This question was asked in the sticky but after doing some more research I heard so many different answers that it got me a little worried which one was right. So what are your thoughts about how long you should wait until you wax a new paint job (mine is metallic)?

Thanks,

~Ant

 

I'm a detailer & used to paint cars. In my opinion, You should wait at least 90 days before waxing or polishing. A good polish that I use is Solo by Maguire's. A good wax is 66 also by Maguire's.

 

^ Detailer here too, i agree with the above. But, strangely enough, i have waxed a car 1-2 months after a detail once (the guy asked me to and was a friend). Nothing went wrong, but better to be on the safer side (especially if it's a nice paintjob).

 

Is this a base/clear paintjob? If so, you can polish after wetsanding, and wax a month after it was painted. If its single stage you won't be able to polish it at all.

 

It's base and clear... so what I'm gathering is to hold out preferably 3 months before I lay down the wax?

 

There is no set time. If you leave the car out in the sun for a couple days it will cure faster. The body shops that bake their paint can wax in around a week, while air drying takes quite a bit longer. I'd wait atleast a month if it is daily driven or sits out in the sun, more if its cold, rainy, or in the garage.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'm curious tho, what actually happens to the paint if you wax too soon?

 

Untrue. The first answer is "correct" but there is no exact answer.

The 90 day period is to allow the paint to entirely offgas. Yes, its possible to wetsand and buff the paint/clear very quickly after doing it, but all you are doing in that process is manipulating the surface and texture of the dried material. Compounds and polishes like 3M Perfect-it III line do not fill or seal the paint, they just abraid it enough to cut the wetsanding smooth.

The wax will actually seal in your paint. Not to the same degree as wrapping it with glad plastic wrap or anything, but they do seal to a degree. That will prevent any remiaing solvents from leaving the paint at a regular pace, and can lead to problems down the road. (solvent bubbles, fading/cloudiness....) How much? I don't know. All I know is that the paint company recommends it. They also recommend alot of other seemingly pointless excresices when doing a paint job, but you do them because its part of the process.

You can ignore the time period, but be aware of the risks.

EDIT: To add, the baking process is entirely for the bodyshop - not for the customer. You bake it so it can be dry faster and you can get on to other jobs. The baking process will not remove the embedded reducer entirely. It will remove the "initial cure" amount faster then ambient air drying, but there is still plenty of solvent present in the paint after baking that needs to slowly leave over time. You can easily see this if you have a well insulated/sealed garage and your freshly painted car is parked inside. After a night, even a baked paint job will reek of solvent....

 

+1

People also confuse polishing and waxing. A wax or LSP (last step protectant/process) is meant to seal and protect the paint from the elements. A polish is abrasives suspended in a liquid that is usually and most effectively worked in with a machine. True polishing isnt something you do in a couple hours by hand. Machine polishing is a lengthy process that can take over 8+ hours depending on the condition, polishes, and tools used.

 

My fault, I just mean waxing then. This is some well needed information fellas. I hope someone else was helped with this thread as well

~Ant

 

Guys! help! I finally waxed my car, it got painted in March and I waxed it on Saturday and now it's got small bubbles all over.... what should I do?

 

Pictures of the bubbles?

It might be a paint defect. You didn't wax it in the sun did you?

 

I'll get back to you with the pictures probably around Sunday.

I waxed it in my garage making sure there was no direct sunlight, but I did keep it on there for close to 45 minutes. The wax I used is called Zano, it's pretty much a show car wax cuz I try to use the best stuff for this paint job but guess it came back to bite me tho....

 

do you have small bubble or do you have orange peel? Pictures would help alot :-D. Zaino make good stuff.

 

I would wait a at least a week before wet sanding. I would wait at least a month before waxing. Since it's summer time a month should be plenty of time for the heat to cure the paint.

FYI you can use body shop safe polishes like the new car polish from 3M. Stop by NAPA and get their recommendation on a good 3M body shop safe product.

You can polish, wet sand and compound a couple weeks after paint, but the wax will seal the paint and it can't breath to cure. Paint is pourus. (sp?)

BTW you CAN polish and cut single stage...

 

The PSI on the gun was set too high or you had moisture or trash in the lines. Lightly wet sand it and compound/wax the areas.

 

The LSP you used cant have caused any issues with this much time...

if you could get pictures it would really help

 

You can cut an buff solid single stage paint, but if you cut and buff metallic single stage paint then you just ruined your paint job.

by sanding metallic single stage you will effectively cut the edge off of the metallic flakes making your paint job appear dull and not so metallic.

 

just got back from new york... when I get off work today I'll take some pics and post em

 

so.....I tried to snap some pics of the paint but there's so much pearl that you can't even see the bubbles so I'll try to describe them better to you. It looks like little drops of spit spiradically spread around the car, once again it's nothing major but I'm worried if it will get worse. I'm thinking it's exactly wut 'classicauto' said awhile ago bout the wax sealing in the sealants... I'm not sure, it seems to spread more in the sun tho.