TIL that old guy at the paint supply shop was right

A few months back this older painter named Hank at the Auto Paint Supply in Tulsa told me to stop using wax and grease remover on bare metal before primer. Said it just pushes contaminants around. I ignored him, kept doing it my way, and ended up with fisheyes on a '72 Chevelle fender I was doing. Had to strip it down and start over, cost me an extra 6 hours. Has anyone else had a veteran painter give advice that seemed backwards but turned out spot on?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor.brooke2d ago

Man, that denim thing is real. I had a pair of raw denim jeans that I thought I knew how to handle and they stained a whole couch cushion blue the first time I sat down after washing them wrong. It's like those old painters with their tricks, they've just been through all the mess ups already so they know what actually works. The wax and grease remover thing is a perfect example, I used to think more cleaning was always better until I saw how it just spreads the oily shit around instead of lifting it off. Sometimes you just gotta trust the guy who's been doing it since before you were born, even when it sounds stupid at first.

craig.olivia3d ago

Yeah, it's funny how often the old guys turn out to be right even when their advice sounds wrong. Idk, maybe it's just me but I feel like experienced people tend to learn things through trial and error that don't make sense on paper until you've messed up yourself. It's like how my grandpa always said to wash new denim in cold water with salt before wearing them or they'd bleed everywhere, and I laughed until I ruined a pair of white shoes.

the_rose2d ago

The cold water and salt thing. My uncle told me the same trick and I ignored it too. Ended up with blue knees for a month after sitting on a white chair right out of the dryer.