How soon to seal freshly painted El Camino [Archive] - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum

Mike Phillips

10-25-2013, 10:16 AM

I'm not sure where to post this or where to post it or how to begin a new thread...

No problemo...

You did what would be considered tagging your question on to this thread...

How To Detail Your Brand New Car by Mike Phillips (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/54451-how-detail-your-brand-new-car-mike-phillips.html)

I moved it out of the above thread and created your own dedicated thread.

I have an article in my article list on how to start a thread. Everyone on an this forum or any forum was "new" to forums at one time including myself so that's why I wrote the below article.

How to start a new thread & How to reply to an existing thread (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tips-techniques-how-articles-interacting-discussion-forums/27449-how-start-new-thread-discussion-forum-reply-existing-thread.html)

Here's a couple of related articles...

A tip to help yourself get great answers when you start a thread (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tips-techniques-how-articles-interacting-discussion-forums/29344-tip-help-yourself-get-great-answers-when-you-start-thread.html)

How to write a good title for your thread (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/introduce-yourself/20306-how-write-good-title-your-post.html)

My question is....What products to use on a newly painted car...

Good question... I have two articles on this topic but the short answer is historically people use products like the below for the first 30/60/90 days while the paint is still drying, curing or hardening. Or during the waiting time recommended by their painter.

Here are two articles on this topic...

Body Shop Safe Glaze on Fresh Paint - #7 Show Car Glaze (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/28659-body-shop-safe-glaze-fresh-paint-7-show-car-glaze.html)

3M Imperial Hand Glaze and Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/929/GlazeFreshPaint002.jpg

And this one...

Fresh Paint - But you can touch it... (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/off-topic/28717-fresh-paint-but-you-can-touch.html)

The bodyman who did the painting said to wait 6 months before waxing... I assume sealing it is out for now also...

Waxing it would be sealing it. Waxes, Sealants and Coatings all do the same thing in different ways and that is the SEAL the surface of the paint.

Something about new paint breathing....

And I have an article that explains EVERYTHING about paint needing to BREATHE... wrote it years ago because of all the confusing surrounding this topic. It' explains everything thoroughly.

Don't wax your car for at least 30 days! (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/26967-don-t-wax-your-car-least-30-days.html)

Have you ever been told not to wax your car for at least 30 days by a painter after having the car painted?

Perhaps someone has said not to wax or seal the paint because the paint needs to breathe?

Or have you read a thread about this topic on a discussion forum?
Let me see if I can explain what this means and why people are told this...

The reason painters tell you not to wax fresh paint is for two reasons which are connected...

First, there's not a single paint manufacture that I know of that recommends sealing, (that means applying a substance that coats over and protects), fresh paint. This is where you'll find people that will argue with you but unless they work for the paint manufacture, then what they post is their opinion, not an official recommendation of a "Paint Manufacture".
Second, painters will tend to follow paint manufacturer's recommendations because they respect the paint manufacture but also to insure you don't mess up their work. The idea behind NOT sealing fresh paint is to let it outgas completely. This is where some will argue that modern paints harden through chemically curing or catalyzing, and not via solvent evaporation. But again, if the person making the recommendation does not work for the paint manufacture, then what they post is their opinion, not an official recommendation.

The clear layer of paint is still mixed with solvents, also called reducers; these are used to custom thin the paint to the painter's preference, to the sprayer and to the climate and/or paint booth. After spraying, some of these solvents will evaporate off.

After the solvents evaporate off and the paint dries to dust-free or tack-free, that is the surface of the paint is now cured and/or hard enough that if air-borne dust lands on the paint it won't stick to the paint.

After another day or two, maybe longer depending upon the shops normal practices, the paint can be sanded and buffed if that's part of the package.

Whether it's sanded and buffed or turned back over to the painter, at this point the painter will say something like,

"Wait 30 days before applying a car wax"

He might even say,

"You need to wait 30 days before applying a coat of wax to allow the paint to breathe"

This is a generic way of saying,

"Wait 30 days before using any product that can seal the paint to prevent or hinder any and all solvents to outgas or evaporate out of an off of the paint"

Now this is where some people on discussion forums will want to start to argue and say you can apply brand X because it's not a wax, or you can use anything because the paint is chemically cured, or you can wax the paint because you can't seal a clear coat, or fill in the blank...

