Don't wax your car for at least 30 days!

[mcshooter]

when sanding a new paint job can .i wash off the clear with mequires final inspection? before and after buffing ? also how long would you wait to sand and buff dupont omni clear ?

[Mike Phillips]

when sanding a new paint job can . i wash off the clear with Meguiar's final inspection? before and after buffing ?

also how long would you wait to sand and buff dupont omni clear ?

Sorry we missed your question... usually with a question like this it's better to start your own dedicated thread than it is to tag it onto an existing article. Both ways will work but like this example shows sometimes you question goes un-noticed... especially if it's posted late at nigh or on a weekend...


To you questions, M34 is Body Shop Safe so "yes" you can use it to wash or technically wipe of the clear coat but be sure to use very clean and soft microfiber towels and fold often to expose a clean side.

As for how long to wait, check with the paint manufacture, the paint mixer where you buy your paint or if you had it painted, check with the painter. If the clear is catalyzed, then you can usually sand and buff after 24 hours but some people like to wait a few days to make sure it's fully dried and hardened.

Generally speaking, the sooner you get sanding and buffing the easier it will be. Sanding is not the issue, it's buffing out your sanding marks that's the tricky part.

[The Guz]

Mike here's a question for you. My brother just had a hood painted along with another aftermarket body piece at a reputable body shop. I had him ask the painter on his recommendation about waxing. The painter told him he could wax right away as the hood and front bumper valence was baked.

Would you still recommend the 30 day window?

[Mike Phillips]

Mike here's a question for you. My brother just had a hood painted along with another aftermarket body piece at a reputable body shop. I had him ask the painter on his recommendation about waxing. The painter told him he could wax right away as the hood and front bumper valence was baked.

Would you still recommend the 30 day window?

I tell people to listen to their painter but keep in mind, what your painter told you goes against what the manufacturer of the paint he's spraying recommends.

The whole "waiting thing" is a carry over from the solvent evaporation paints like single stage lacquers and enamels before the 1980's. These types of paints have to outgas.


I explain all of this in THIS article, that is this thread we're all typing in and reading in right now.

Below is the first post... it's written very clearly and in-depth. After reading it, make up your mind if you want to seal the fresh paint or not, it's really up to you.

For me?

I always think and say...

What's the hurry?


Here's the article,



Don't wax your car for at least 30 days!

• 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 and Meguiars Mirror Glaze #7 Show Car Glaze.

[Hokie335i]

Bringing up this old thread to ask a question. My dad recently had a small section of his car (2010 Audi A6 avant, black metallic) painted. I am moving out of town soon and my dad asked me to detail and coat his car before I leave. It's been 10 days since being painted and I'm curious what the result is from coating the fresh paint before the 30 day benchmark. What will happen to the paint if I coat it now?

[Mike Phillips]

Sorry for the late reply, I just now found this post..

What did you end up doing?

Bringing up this old thread to ask a question.

My dad recently had a small section of his car (2010 Audi A6 avant, black metallic) painted. I am moving out of town soon and my dad asked me to detail and coat his car before I leave.

It's been 10 days since being painted and I'm curious what the result is from coating the fresh paint before the 30 day benchmark.

What will happen to the paint if I coat it now?

Great question.

While I believe what I wrote and adhere to my own advice when it comes to new paint on my own cars, I also understand that sometimes people, (you and your dad), are in situations that are what we call, exceptions to the rules.


For what it's worth, I've never seen a new or fresh modern basecoat/clearcoat paint fail because it was sealed to soon.

The problem you have with applying a coating to fresh paint is you're NOT supposed to use a HOT solvent on fresh paint before 30 days as a window-of-time to ensure any and all crosslinking of the polymers has finished.

In order to use most coatings you're supposed to chemically strip the paint and most chemical strippers are some form of hot solvent.

So if you can use a method of chemically stripping that does not include a hot solvent then go for it.

[TTQ B4U]

Bringing up this old thread to ask a question. My dad recently had a small section of his car (2010 Audi A6 avant, black metallic) painted. I am moving out of town soon and my dad asked me to detail and coat his car before I leave. It's been 10 days since being painted and I'm curious what the result is from coating the fresh paint before the 30 day benchmark. What will happen to the paint if I coat it now?

I've talked to the body shop working on my car and they use HD Products and have okayed my use of AAT 505 from HD. Basically it's HDSpeed less any silicoln so it's safe for fresh paint and allows it to properly gas-off. They did state that I should NOT coat it or seal it with anything that would prevent this from happening.

I'm okay with that as all I want to do is correct the vehicle once it's returned. I've also ordered Meguiar's M34 Mirror Glaze Final Inspection as my go-to detail spray during the next couple months as it too is safe to use.

I hope this helps.