Whether you’re painting a car, a chassis, or a wheel for your vehicle you may run into instances where the paint doesn’t seem to cover or the color is transparent after it you spray it. We decided to help you diagnose the problem and correct the issue. Read more below.
Why is my Paint See-Through?
Transparency in paint may be the ability to see through to the base coat or bare metal, a milky appearance, or spotting in the paint. Many of the causes of this issue are related to a mistake made by the painter and can be easily corrected.
Causes for Transparent Paint
- Improper Application- If you’re seeing uneven coverage in your paint there’s a good chance your technique or application was incorrect. Sometimes it’s just a matter of missing a small spot that required an odd angle of the paint gun or can. We suggest shining a LED flashlight on the part immediately after painting to check for any transparent areas. This way you can make a note to apply another coat to those areas or touch those up while the paint is still wet.
- Failure to Mix Paint- If you don’t fully mix the paint you may find that the solids or pigment will stay to the bottom of the can and you will just get the clears or binders in your paint gun leaving you with a milky or transparent paint job. If this happens it is best to let the coating dry and sand it off before reapplying. We suggest to mix or shake a can for at least one minute to assure everything is fully mixed.
- Incorrect Mixing Ratio- It happens to us all! If you mix your paint or coating incorrectly you may get too much of one of the parts that will cause this issue. Always double check your mixing ratios before pouring to avoid this issue. As above you may need to sand the paint off that was mixed incorrectly and start over.
Those are our top three reasons that you may have uneven coats or transparent paint. We hope this will help you diagnose your paint defects and correct them. Get all of you primer, paint, and clear coat for your next project HERE.