Are wet sanding and color sanding the same thing?

Question:

l am trying to learn more about painting cars in preparation for painting the 1954 Plymouth I am restoring. I have heard the terms “wet sanding” and “color sanding,” but am not sure what each means and whether there is, in fact, a difference between the two. Can you please clarify?

Answer:

The two terms are indeed interchangeable when used in regard to automotive refinishing. When paint is sprayed onto a Car, it typically has a rather rough texture that resembles the skin of an orange and is therefore said to have “orange peel.” To eliminate or at least diminish this orange peel, the paint is wet sanded with a fine sandpaper (usually 600, 1000 or 1500 grit). For the best results, it is advisable to begin with 600 grit and then go over the surface again with a finer grit to remove the 600-grit scratches, and perhaps a finer grit again to further reduce the sanding marks. After this wet sanding, the paint is compounded with increasingly fine compounds and polishes in order to eliminate the sanding scratches and other surface imperfections. After a lot of hard work, the end result is a smooth and shiny paint surface.