why do red cars fade

[jasonnjane]

why do they????

[001]

Thats a good question m8! Wish someone would come up with a permanent fade restoring solution! Sick of polishing mine! lmao

[LEE69]

Something to do with the pigment in the paint.

[angryman]

why do they????

At a guess it could be the poxy white primer they use (on some?) causing the white to shine through as top coat gives up....more so on un laquered cars?

When I got the halfords colour match to do my grill, it stated to use red primer.....which makes sense to me.............could be talking b ollox though

[lethal]

Red paint absorbs a huge ammount more of Infra-Red light (although it reflects the visible red) than any other colour. As such, it heats up more (even more than black) and causes chemical reactions in the paint which make it degrade faster.

[angryman]

Red paint absorbs a huge ammount more of Infra-Red light (although it reflects the visible red) than any other colour. As such, it heats up more (even more than black) and causes chemical reactions in the paint which make it degrade faster.

Thanks professor lethal

[Begbie]

The whitening of paint work is due to a build up of calcium carbonate on the outer surface of the paint. Calcium carbonate is another name for chalk (as in blackboard chalk etc). On paintwork, it is formed by the mechanism of UV light oxidising Calcium compounds present in the paint work. Cochineal was the pigment that used to be used (dont think it is now) in some paints to produce the colour red (natural sources are/were also used for other colours too). Cochineal is a beetle, its body is dried and ground up and produces a rich 'carmine' red. The skeletons (exo or endo) of most (if not all) creatures are formed from, you guessed it, calcium. Am i right in thinking that the 'carrier' for the pigments in some paints is also clay based (again calcium compounds). Anyway, what im trying to say is that, relatively speaking theres a lot more calcium in red paints than in most others, which is why this whiteneing becomes more noticable on red cars, even more so if exposed to lots of sunlight. I am not aware that it is an issue with the absorption of IR radiation as the mechanism of paint chalking is through an oxidisation reaction which requires more energy than is present in IR.

Perhaps im talking twaddle tho, who knows

[SteveW]

They don't if you polish them

I never had a problem with any red cars I owned......

[LEE69]

my cav was like this



Then bodyshop polished to this

[lethal]

The whitening of paint work is due to a build up of calcium carbonate on the outer surface of the paint. Calcium carbonate is another name for chalk (as in blackboard chalk etc). On paintwork, it is formed by the mechanism of UV light oxidising Calcium compounds present in the paint work. Cochineal was the pigment that used to be used (dont think it is now) in some paints to produce the colour red (natural sources are/were also used for other colours too). Cochineal is a beetle, its body is dried and ground up and produces a rich 'carmine' red. The skeletons (exo or endo) of most (if not all) creatures are formed from, you guessed it, calcium. Am i right in thinking that the 'carrier' for the pigments in some paints is also clay based (again calcium compounds). Anyway, what im trying to say is that, relatively speaking theres a lot more calcium in red paints than in most others, which is why this whiteneing becomes more noticable on red cars, even more so if exposed to lots of sunlight. I am not aware that it is an issue with the absorption of IR radiation as the mechanism of paint chalking is through an oxidisation reaction which requires more energy than is present in IR.

Perhaps im talking twaddle tho, who knows

As I was posting I was just scratching my head about whether it was IR or UV that was the major cause. - Your explanation makes more sense *although* there have been a number of different ways of 'making' red over the years which haven't all involved the above substances but they still nearly all fade.

[angryman]

Mines red

[Begbie]

Yes, very true

I must credit my explanation partly to my chemistry teacher by the way, so this is 10 years old 'data', and other info ive come across on paint production in general

[paul0]

I own a red car too, i find tcut few times every few months helps! and use wash-and-wax, shines all the time!

[JohnA]

interesting thread this one.
My old Cav was red (ish) and looked like a washed-out shed. My Astra is red and looks like a disgrace too. Both cars looked fine when I bought them, were always left out in the sun and were never washed or polished.

[-Sye]

My old mk2 Astra was red and it looked like someone had flicked white paint all over the bonnet it was that blotchy, tried polishing it and t-cutting it but it still stayed the same.

[atacam]

my cav was like this



Then bodyshop polished to this

Great work at the bodyshop. Looks like a different car.

[amoani]

I own a red car too, i find tcut few times every few months helps! and use wash-and-wax, shines all the time!

you will be down to the primer soon. i would advise against this as it is too often. T cut once and then use a good paste wax every few months to keep the shine. this method works fine for me.

[paul0]

i find that the tcut removes the wax thats on the car, then replacing it. I dont rub it till i see red paint on the cloth, i aint that stupid

[Violet]

Red paint absorbs a huge ammount more of Infra-Red light (although it reflects the visible red) than any other colour. As such, it heats up more (even more than black) and causes chemical reactions in the paint which make it degrade faster.

That's correct. Same reason fair skin (or 'pinker' skin) absorbs more UV light and burns easier.
Dunno about that last bit, but I thought it sounded good.

[calli16V]

mine aint faded hard bit of cleaning and tlc on a sunday morning keeps it bright red

[Scotty]

i find that the tcut removes the wax thats on the car, then replacing it. I dont rub it till i see red paint on the cloth, i aint that stupid

You do know that T-Cut removes a layer of paint yeah?

[paul0]

You do know that T-Cut removes a layer of paint yeah?

Yes, it removes traped oxygen and dirt from paint. If you applythe right amount of pressure then you dont, just the old wax.

I dont use t-cut to remove paint (inless i need too) When i first got the car i did as it was a darker red. Now it looks like its ment to "flame red". T-cut helped me to remove stone chips too (small ones) my red paint tends to not be removed but to be spreaded around, of course some does come off but a good 90% off it stays on the car.

Just to add,i havent t-cuted my car for 3 months havent needed too