What is sheeting
Written by: Vinnie van Rooij
Sheeting is a particular form of water behavior. Thanks to the interaction between a liquid and a surface, sheeting can occur. This means that the water glides off the surface like a big “sheet” of water. There are a few different things at play that cause sheeting, but it is a popular effect that protective layer can give.
Contents
How does sheeting look like
When water is poured on a surface, it can glide off the paintwork like one piece of liquid. In some cases it glides off the surface as fast as it is poured on the surface. This video will show sheeting (and a bit of beading) in practice.
How does sheeting work
When a surface has a different surface energy then the surface tension from the liquid, the molecules in the liquid will pull harder at each other than the surface pulls on it. This causes a very small surface contact area, which prevents the liquid from having enough contact area to stick to the surface. The water isn’t repelled, but it pulls itself towards itself.
It is also important that the surface itself is very smooth. Any imperfections in the surface will cause a droplet of water to cling on to. An imperfection is made up out of microscopic hills and valleys. The water molecules can fill these microscopic gaps which causes the water droplet to get stuck. For proper sheeting the surface needs to be perfectly smooth.
This however poses a small challenge. Even by polishing it is difficult to get a perfectly smooth surface. So a protective product that helps to create a smooth surface helps. A wax is notorious for filling in gaps, and leaving a temporary smooth surface. Sealants don’t fill as much, but do offer a very slick layer. Ceramic coating don’t fill much at all, but offer a superior smooth surface.
All have their own properties, however durability and hardness plays a big role in maintaining sheeting.
Sheeting and the amount of protection
It is commonly thought that sheeting means that there is protection. This is not true. A surface can contain certain contaminants that won’t be removed with a normal shampoo, which has a negative effect on the sheeting. Also, a surface can become hydrophilic, which makes the water adhere to the surface more then it should.
This does not mean that there is no protection anymore, it just means that the requirements for good sheeting isn’t met anymore.
However, beading and sheeting are such popular traits, that many detailers will re-apply a layer of protection when the sheeting and/or beading is down to a certain amount.
Infinity Wax is a Scottish manufacturer of detailing products. The company was born by a passion for products that would outperform the current products that where available at the time....-
R222 is the European name under which P21S offers its products. P21S is a brand under SmartParts TM located in Connecticut, America. SmartParts can also be known as BIS (Brookside Import Specialties). Which also owns brands such as S100....
-
Cleaning up the wheel and arch at the start of a detail can make a big difference to the end result. Even as part of a general wash, ensuring the wheel arches are fully cleaned out is important to ensure that the car doesn't have a clean bodywork but then muddy covered arches which stand out a mile away!...
-
Chipex Ltd is an UK-based manufacturer of autodetailing products to repair paintdamage, restore paintwork and to remove severe imperfections in the surface of paintwork. ...
-
There are several types of towels when detailing and there are several tasks at which you can use a MF towel while detailing. There is a correlation between the task at hand and the towel most fitting for the job....
-
It is often asked on detailing fora and social media: "what is the best wax". Off course there is a difference between certain products and brands, but it is important to know what you are asking. In this guide I will try to explain what the problem is with this question unless it is asked more in-depth....
Links to this article
There are no external links to this article. Yet.