5 Ways to Limit Contamination When Refinishing Vehicles

No matter how long you’ve been refinishing cars with new paint jobs, you’ve likely dealt with the difficulties of keeping a car free of contamination to ensure a high-quality finish. Even though you may think an area is perfectly clean, particles of dust, dirt, and other contaminants can easily make their way into the area.

If those particles end up on the vehicle, it could have drastic impacts on the paint job. Here at Centerline Spraybooths, we want to help every auto body shop perform immaculate paint jobs that keep your customers satisfied and returning. Browse our available car spray booths today so you can begin serving your customers. Once you’ve installed your spray booth, keep these tips in mind to limit potential contamination during painting.

Clean Vehicles

While this may seem like an obvious first step, ensuring the car is properly washed is imperative to every other step of the process. Not only will a proper car cleaning remove any dirt and debris from the car itself, it will also help keep your shop and spray booth cleaner. Washing the car should be the last thing done before the car arrives in the body shop to ensure any dirt that was once caked on is now gone.

Prepare the Surface

Just as removing dirt from the outside world is imperative to a proper finish, preparing the car’s surface after sanding is a step you must take when refinishing the car. It is necessary to clean the vehicle’s panels both before and after sanding. If you sand before preparing the vehicle completely, any remaining impediments can attach to the sandpaper and travel to other panels of the vehicle. After sanding, make sure to remove all sanding dust from the vehicle, thus leaving a clean surface for the paint.

Wear Proper Clothing

Far too often, an otherwise impeccable paint job is ruined by improper attire. Not only do proper painting suits keep the painter safe from hazardous materials released during the job, they prevent any blemishes on the vehicle. Dirt, hair, oil, and other substances can easily be transmitted from the painter to the car during a paint job if they are improperly covered. Paint suits complete with gloves and hoods should be worn during every paint job. And remember, never wear your paint suit outside of the spray booth. Otherwise, those very contaminants you’re trying to keep out of the booth will make their way inside.

Use High-Quality Wipes

Since so much of a proper paint job relies on cleaning the surface of the vehicle, it is crucial to clean the vehicle’s panels using high-quality, lint-free wipes. While it may be tempting to try and save some money with less-expensive wipes, doing so is actually a disservice to your business. Those cheap wipes will leave fibers behind on the base of the vehicle, and once the spray is applied, those fibers cannot be buffed away. High-quality wipes give you the peace of mind that the panels are free of contaminants before the paint is applied.

Keep the Spray Booth Clean

No matter how clean the panels are before spraying, and even if you are covered in a full-body paint suit, the final product will be inadequate if you don’t care for the booth itself. If they are not cleaned daily, contaminants from the floor and walls will land on the panels and impact the paint job. Make sure to clean the paint booth daily while it is running to ensure any loose particles are vacuumed into the filter rather than settling back onto the floor.

Centerline Spraybooths is committed to helping you complete beautiful finishes during every job. That begins with our state-of-the-art car spray booths, but much of the responsibility is yours. Follow these tips to maintain a contaminant-free environment in your shop, and feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions!