Sanding - Is there a difference?

[Guest]

Just out of curiosity but what, if any, is the difference between color sanding and wetsanding. When I searched, I a lot of pictures rather than an explanation of the process.

thanks
Joe

[the other pc]

Re: Sanding - Is there a difference?

For the most part, people tend to use the terms interchangeably. For the longest time they meant the same thing but these days you could argue otherwise.

The term “color sanding” came about because back in the days when single stage paints were the norm you actually were sanding on colored paint and you could get changes in color when sanding on a finish. With the current prevalence of base/clear finishes the term is arguably archaic but still in common use.

The term “wet sanding” came about because finish sanding on paint was always done wet. Now there are abrasives specifically designed for dry sanding paint but they aren’t as well known or commonly used.

So people still call finish sanding on paint “wet sanding” even though it can sometimes be done dry.


PC.

[joebennz]

Re: Sanding - Is there a difference?

For the most part, people tend to use the terms interchangeably. For the longest time they meant the same thing but these days you could argue otherwise.

The term “color sanding” came about because back in the days when single stage paints were the norm you actually were sanding on colored paint and you could get changes in color when sanding on a finish. With the current prevalence of base/clear finishes the term is arguably archaic but still in common use.

The term “wet sanding” came about because finish sanding on paint was always done wet. Now there are abrasives specifically designed for dry sanding paint but they aren’t as well known or commonly used.

So people still call finish sanding on paint “wet sanding” even though it can sometimes be done dry.


PC.

That was probably the most detailed and educated answer i could ask for... thank you very much. You don't happen to know anything about advanced accounting would you lol. jk

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Sanding - Is there a difference?

Paul's explanation was good but just to add...

When sanding on a single stage paint job, you'll see the color of the paint coming off the car in your sanding water residue thus the name color-sanding.

When wet-sanding a clear coat paint, because the clear coat is clear you won't see any color coming off the car but maybe a little milky whitish color as the clear is removed and rinsed off with your sanding water.

Both are messy, it's just you can see the color of one mess versus the other mess, if that makes sense?

Like Paul said, the terms can be used interchangeably however color-sanding really only has real meaning when working on a single stage paint.