How to get that Ultimate, Professional Super Glossy Finish for your Car

Ever wonder how The Fast and The Furious are always riding in beautiful, shiny cars, with that bright bling and showroom car finish?

How do they get that ride to be so damn Glossy!!!!! 

How is that black so Black and that metallic so deep???!!

Well, wonder no more, cause here is a step by step guide to that ultimate race car finish. Get that eye-popping gloss and deep colour by following the guide to the Ultimate Professional Super Glossy Finish for your car.

Be prepared for blood, sweat and elbow grease!

Before we flag off, lets look at why you need to put in those hours on your ride.

When the car leaves the showroom for the very first time and is the pride of your life, you see your dreams reflecting off the hood and into the orbit of your fantasies. Scenes of clouds drifting off the car, over the windscreen and over your head give you that high of flying in the open skies.

Those dream slowly loose their sheen as the clear coat of your car begins to loose its gloss.

The rigors of life begin to take a toll on your car. The mud and dust, hail storms and sunny parking lots, that unruly biker, all give your car's paint a really tough time. You take pity on the poor thing and one Sunday, decide to give it a much deserved bath. You use that shampoo that gives you super soft hair and massage it on to the hood as you would on your head. A generous splash of water and a towel down with a cotton/ semi cotton (or who knows what material) cloth in circular motion will get it dry.

The shampoo just killed its sheen and the cloth just made more swirl marks on the paint. Your showroom finish is long gone.

But... is there no anti-ageing Serum you ask???

We have just the prescription for you.

First off, give your car a nice pressure wash using water. No commercial detergents. Make sure all the mud and grime are washed off. Next, wipe your car using a clean, washed, 100% cotton cloth or a chamnois cloth. Wait for it to completely dry. Now, park the car in shade and wait for it to cool off. Make sure there is plenty of ventilation.

Personal safety first. Wear gloves and a mask before the next steps.

Here is the opportunity to introduce you to the trade secrets of the professional car finishers. That dead clear coat can be brought to life by rubbing, buffing and polishing it. How? you ask... The answer is, using specialty rubbing compounds and finishing waxes.

Rubbing compounds and waxes are available in a number of brands and avatars. After a lot of Indian market research, I have found that the ultimate rubbing compound is Meguiar's Diamond Cut 2.0 and the best wax out there is Meguiar's Hi-Tech Yellow Wax.

How do we use them?

On the cool car surface, apply the rubbing compound (Meguiar's Diamond Cut 2.0 is a liquid) with a microfibre cloth. Using a polisher and a wool pad, buff the surface. The speed setting on the polisher must be medium. Work one area at a time. If you do not have access to a polisher, buffing can be done using the microfiber cloth itself. After the buffing is complete, using the used area of the microfiber cloth, wipe off the dust caused by buffing. You will now have lesser swirl marks on the clear coat than before and an enhanced gloss will have developed.

How to maintain this gloss? The gloss thus developed can be protected using a wax polish.

Meguiar's Hi-Tech Yellow Wax is a Carnauba Wax mixed with other high grade ingredients. It adds richness and depth of colour and provides ultimate high gloss protection to any cleaned and polished paint surface. Shake the bottle well. Apply the wax one section at a time. If you are applying the wax by hand, use a 100% cotton terry cloth or sponge applicator. Use light pressure. Spread the wax evenly over the surface using overlapping strokes to ensure complete coverage. Allow the wax to dry to a haze. Now, wipe off excess with a soft cleaning cloth. Turn to clean side of the cloth for a final wipe.

Your car will now be the envy of your neighbors!

After Care 

• Never use commercial detergents and shampoos on your car. 
• Do not use pressure while wiping the car.
• Always use a soft microfiber or cotton cloth for wiping the car.
• Regular re-waxing will maintain the gloss for a long time.
• Your car will again be your pride and joy!

What is Duco Paint? How is it applied?

Duco is a brand marketed by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI now merged with Akzo Nobel) under which it sells its popular Automotive paints. The Duco brand represents a range of products meant for auto painting and refinishing. The topcoat or the finish coat available under the brand Duco is a Nitro Cellulose (NC) Lacquer. Due to its wide spread use and popularity, the name "Duco" has been genericized to refer to Nitro Cellulose (NC) Lacquers.

Duco was vastly popular as an automotive finish before the advent of Polyurethane paints. Now a days Duco has found a new life as a high quality finish for interiors and other architectural projects. 

