Orange Peel Levelling – Risk and Reward

As detailers, our service is to always enhance and preserve the delicate paintwork on automobiles. As such, there has always been a divisive camp when it comes to orange peel levelling.

The first camp totally shuns levelling and preaches to preserve maximum clear coat thickness. While the other camp disagrees with the first camp and prefers to create a finish that is sharper and more reflective than the original factory clear coat.

We recently levelled a new Toyota Vios, it was obvious why the owner wanted it to be levelled. The orange peel was so heavy that reflections appeared to be really dull, and clear coat on these type of cars tend to be thinner than usual.

So what does one do?

Simply level less.
If so, then why bother levelling at all?

Because even a slight amount of levelling will drastically increase the clarity of reflection.

Unlike repainted cars where the clearcoat generally tends to be thicker, factory clear coats are actually sprayed on as thinly as possible for cost savings (varies depending on the price of the car).

In the case of this Toyota Vios, we balanced the importance of clearcoat thickness preservation and visual improvement by reducing it, but not entirely levelling/removing the orange peel.
This provides a buffer for future paint correction or polishing to take place throughout its lifespan when scratches and swirls recur.

Levelling is performed to enhance reflection and clarity; Levelling is also a means to restore paint.

The orange peel on freshly repainted vehicles will gradually worsen over a couple of weeks/months. This phenomenon is known as sinkage. When the paintwork cures and solvents evaporate, several imperfections will surface. Sanding marks and orange peels are common sights of reappearing imperfections and these can be eliminated by performing levelling.

Knowing how to perform such levelling job will give you the versatility and choice to restore such paint when it occurs.

Regardless of being in team #maximumgloss or team #preservation, ultimately it is your decision to level the paint, or not, as you see fit. However, knowing how to do it will give you an edge by being able to solve these problems when they occur.

We truly believe orange peel levelling is an important skill to have in every detailer’s skill library.

If you would like to learn more about orange peel and how to level it via the OSREN levelling system, these articles will be mighty helpful:

https://osren.com/blog/2021/02/25/how-to-make-car-look-dripping-wet-and-glossy/

https://osren.com/blog/2016/01/23/polishing-a-f-ed-up-bmw-e90/