A wise man once said: “You can’t detail what you can’t see”.
Well, in order to see something (paint defects in this case) on the paint, you need proper lighting.
And while there are tens of different companies producing working lights, one company stands out a lot: Scangrip.
In my opinion, every detailer should have at least a few lights from the Scangrip product lineup, and in this post, I’ll show you why I think that!
Reasons To Use Scangrip Lights For Car Detailing
Here are a few key reasons why I think you should use Scangrip lights, especially if your expertise is paint correction and paint protection.
1. Scangrip Is Made For Detailers and Painters
While you can get yourself some cheaper LED light that might help you enlighten the areas on cars you’re working on, Scangrip acts much differently and is one of the rare auto detailing lights that provides you with a good enough light to see all the imperfections on the paint.
Probably the key feature of all Scangrip lights is that they’re all CRI (Color rendering index) neutral lights, meaning that they don’t change the appearance of vehicle colors. Check the thorough CRI explanation here.
A fantastic thing is that they do have both battery and cordless options, and even better, some types of lights can be powered both by direct current or by battery, meaning that they can work in all conditions.
2. Scangrip Lights Are Known For Sturdiness
Every single product from Scangrip, whether it’s a simple Minimatch light or a big Multimatch light, is extremely sturdy and resistant to water and dust.
Honestly, I don’t know of any case of an accident fall or something and that someone reported that the light had fallen apart.
What I also realized is that when you take the lights in your hands, it just screams out the quality (many Scangrip users can confirm that). You just know that you have a piece of high-quality Denmark equipment in your hands.
3. Variety of Models to Choose From
Sometimes it’s hard to find the right lighting you need, especially if you’re looking for something that’s actually made for your business.
The good thing about Scangrip is that they really have almost every type of light you’ll ever need for auto detailing purposes.
And no, I don’t mean on ceiling and wall lights that you need anyway (you can check the best detailing lights for garages here).
Instead, I mean specific types of lights you need for certain car detailing tasks (polishing, compounding, removing swirl marks, haze, applying ceramic coatings and waxes, etc.).
Here are just a few categories of light you can get from Scangrip:
- Headlamp
- Small pocket lights
- Pen lights
- Larger stand lights
- Work lights
- Etc.
4. Bunch of Available Accessories
Besides fantastic lights, Scangrip also offers a variety of attachments you can use to get the most out of those lights.
Additional accessories:
- Stands
- Brackets
- Tripods
- Diffusers
- Chargers and batteries
- Bags (great for mobile detailers)
- Wheels for stands
Otherwise, you’d have to find other places to buy those, but at Scangrip, you have everything needed to ensure you’ll have proper lighting for all car detailing tasks.
5. Scangrip Lights Are Highly Customizable
Having a simple light isn’t enough in most cases. In many different auto detailing scenarios, you’ll need different lighting.
Sometimes you’ll need a dim light, sometimes you’ll need a full blast, or just a different temperature of light (Kelvin).
A great thing about Scangrip is that almost all their devices are dimmable, but also you can pick the temperature of the light.
Depending on the product, their light temperatures can go as low as 2500K, and as high as 6500K.
That’s extremely important because that way, you can adapt the lighting to the car’s paint, but also to the lighting in your garage or even outside.
When it comes to lumens, mini devices have lumens up to 200 (e.g. Minimatch), while you can get up to 3000 lumens from their most powerful devices (e.g. Multimatch).
Scangrip Products I Recommend Buying
While Scangrip has more lights (and more versions of each light), here are the ones that I recommend you buy for your car detailing arsenal.
- Dual color temperatures (6500K/4500K) for optimal paint matching
- Waterproof and dustproof for durability
- Turn it on and off with a simple hand wave
- Swirl finder specialist with adjustable beam (narrow/wide)
- Two color temperatures for accurate paint inspection
- Compact & powerful (200 lumens) with two color temperatures
- Rechargeable, with stand and hanging options for versatility
- Wide color temperature range (2500K-6500K) for all stages of detailing
- Hologram spotlight feature for ultimate polishing results
- Magnetic stand for flexible positioning
- Ultra-bright (1200 lumens) with five color temperatures
- Power bank function to charge devices
- Robust, waterproof, and adaptable stand/tripod options
- Powerful 3000-lumen output ideal for detailing shops
- Wide color temperature range (2500K-6500K)
- Bluetooth control for remote operation
- Ideal for ceramic coating application and spotting high points
- Versatile for broader mechanical work
- Engine bay specialist, mounts to hood for perfect illumination
Disadvantages of Scangrip Lights
While Scangrip lights are awesome, and I really love them, I have to share a few cons of Scangrip lights.
Actually, there’s only one major disadvantage: Scangrip lights are pretty expensive.
For instance, a simple Scangrip Headlamp (I-match 3) costs ca. $100, while from some competitors it costs ca. $30 or $40. The difference is huge.
Another example is Penlight (Matchpen), which costs ca. $50, while you can get one from Chemical Guys for less than $30.
Of course, the quality of Scangrip is on a much higher level when compared to competitors, but prepare a bunch of money if you want full lighting gear from Scangrip.
How to save money on Scangrip lights:
- Wait for discounts. You’ll often find some discounts on various online shops. Don’t just stick to their official website or to Amazon, look for other shops as well.
- Buy older models. Older models also work fantastically, and you might find them for less money.
- Buy kits. In many stores (especially Amazon), you’ll find Scangrip auto detailing kits, where you’ll be able to get a set of different lights for a reduced price.
For instance, check the kit below. It’s much cheaper that way, and you get some essential lights you’ll need for detailing:
If you’re serious about detailing cars, I suggest that you gradually buy lights. Don’t buy everything at once (unless you have the means). Maybe purchase some budget products and then gradually equip yourself with Scangrip lights.
Alternatives to Scangrip Lights
While there are many companies that try to compete with Scangrip, there aren’t actually too many of them that come close to Scangrip in terms of quality.
To be honest, I’ve found only two companies are really good in quality:
- Flex
- Sealey
Flex doesn’t have a lot of lights in their lineup (actually only one that’s suitable for car detailers), it’s called TrueView Detailing Light, and it’s amazing. It’s a fantastic light and pretty much the same quality as Scangrip (maybe not as durable), and the price is 50% cheaper.
Sealey on the other hand, offers only smaller lights that you can use for car detailing. They don’t have bigger and more powerful lights in their lineup. Most of their lights are pocket lights, and their products are also pretty expensive.
Another brand that I can recommend to you is NextLED, which can be considered a budget brand for car detailing lights. Their prices are typically 2x cheaper when compared to Scangrip. However, do not expect the same quality. I don’t say that their products are bad, but you can’t really compare them to Scangrip, especially when it comes to the CRI index.