What the painter really means...
The bigger idea the painter is trying to get across is to not apply any substance that creates a barrier coating over the surface that could "potentially" lock or seal in the solvents and prevent them from out-gassing or evaporating.

This gets into a discussion about what's "Body Shop Safe" and what's not "Body Shop Safe", and to some level, you an use the term "Body Shop Safe" to also describe "Fresh Paint Safe".

Products that are "Fresh Paint Safe" are also "Body Shop Safe" and that's because these product won't contain any ingredients that will cause "Surface Tension" which will usually show up as "Fish Eyes" in the paint.

Most, if not all waxes and paint sealants, and also most spray or quick detailers are NOT body shop safe and thus would not be safe for fresh paint according to the paint manufacturer's recommendation or their painter's recommendation.

Basically, if a product is known for, or famous for making water bead on car paint, (that thing we all love to see), then if the ingredients in the product that are responsible for making water bead would also try to make fresh paint sprayed onto a car try to bead only this would show up as fish eyes.

From a "purist" point of view, that is a person that is in a position to not have to seal the paint for approximately 30 days, then waiting simply insures that if there are any ingredients at all that could evaporate or outgas then this person can play it safe and allow the paint to fully dry and cure for the 30 days or longer.

Some people don't have this option and will be putting their car back into service they day they get it back and will want to apply something to the paint to protect it.

Outgassing is the process by which solvents and other substances used to mix the paint try to leave the paint is the reason behind why painters will often say,

"Don't wax your car for 30 days"

Sometimes this is just an insurance policy on the part of the painter because he knows his paint is durable and will last a long time with nothing applied to the paint and since they don't know you, your background, your skill level etc., let along what you have out in the garage that you might spread over their brand new work of art, they will error on the side of caution and again, tell you...

"Don't wax your car for 30 days"

Make sense?

After posting this some people will chime in and argue one of the above points and/or say they used this product or some other product on their "fresh paint" and nothing bad ever happened.

So I will point out, I never posted my opinion or recommendation in the above, I just explained in detail what's going on and why historically you're told not to wax your car's fresh paint and how that relates to other products that are not called car waxes specifically, but would have the potential to do the same thing a car wax would do if they were applied to fresh paint.

Make sense?

Polishing Fresh Paint Just for Fun
If you want to "do something" to your car's paint because you're excited to finally have your car painted and it's killing you to not go out into your garage and play with your toy, then you can apply a body shop safe, or fresh paint safe polish or glaze. These would typically be products created for and marketed towards body shops in the refinishing industry. You want to be careful because the words polish and glaze are used on a lot of products and in the context of what I'm talking about here, I mean non-abrasive polishes made for the sole purpose of creating gloss and clarity when used correctly and masking swirls if the shop in question makes it a practice to inflict swirls and then mask them in order to make the paint look good to get the customer to accept their work.

Two very popular non-abrasive polishes for fresh paint that are for the primary purpose of just making fresh paint look clear and glossy are 3M's Imperial Hand Glaze (http://www.autogeek.net/3mimhanglaz.html) and Meguiars Mirror Glaze #7 Show Car Glaze (http://www.autogeek.net/meg7showcarg.html).

After the 30 day waiting period...
After 30 days have passed, or 2 weeks or 90 days, or whatever the painter told you and you adhered too... then by all means, seal the paint with a quality finishing wax or paint sealant.

I've been polishing it with pure polish...

#7 and 3M IH are considered, non-abrasive, pure polishes and this is the historic way people have worked on fresh paint.

Anything else I should or could do to protect the paint and have a high gloss finish???

Now days most people will tell you to go ahead and seal the paint because modern clearcoats and even single stage paints are chemically hardened, i.e. catalyzed and the paint is dry, cured and hardened completely within a few days.

But most of these people are,

A: Not your painter
B: Not representatives of paint manufactures.

My comment is always...

What's the hurry?

Wait for at least 30 days and then seal the paint with your favorite wax, sealant or coating.

:)