Auto detailing lights are essential tools for professional and DIY car detailers, as they help illuminate the vehicle's surface, revealing imperfections and allowing for a more thorough and precise cleaning, polishing, and inspection process. There are various types of lights used in auto detailing, each serving different purposes:
Handheld Inspection Lights: These portable lights are great for close-up work and inspecting specific areas of the vehicle. They usually have high brightness and adjustable settings.
Headlamps: Headlamps free up both hands, allowing detailers to work more efficiently. They are especially useful for detailed work in hard-to-reach areas.
Work Lights: These lights provide a broad area of illumination and are often mounted on stands or tripods. They are ideal for general lighting in a detailing workspace.
LED Light Bars: LED light bars can be mounted in the detailing area to provide consistent and even lighting. They are energy-efficient and long-lasting.
Color Match Lights: Used to match paint colors accurately during touch-ups or repainting, these lights simulate different lighting conditions to ensure a perfect match.
When selecting detailing lights, consider factors like brightness (measured in lumens), color temperature (measured in Kelvin), battery life, portability, and durability. High-quality detailing lights can significantly improve the quality of your work by providing the visibility needed to achieve a flawless finish.
ViIDEO of me testing all these lights
Scangrip I-Match 3 Headlamp The new I-MATCH 3 features ALL DAYLIGHT function, offering 5 different color temperatures depending on the type of job to be carried out. It also has a stepless dimmer function, enabling you to easily adjust the light output in the range from 10% to 100%. It has 250 lumens and is the ultimate tool providing hands-free illumination for any detailing or color match job. I use it during every paint correction. Up to 15 hours operating time per charge.
Scangrip Matchpen R The MATCHPEN R is an easy to carry penlight with excellent color rendering properties for colour match always readily available in a shirt or pant pocket. The penlight is designed for inspection in the workshop, car detailing, and especially useful for detection of scratches, pinholes and swirl marks. Up to 2.5 hours operating time per charge.
Fenix PD35 The PD35 V3.0 tactical penlight can blast an amazing 1700 lumens a total distance of 1171 ft. The PD35 V3.0 is powered by a single 18650 rechargeable battery, or can operate on two disposable CR123A’s. This flashlight has a runtime of 230 hours when using the 5 lumen Eco mode. This is the brightest light I have seen in this category. Great to have around.
Scangrip SunMatch 4 SUNMATCH 4 is a rechargeable and handy LED work light. SUNMATCH 4 features a unique, stepless CCT SCAN function. By activating the CCT SCAN function, the handlamp will automatically scan the surface of the object with the entire color temperature spectrum ranging from 2500K to 6500K. At any point, the CCT SCAN function can be locked, and in this way, you will be able to customize the light to the specific task. This provides optimum conditions for the most accurate colour match and highlighting and discovering paint defects. SUNMATCH 4 also features stepless dimmer function in the range of 10 % to 100 %. A spotlight for inspection is also included at the top. Up to 10 hours operating time per charge. This is my favorite hand held color match light. I tend to pick this up the most.
Scangrip Mini Match With its strong and basic functionality, the handheld MINIMATCH work light provides up to 200 lumen and features 2 COLOR LIGHT (warm and cold), especially useful for bright and dark colored surfaces. The work light is easy to carry in the pocket or in the work belt with the built-in clip, ready at hand for quality check between prep zone operations. Supplied with a two-step operating option: Step 1 = 100%, step 2 = 50% light output. Up to 4 hours operating time per charge. This is an economical version of the SunMatch 4.
Scangrip Mag Pro MAG PRO has a stepless dimmer function in the range of 10 % to 100 %. It has a bright white light that does a great job illuminating the paint. This is a must have tool at this price point. especially if you do not have any other detailing lights and are on a tight budget. Up to 15 hours operating time per charge.
Scangrip Mini Mag Pro MINI MAG PRO is a pocket-sized version of the popular MAG Pro. All ythe same features in a smaller package. Up to 20 hours operating time per charge.
Milwaukee Paint and Detailing Color Match Light This light features a 98+ Color Rendering Index in five color temperatures to mimic natural sunlight. The five color temperature options provide a full spectrum of sunlight from early morning to mid-day and overcast. This light has 1000 lumens of output easily Illuminating imperfections in the paint. Switch between three output modes within each color temperature for optimal control. The M12 Paint and Detailing Color Match Light can run up to 14 hours on one M12 XC4.0 battery.
Scangrip MultiMatch 8 Connect The powerful MULTIMATCH 3 CONNECT work light provides up to 3000 lumen and made for inspecting large surfaces during polishing, painting, cleaning operations, and colour matching. The work light has a unique CCT SCAN function that helps you find the ideal colour temperature for your task. This function allows the light to sweep through the entire colour temperature spectrum (2500K to 6500K) and it can be locked when the optimal temperature is found. This guarantees accurate colour matching and paint defect detection. The 5-step dimmer also lets you adjust the light to five different levels.
With the BLUETOOTH lighting control app, you can control and adjust both the light output and the color temperatures, providing convenience and flexibility in managing your lighting setup.
Scangrip MulitMatch R Smaller version hand held shop light can be mounted to a tripod or magnetically mounted to any metal surface. Great light output and very useful during a paint correction. Internal rechargeable battery can be used to charge mobile devices aslo.
Scangrip Lighting Tripod A very stable robust tripod specifically designed to mount the detailing lights. This will extend easily to above the roof of a large SUV. A must have if you plan to get the Multimatch 8.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if any of these links are not working properly Jeremy@HawaiiDetailing.com