After painting your car, you notice tiny bubbles, pinholes, or crater-like openings in the paint finish. This is known as solvent popping. It can be repaired by sanding and refinishing or, in severe cases, by removing the affected film, applying new primer, sealing, and recoating the surface.
In this article, I’ll answer common questions about how to prevent solvent popping and eliminate it when it happens.
Solvent popping (also called boiling or blowing) describes blister-like bubbles on a paint finish when it starts to dry and cure.
The solvent popping pinhole craters are caused by liquid solvents (thinners or reducers) trapped below the finish and pushing through and “popping” to the paint’s surface as it dries. Possible causes of solvent popping are:
A paint surface with solvent popping can be fixed in one of two ways, depending on the severity of the problem:
There are several ways to prevent solvent popping, including:
Doing these things will keep solvent popping from happening on your paint surface.