Orange Peel
Orange peel is the name given to the texture which results when a car is spray painted. At first glance your paintwork is smooth, but on closer inspection it is more like the surface of an orange with peaks and dimples. This is perfectly normal and not a bad thing, as some degree of orange peel helps hide imperfection in the bodywork.
However, if the paint goes on too dry, you can get excessive orange peel which is noticeable. You will see this most often on cars that have been repainted. The effect might be immediately obvious, or it may be the case that the texture of the repainted panels are a little more textured than the original panels.
Machine polishing the car will reduce the peaks in the texture, and if the car is flat-and-polished enough, it can get rid of it almost completely, however this is not recommended because the more perfect the paintwork becomes, the more easily it shows imperfections.
Written by Danny Argent. Last updated 16/06/2022 15:35