This may belong in the dumb question thread but here goes... Recently had my car repainted and need to apply its first coat of wax. Other than carefully washing and drying the car are there any special considerations I need to worry about? Thanks. Sorry if it's a dumb question.
They used to say wait 30 days but that was the old paint days prior to the base coat clear coat paints of today. I would think that you should be able do to it sooner but not certain, there must be a paint gut out there somewhere.
Actually this is a great question, and the right time to ask. What ever you do choose your product system carefully. You are in an excellent position to use a synthetic like Zaino. There are many threads here on the subject. Good Luck.
Call who ever painted your car and ask them. I have heard times from min of 30 days to 6 months from different painters shooting different paint. 30 days is bare minimum.
New paint takes a long time to cure. Applying wax to the surface will seal it and not allow the solvents in the paint to evaporate, slowing/stopping the curing process. After our paint shop paints a car, they wet sand the entire surface to remove the cured outer surface, this allows the solvents to out-gas quicker. Then the paint is allow to dry for many weeks/months before it is finally polished. I would talk to the painter, find out what kind of paint was used and talk to a rep. from the paint manufacturer before applying any type of wax/glaze/polish to the new paint. Brian B.
The days of paint curing over a period of months are behind us. The EPA made regulations changing that so that solvents weren't evaporating from your new paint into the air. You may try using a body shop safe glaze like 3M's imperial hand glaze. As long as it's body shop safe you won't have any problems (not that you should on todays paints anyway). This way you can scratch the itch to wax and keep your mind at ease then in a few months add whatever carnuba or polymer based product you like. http://www.autogeek.net/3mimhanglaz.html
This is true to an extent. Your best bet is to contact your painter. It still needs to outgas. That is the solvents used to make your paint flow (even though they are EPA complient) still need to outgas to allow the paint to fully harden and to avoid problems in the future. Your painter may have baked the body, in which case the paint would be fully outgassed. You can use a glaze, which only offers mild protection (as mentioned in the post I quoted) for a couple of days. Meguiars #5 is a very easy to use glaze. Talk to your painter first.
Ask the painter how long you should wait (also ask what kind of wax he recommends for the heck of it). He is the one who will be asked to stand behind it if the wax job turns out to be done too soon!
The paint job was completed mid-July. I believe it was a ureathane base coat and clear coat, but I'm not completely sure. I will double check with the paint shop In the past I have used the Best in Show Wax from Griot's Garage with good results. Aside from a gentle washing/drying beforehand, are there any other prep steps I need to perform?
I would agree with this advice. I had a Ferrari that had the nose/hood repainted...it was perfect when I got it...but over the course of four months, as the paint cured, it developed a mild case of "orange peel". Painter said "no problem"....took it back and he quickly masked it, block sanded and buffed to perfection. He said the paint can continue to "shrink" as it out gases, even though it was thoroughly dried with lamps prior to being originally delivered to me. This was only 5 or 6 years ago, so he used currently available Glasurit paint.
Mine was just done with Glassurit & a clear-coat. The shop said I should wait a minimum of 10 days. But 30 would be better
