When to wax after car accident repair?

[DETAILROOKIE]

Great information, I am also getting a car repainted and would like to know does this include wash soaps with wax in them and quick detailers? Or should I stay away from everything with wax in it?

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[The Guz]

I will post up my experience.

I took my car to get a full repaint back in September of 2016 and received it in October of 2016. At the time I forgot to ask the body shop how soon I can wax it. I know they baked it as I saw the entire process this car was put through. I was not too concerned as I was going to wait out for a full 90 days prior to doing any sort of correction work or coating application.

What I did use was Meguiar's M305 at the beginning and it proved to have good longevity. A couple months before it needed a reapplication. I washed it with Meguiar's Hyper Wash if I chose to do a 2 bucket wash and for rinseless either Meg's D114, McKee's N914 and even ONR. ONR is fresh paint safe.

If I had to use a detail spray it was with Meguiar's M34 as it is body shop safe and contains no protective qualities. It does not have to be body shop safe once it leaves the body shop but I had plenty to use up. I did this for the fist 30 days.

Once the 30 days was over I moved onto Optimum Car Wax for the other 60 days. OCW is fresh paint safe. Easier to apply and much more efficient in terms of time compared to M305 which is applied similar to a wax or sealant. My washing procedure did not change at all using either of the mentioned products that I had in my possession.

After the 90 days was up, I sealed it with Opti-Seal until I had time to correct it and coat it.

I ended up doing a full correction and coating in June of 2017 when I took time off. A full year later the paint is fine and no issues.

[Vue to a kill]

I used Optimum Car Wax immediately after receiving my car back from the shop in 2014. Paint was baked. I had absolutely zero issues and was happy to have some sort of protection since it was the winter.

[DETAILROOKIE]

Thank you for the great information!!!

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[Kevin845]

My daughters car had the rear bumper cover replaced and painted. Was told to wait 90 days before doing anything. That was late October, so chomping at the bit to get some protection on it. In Massachusetts so its been cold lately, but counting the days and it will be pulled into my heated garage and off to the races I go.

[2black1s]

For you guys that say my paint was "baked", here's a little info for you...

What is actually done in the refinishing world is "force drying" at moderately elevated temperatures (in the neighborhood of 145 degrees F). Many people call this baking in a generic sense but it really isn't baking at all. It's simply an accelerated initial drying of the paint.

You cannot "bake" paint on a car that is fully assembled as the temperatures required to truly bake would damage many parts of the car. Additionally, the paint formulas used in the refinishing world are not designed for baking. They are designed to be air-dried and/or force dried as described above.

Paint that is truly baked is completely cured when it comes out of the oven. Generally speaking, "baked" paint is pretty much limited to OEMs.

[JKDesign]

I'm an old painter. My take on this is the longer you wait, the better. Even 60-90 days is not unreasonable. Anything that seals the paint, i.e., waxing or equivalent, will prolong the curing process. It's best to allow the paint to fully cure before doing so.

The same goes for compounding and polishing even though compounding/polishing does not "seal" the paint and does not affect the overall cure time. What does happen though, is that as the new paint cures and hardens, it will shrink some and change in texture. It will also lose some gloss during this cure period. Because of this I feel that it is always best to wait at least two months before sanding/compounding/polishing. You can do it immediately (within days of painting) but be prepared to repeat the process after a few months once the paint is fully cured if you expect the ultimate finish.

As a former painter myself, my findings/observations align.