Applying coatings to a hot car and causing streaks

[Apostrophere]

Hi there. So I do not have an indoor place or a shaded area to work on my customers cars when they wish for me to do it at my home instead of theirs. Ive run into issues lately where it is so hot that as soon as I spray on something like a ceramic spray coating I see steam coming off of the spray and it almost instantly dries and leaves streaks or spots that are incredibly difficult to buff out. Do you have any tips for working on extremely hot cars?

[WillSports3]

A lot of manufacturers will tell you not to, but a towel with ice cold water in it. Apply over area, wipe over with the damp towel, then buff dry. Most if not all transferfluids that companies use (the solvents) will re-wet with cold water.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's my take....

When I do mobile detailing I use the owner's garage. I actuall7 talked about this in my first how-to book,

The Art of Detailing

If they want their car done right you need a garage to work out of. Explain this to them.


Besides that, I've also detailed, washed and maintained cars in the Mojave Desert.

Tips for working in warm/hot weather or direct sunlight


Other than the above, you might have to get a portable canopy and some 5 gallon buckets and bungie cords.

[PaulMys]

I do not have an indoor space or any shade to work in at my home either. (Other than a privet hedge on my property line that gives me shade until about 7:45am before the sun rises too far).

What I do is plan to get up at dawn (about 6:00am) and get to work.

I just did this over July 4th weekend.

*I washed on Thursday night after the sun was low enough.

*I started polishing at 6:45am Friday. (I start with the roof and hood, and then play the shade and/or move the truck 180 degrees when the sun rises too far).

*I started applying WGDGPS at 6:00am on Saturday. (Started with the roof/hood/eastern side of the truck) and after the application/dry time/removal, the sun was just getting started.

Kind of a drag to get up and get ready so early, but when it is your only choice, well......... It's your only choice.

[Mike Phillips]

What I do is plan to get up at dawn (about 6:00am) and get to work.

Kind of a drag to get up and get ready so early, but when it is your only choice, well......... It's your only choice.

Agree. This is one of the tips I included in the article I linked to above.

Start before the sun comes up...

Do your machine compounding and polishing early in the morning when it's the coolest.

Start setting up while it's still early in the morning while it's cool, then as soon as there's enough light to safely work, begin working the horizontal panels first. The reason for this is these will tend to get the hottest later in the day as the sun is over head making any correction or polishing work more difficult.

When it comes to the vertical panels, you can usually move the car in such a way that the side you're working on is shaded to some degree by placing the sun on the opposite side, thus the surface temperature of the panel will be cooler.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's an example,

This picture was taken in the driveway of my house in Apple Valley, California. Apple Valley is located in the Mojave Desert.

I started early, was able to borrow shade from the house and the garage. The key was to start early. I washed dried and clayed the truck the day before so I could start with the paint correction first thing.




After - note it's dark now...







Detailing can be done outside it's just EVERYTHING is going to be more difficult.


To the thread starter, there are a lot of tips in the article I linked to above. Be sure to check them out.