything rub edge with fine sandpaper (1500 grit). With a smooth edge you can drag paint into scratch or chip with out leaving any outside of the scratch, except at edges of spreader and where you stop. So when you remove the excess you wont need to wipe over the scratch.
To achieve high gloss results with larger damage, check out the Excess Remover from our Paint Touch-up Line.