NC Lacquers typically are a clear or coloured wood/metal finish that dry by solvent evaporation and produce a hard, durable finish.  (Read more about Lacquers in general here)

Duco being an NC Lacquer has the following properties :

• Fast Drying
• High Solid content 
• Excellent Water Barrier
• Excellent Self Leveling properties
• Takes very well to buffing to give a high sheen 
• Smooth and Hard finish

 Areas of Application :

• Automobile body
• Plywood and MDF
• Sheet Metal
• MS angles and flats
• Architectural and Industrial metal structures

The different surfaces require different preparations. Let us look at the application methods for each of the surfaces mentioned above.


Application method for Sheet Metal and MS Structures :
Materials Required

• Compressor capable of delivering 30-40 psi pressure consistently.
• A good quality spray gun - preferably HVLP type.
• Safety Equipment - Mask, Glasses, Gloves and Overalls.
• Degreaser solvent
• Degreaser Cloth
• Duco Oil Primer / MRF Etch Primer
• Tak Cloths - to remove sanding dust.
• Duco Primer Surfacer - Grey / White - depending on the top coat colour you choose. For Lighter coloured top coats, use Primer Surfacer White and for darker topcoats, use Primer Surfacer Grey.
• Duco Soft Cut Putty 
• Water Emery (Latex paper backed) of grits 220 and 320
• Sanding block
• Duco NC Lacquer
• Duco Thinner
• Rubbing Compund - 3M 1Step is highly recommended.
• Cotton Waste

Application

• Scrap off any loose particles, dirt and old paint from the metal surface to bare metal.
• If the base metal is galvanized, an etch primer is recommended.
• For bare sheet metal, a coat of Duco Oil Primer thinned with a General Purpose thinner in the ratio 5:1 must be applied and allowed to dry overnight. The Duco Oil Primer has excellent adhesion, corrosion resistance and is air drying.
• Apply 2 coats of Duco Primer Surfacer (PS) thinned with Duco Thinner in the ratio 1:1.5 with a flash off interval of 15 minutes between coats.
• Rectify any minor dents and scratches using Duco Soft Cut Putty and a putty knife.
• Wet sand with water emery of grit 220 followed by 320 to level any imperfections.
• Apply a coat of Primer Surfacer on the puttied areas.
• Choose a colour!
• Apply 2 coats of Duco NC Lacquer thinned with Duco Thinner in the ratio 1:2 of the selected colour. Allow flash off interval of 15 minutes between coats.
• Leave to dry overnight.
• Wet sand flat (remove gloss) carefully with emery grits 600/800and apply one mist coat thinned 1:3 with Duco Thinner.
• Allow to dry overnight and polish the surface using 3M 1Step Rubbing compound. 
• For a higher gloss polish use 3M Premium Liquid Wax.

Application for wood and MDF surfaces follows the same procedure as above except for priming using Duco Oil Primer. The Duco Primer Surfacer is applied directly onto the wooden surface.

The finish thus obtained is long lasting and durable.

Duco has the following limitations :

• Requires elaborate equipment to apply - compressor and spray guns are the basic requirements.
• Colour stability on exposure to sunlight is average - easily yellows.
• Attention to surface preparation is required before application - needs a skilled workman.
• Duco is sensitive to the atmospheric conditions during application - A change in temperature can affect the finish.
• Being solvent based, it is not environmentally friendly and precautions must be taken against the health hazards during application. At minimum a respirator mask, gloves and glasses are required. Body overalls are highly recommended. An exhaust system must be in place to extract the solvent flashing off the surface.

 A range of Duco Products is available for delivery across India @ paintnhardware.com

Also available at our store :

A Study of Paint Rollers

Introduction to Paint Rollers - A brief history of how the paint roller evolved in India

 

Micro fiber Roller - European Handle

The evolution of the roller has followed the path of evolution of paint in India. Not too closely though. There have been times when the paint technology was far ahead and the roller lagged far behind. As time progressed and paint graduated from lime wash to distempers and emulsions, the transition of brush to roller was a slow one. This was partly due to unavailability of certain roller products and technologies but majorly due to habits of painters and their reluctance to invest in their trade. Painters were usually part time. The finish of emulsions were not up to the mark due to the use of brushes. To counter this, painters began using cheap foam rollers on wet paint after brush application. The finish was better but still not satisfactory and the paint jobs took longer to complete. This system worked for many years until painters began experiencing problems with application of high sheen emulsions. Around the same time, painters also began facing problems with manpower. The modern cloth roller thus began finding acceptance and quickly replaced the brush as a tool of application. This roller not only provided uniform deposition of paint but also reduced the time taken to paint. After some initial resistance - again due to the painters habit and reluctance to invest in trade - the cloth roller is widely used today. 

