Why the paint comes first
A coating locks in whatever is under it, which makes it the last step and never the first. David Morse starts with a hand wash, then decontamination to lift the bonded grit, road film and fallout that an ordinary wash leaves sitting in the clear coat. If the paint still feels rough under a fingertip, it is not ready, and he will tell you so before anything is opened.
Next he studies the clear coat under proper light. Swirls, haze and wash marring show up fast that way, and a coating sealed over them keeps them on display for years. Where the paint needs polishing, he corrects it first, from a single-stage pass on lightly marred paint to heavier work when the defects run deeper. Florida cars in Boynton Beach and Boca Raton collect plenty of both.
