Fisheyes are often confused with "orange peel" which is a paint application issue. Fisheye, is instead, a cleanliness issue. When wax or grease is present on the surface, the paint will cause the fisheye effect and it's not repairable without redoing the paint job.

What Is Fisheye?

Fisheyes are the annoying, ugly white spots on your car right after painting it. The name was acquired due to their appearance. Fisheyes are caused by particles of grease, wax or other unwanted particles on the surface of the car. 

These tiny particles cause air bubbles to be trapped underneath the paint, appearing as tiny white spots.

How Can You Avoid Fish Eyes?

Clean The Auto Paint Supplies

Before starting to paint, ensure that all the supplies are in good condition and none of the tools are leaking oil or dusty. An unmaintained air compressor, using an unclean cloth, or a spray gun left in the mechanic side of the shop can cause fisheyes just the same. Always inspect to check that the supplies are clean or degreased before painting.  

Clean Your Hands And Avoid Contact

Particles and oil from your skin are one of the biggest contributing factors to a poor end result. Therefore, ensure that you clean your hands, and wear protective latex gloves to avoid any oil transfer before touching the paint surface. 

It’s hard to resist running your hand along a freshly primed and sanded body panel, so keep an eye on your shop helpers to ensure that there is no point of contact between oily hands and the surface of the car. 

Perform A Thorough Auto Paint Prep

There’s to way to avoid dust, dirt, and some grease on the job, so cleaning is essential. When prepping a car for paint, a good wax and grease remover is necessary.  One of the biggest mistakes people make is using the same rag to apply the solvent as you use to remove it.  This is a multi-step process.  Wax and grease remover is made to lift silicone based substances from the surface of the car and suspend it in the liquid solvent.  Once the solvent dries, the oil is left right back on the surface.  Work in small sections to clean the car.  If you have a spray bottle, spray the solvent on, and immediately wipe off with a good shop towel.  Get a new clean towel and move onto the next panel.  If you apply your wax and grease remover with a rag or towel, one should be used for application and a fresh shop towel should be used immediately to wipe off.  Solvent dries quickly, so plan this step accordingly.

Add a Fisheye Eliminator In Your Paint Work

If you’re working with a part that is almost sure to have residual grease, you can add a small amount of fisheye eliminator to your paint.  This is a chemical additive that helps to flow the paint over top of spots that it otherwise wouldn’t stick to.  Plastic parts or factory-coated fiberglass parts are culprits of a mold release agent that can cause fisheye problems to the degree of needing this additive. 

Talk to your local autobody supply store for appropriate mixing instructions if you’re using fisheye eliminator.  Too much, and your paint will turn cloudy and won’t be repairable.  This option certainly has it’s pros and cons. 

What Next After The Paint Is Messed Up? 

If you already have fisheyes in your new paint job, you likely will need to start over from the beginning.  Because fisheyes are caused by silicone on the surface of the panel, the divet is as deep as the surface and no cutting and buffing will get rid of it.  You’ll need to wait the appropriate dry time for sanding,  feather out any area affected, scuff the rest of the panel, and reapply your base coat and clear coat.

But, Remember…

The surest way of avoiding fisheyes on your paint is to get the right auto paint supplies from a trusted auto supply store or take your car to a qualified auto body technician.   

You can count on Automotive Collision & Restoration Products Company in order to get your quality auto paint supplies and get that sleek finish on your car.