Variety of Rollers

. Cloth Vs Foam - Cloth rollers are mats of woven or knitted fiber pasted onto plastic tubes and mounted on to handles. The pasting is done in a spiral fashion so as not to leave any marks on the painted surface. Foam rollers are pieces of foam, cut in uniform cylindrical shapes and mounted onto handles.

. A wide variety of sizes are also available. Width x Diameter - 2 " x 1", 4" x 1", 6" x 1", 6" x 2", 7" x 2", 8" x 2", 9" x 2".

Polyester Roller - Cage Handle

. A Wide variety of materials area also available in cloth rollers : Polyester, Acrylic, Micro Fibre, Poly Amide, Natural Hair and Blends of the above. The material is either warp knitted or woven.

Criteria to choosing a roller

With so much variety there is often a confusion as to which roller to choose. The following criteria will make the choice objective :

. Foam Vs Cloth :

 Low density foam rollers pick up a large amount of material and splatter paint onto the surface and are not suitable for application of paint. This leads to a lot of wastage. They can only be used to remove excess paint or smoothen unevenly applied paint. High density foam rollers pick up less material and cause less splatter when placed onto the surface to be painted. They can be used to apply paint. The problem with foam rollers is that they tend to break after usage. They are also very difficult to clean, as the material is absorbed into the entire thickness of the foam.

Cloth rollers on the other hand provide uniform paint deposition and splatter free painting. They are easy to clean as paint is absorbed only into the mat of the material which is on an average only about 0.5" in thickness.

. Pile / Nap of a Cloth Roller :

The roller pile is the length of the fiber. The longer the fiber, the more material it can hold. Also a larger pile will help the roller cover larger surface undulations. But a longer fiber also means a rougher finish. Rollers meant for rough surfaces such as rough plastered exterior walls have a larger pile.

. Material of a Cloth Roller :

Polyester is the cheapest material but has low paint pickup.

Acrylic is a bit more expensive and has better paint pickup.

Micro Fibre is a bit higher in cost and has excellent paint pickup.

Polyamide fibre has equivalent paint pickup and cost to micro fiber but has much longer life.

. Woven Vs Knitted

Woven fibers pickup more material than knitted fibers and also deposit material more uniformly.

. Handles - Cage Style Vs European Style

Cage handles are more expensive than european style handles but have better grip on the roller.

. Lint Free Rollers do not leave behind any fiber on the painted surface. These are generally more expensive.

Considering the finish required, the surface being painted and the paint being used, a suitable roller can be chosen using the above criteria.

A variety of paint rollers available in the Indian market can be bought here..

Happy Painting!!

How to remove minor scratches and scuffs from car paint

Minor scratches on automotive paint, no deeper than the clear coat, can be easily removed and cleaned using a simple buffing technique.

Materials :
. 3M 1-Step rubbing compound
. Cotton waste
. 3M Premium Liquid Wax
. Wet sanding papers grit #1500, #2000

For larger jobs such as the complete painted surface of a car, a Polisher machine fitted with a Wool Pad is recommended.

Application :
. Squeeze a wet rag over the affected area and sand using water emery of grit 1500. Make sure the sanding is to the entire depth of the scratch. The surface will now be dull and devoid of gloss.
. Next sand the surface using water emery grit #2000 by first squeezing a wet rag over the surface. This removes scratches caused by the #1500 grit emery. 
. Apply a small quantity of the rubbing compound on the sanded surface.
. Using a handful of cotton waste gently rub the compound in a circular motion. If you are using a polisher gently press the pad against the area.
. Once the compound has been wiped off , vigorously buff the surface using the polisher or cotton waste.
. Minor scratches and dirt will be removed and gloss will also be restored.
. To further enhance the gloss, buff the surface by applying a small quantity of the liquid wax.

Your beloved car - shiny and scratch free !

Door Locks for Internal Entrance Doors

Europa Cylindrical Lock

Internal entrance doors have different requirements to external doors. Convenience and style become top priority for interior doors. Convenience to match the users lifestyle and style to match the interior decor. Internal entrance doors maybe for rooms, bathrooms etc.

SS finish Cylindrical Lock

For Room Doors
Required features for a lock : style, convenience, safety

Usage : of a room door is for personal privacy and security of valuables. The locks must be stylish and match the interior decor.

Suggested Locks : Mortise handle locks, cylindrical locks, aldrops/sliding bolts with padlocks.

Mortise Lock

For Bathroom Doors
Required features for a lock : style, convenience, privacy
Usage : of a bathroom door is for privacy. The locks must be stylish and match the interior decor.

