Overheard a painter at the supply house say he never uses a tack rag on metallic

I was grabbing some 600 grit at the local jobber yesterday and this older guy was telling the counter guy he just wipes metallics with a clean, damp microfiber before base. Said tack cloths can leave fibers that mess up the flake alignment. I've always used a tack rag as my final step. Has anyone else switched to a wet wipe method and seen a difference in the final laydown?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_clark19d ago

My old boss at the body shop in Toledo swore by tack rags for everything. I used them for years without a second thought. Then I had this silver respray where the metallic just looked a bit... off, like the flake was swimming. Tried the damp microfiber trick on a test panel and the difference was real. The paint laid down way smoother, no weird texture. I haven't touched a tack rag for a metallic since.

jessica_ross3816d ago

That "swimming" look on metallics is exactly what I ran into on a black cherry pearl job. Tried everything to fix it until someone told me to skip the tack cloth. Just a barely damp microfiber made the metallic lay down perfect, no more weird spots. It's crazy how such a simple switch can change the whole finish.

wendy2719d ago

Totally agree with @emma_clark, had the same weird swimming look on a dark blue metallic job. Switched to a damp microfiber cloth (just water, wring it out real good) and it was like night and day, the clear went on so much smoother.