Suggested Locks : Mortise latches, keyless cylindrical locks

Aldrop / Sliding Bolt

Read All Posts on Door Locks

Shop online @ www.paintnhardware.com

How to Choose Door Locks for Main Entrance Doors

Doors are the gateway to your house. They are the sentry on vigil to keep you at ease. A good sentry needs a good and efficient security mechanism to assist him to keep out unwanted elements. A door lock is the mechanism for the door to help maintain your security. The strength of a well constructed door depends mainly on 2 factors : the hinges and the door lock as these are the contact points of the door with its frame.

Let us understand some materials for door construction before we go on to door locks. Doors are usually made of a wood, metal or a hybrid of the two. 

Metal Doors
Metal doors are constructed using angles, tubes and flats of mild steel or stainless steel. They can be made artistic and are usually installed as an extra protection to wood doors. Door locks are usually welded onto such doors.

The Anatomy of a Wooden Door 
Wood doors are generally constructed depending on the size of the wooden panel available. A single panel wood door is the strongest but also has a problem of bending, warping or shrinking if not seasoned properly. Availability of panels 3 to 4 feet in width is scarce and pushes the construction cost of the door up. Multi-panel doors made of three or more panels are the most common due to wide availability of narrow panels. Multi-panel doors though cheaper are weaker and need reinforcement. This is achieved in 2 ways - with the reinforcement reapers placed on the outside of the door or with cross braces on the inside of the door. The skill of the craftsman also plays a significant role in the construction of the door as the quality of the joints is very important for its strength. Also metal fasteners cannot be used in the joinery of such doors, instead wooden dowels are recommended - again laying emphasis on the skill of the carpenter. In the hands of such a craftsman, the door becomes a single solid unit. Equally important is the construction of the door frame. A door installation is completed using hinges, door locks and other hardware such as handles, tower bolts and stoppers. Most door locks are generally manufactured keeping a wooden door in mind. A wooden door is not only strong, it is also preferred due to the ease of fitting hardware onto it and also due to the aesthetics of the wood grains.

Hybrid Doors are usually a sandwich of a metal sheet between two wood panels. The metal gives added strength to the door, thus allowing for slimmer doors. The wood panels allow for fitting of hardware using regular fasteners such as screws. These doors are fast gaining popularity due to lower cost and improved strength.

The requirements for a good entrance door lock are as below :

. An entrance door lock has to be strong, trouble free and convenient to use.
. Keys that should not be easily duplicated or cannot be duplicated at all.
. Strong locking bolts.
. Crowbar attack resistant.
. Strong locking shackle/clamp.
. Drill Resistant.
. Concealed fitting.
. Ease of use.
. Long Life and trouble free service.

It should have all of the above features and functions and also look good.

Major Components of a Door Lock

. Locking tumbler or cipher.
. Key or the decipher.
. Locking Bolts.
. Locking Shackle.
. Lock Body.

What kind of door lock must one buy?

A few major factors that influence the choice of a door lock are listed below:

Lever Technology, Pin Cylinder technology or Dimple Key Pin Cylinder
Abstraction is what must be considered in the choice of technology. The more abstract or unique the manufacturing techniques used to manufacture the lock, the safer it is. Knowledge or the lack of is definitely the key to the safety of door locks. Another factor for safety is the accuracy or "resolution" of the locking tumbler and key. The higher the resolution, the harder it is to replicate. Higher resolution locks require more sophisticated machinery such as CNC lathes often costing crores of rupees, making duplication prohibitive. The number of key combinations per lock also matters in the overall safety.

One of the oldest technologies in door locks is lever technology. It involves a toothed key and a set of levers set inside the lock. The knowledge of this technology is wide spread and can be easily duplicated. The keys can be made easily using a set of files. Although very dependable, locks using this technology are low in safety.

Pin cylinder locks on the other hand have a jagged key with higher resolution than a toothed key. These locks are popular among buyers looking for an economical and safe lock. Duplication is difficult, but not impossible.

Dimple Key tumbler locks are the next level of locking technology in which the cipher has one or more rows of pins that engages the lock when the dimples in the key match the pin pattern. These locks require accurate, high precision sophisticated machinery to manufacture. The number of key combinations that can be generated for a given lock using this method is in the millions, making each key one in a million.

Advances in technology are producing even higher key resolutions and key combinations. As the key resolution and key combinations go up, the price goes up due to increased cost of manufacturing. It is wise to think of the trade off between safety and price before taking a decision.


One Sided or Two Sided Key Operation:
A door lock with one sided key operation will have a hand operated knob on the inside and a key hole for key operation on the outside. This feature reduces cost due the use of 1 less pin cylinder in the lock and has the convenience of key-less operation from the inside. This kind of lock has one major drawback - the lock can be manually unlocked by reaching in from a window near the door. Also anyone wanting to leave the premises need not have a key to unlock the door.

A two side key operated lock will not have the above drawbacks but will lack the convenience of key-less operation from inside.

Auto-Latch or Dead Lock
Auto latch locks will lock as soon as the door is closed. These locks have a latch which springs into the lock shackle when the door is fully closed. The advantage of such a lock is that one need not worry about the door being locked after exiting the premises. Just pull the door on the way out and it is locked. The auto latch mechanism can also be a bane. Lock out is possible. In the case of absence of keys and no one inside the premises, there is no way to open the lock other than to break open the door.

On the other hand a dead lock is locked manually and lacks the convenience of auto locking.

The above three are the major factors influencing the purchase of an entrance door lock. Any combination of the above three are available in the Indian market today.

Other factors to consider :

Style & Aesthetics and finish also play a role in the choice of a lock. The lock must match the hardware used on the door and should also match the interior decor.

Locking Bolts
Number of locking bolts plays a role and is a matter of personal preference and convenience. More bolts give better security. A locking bolt of minimum 1" length is recommended. Locking bolts that have a double throw are smoother to operate.

Striking Plate or Locking Shackle
Screws used to fasten the locking shackle onto the door should not only be perpendicular to the door plane but also parallel. This applies to the locking shackle and the lock. 

Fastners
It might seem trivial to think about screws, nuts and bolts but they are the ones that attach the lock to the door. Good quality stainless steel fastners are recommended for strength and resistance to corrosion. Screws of length 3" are recommended for the lock shackle and lock.   

Balcony/Terrace Entrance
Balcony or terrace locks need not have a key hole on the outside. The absence of the key hole not only leads to lower cost but also added safety. There is no risk of the lock being picked.

Hope this helps you to pick out a lock !! Happy locking!

Here is a great place to have a look at a range of entrance door locks available in the Indian market. 

How to Choose Paints for Internal Wall Surfaces

Interior walls look best when smooth, even and clean. Acrylic Emulsion paints, also known as Latex Paints are the best choice for interior painting as they give a smooth, even and tough, cleanable finish. Interior paints are available in a variety of finishes ranging from matt to silky to glossy and metallic. With today's technology and polymers the possibilities for paint is endless. Techniques for creating textured, faux and designer finishes are fast gaining popularity. These techniques are possible due to innovation in the use of polymers in paint. It is the new application of thought in the use of polymers as paints which brought about this explosion of variety. With so much variety, a consideration of budget, finish, paint application and purpose of use is essential.

Interior painting as such, lets be honest, is a messy affair. Shifting furniture, covering floors, removing light and electric fixtures, making sure the kids don't mess with the paint, hope the painters are not part time thieves  etc. Not to forget the smell of paint and discomfort of your routine being disrupted. 

Another prohibitive factor now a days is the cost of labour. With daily wages for painters going above Rs.600.00 and in some cases of specialized jobs, it can be in the range of Rs. 1000.00 to 1500.00. As a general rule, the cost of labour in a project is far higher than the cost of material used. The fact is painting cannot be repeated very often.

In such a situation, it becomes imperative to apply paint which gives a long life, is easily cleanable and gives a rich finish.

The quality and finish of the paint depend mainly on the binder polymer and the fillers used. A larger percentage of a high quality binder in the paint mixture will give a much smoother finish and a more impervious film. Lower percentages of binder and low quality fillers will result in a rough finish, lower area coverage/spread, a more porous finish and lower washability. It also makes the paint cheaper by volume but not necessarily cheaper per square foot . The use of fillers also increases the chance of dust pick-up. Hence, cheaper paints not only get dirty sooner but are also not resistant to the abrasion of washing.

Another factor to consider before buying paint of a particular sheen level is the level of the plastered surface and the skill of the workman. Unskilled or partly skilled manual labour find it very hard to level highly uneven surfaces. The lack of use of techniques such as automated sanders is also wide spread. Owing to this, a high sheen paint is not recommended to be applied by unskilled labour on uneven surfaces, as the surface irregularities will stand out under light. A matt finish will dull the light and cover the irregularities.

A number of products in today's Indian market have been tailored to fit every finish and budget requirement. Products such as Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion are at the lower end of the spectrum while other products such as Asian Paints Royale and Dulux Velvet Touch are at the higher end of the spectrum.Value for money products such as Asian Paints Apcolite Premium Emulsion do the bulk of the decoration in the mid price range.

Luxury and super-engineered products such as Asian Paints Royale Aspira are quickly catching up in the Ultra Luxury Segment, giving the buyer much more than expected.

The paint industry has never been this vibrant with new entrants almost every month spoiling the customer for choice! Happy painting !!!