Thoughts on waxing new paint?

[JBlubaugh]

Hi All -

It's now been 4 months since my BT7 received its paint job. When I picked up the car, the owner of the paint shop said to never apply wax to it, just bring it in for buffing. This kind of flies in the face of everything I ever learned about keeping paint nice while growing up. The car was painted with modern PPG paints including clear coat.

What are your thoughts on waxing new paint?

Personally, I want to apply a nice coat of quality wax just to keep the road grime off of it.

Has anyone ever heard of not waxing a paint job?

Thanks for your input,
Jim

 

[bdcvg]

I guess it's a personal preference thing. I would wax just to make it easier to clean especially bugs and tar. I have also had great result's with sealers and use Zaino's on 3 cars. Never heard of not waxing.

 

[Keoke]

It's now been 4 months since my BT7 received its paint job.

I wash the car with approved car wash not dish washing soap
Then Polish it with an approved two stage polishing compound

Than lightly wax with a good product'

Note if the finish is not smooth or clean after polishing A Light Clay treatment may be required.

 

[AUSMHLY]

Cars should not be waxed for a couple months after they are painted, so as to let the paint gas out. After that, wax away.

 

[AUSMHLY]

I wash the car with approved car wash not dish washing soap
Then Polish it with an approved two stage polishing compound
Than lightly wax with a good product'
Note if the finish is not smooth or clean after polishing A Light Clay treatment may be required.

If one knows they are going to clay, compound or use a polish, then wash the car with dish soap, not car wash soap. You'd want to strip as much off the car as possible in the first step, the wash. Clay, compound and polish all remove wax, so have the dish soap help.

Sometimes fallout is not that bad. If you wash with car soap, feel fallout, try a little section with dish soap. Sometimes it will remove it and save you from claying. Both remove wax though.

One should clay before polishing. (Clay removes fallout or anything that sticks to the surface that washing does not remove)

"Polishing compound" is confusing.
A compound is a aggressive cutting agent. Great for removing oxidation and spiderwebs. May leave swirl marks and the finish may be a little dull. It is not a finishing product.
A polish is a ultra fine cutting agent, that removes swirl marks from a compound and produces the smoothest surface and gloss.

Once the car is waxed, then only use a car wash soap, so as not to remove the wax.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

If one knows they are going to clay, compound or use a polish, then wash the car with dish soap, not car wash soap. You'd want to strip as much off the car as possible in the first step, the wash. Clay, compound and polish all remove wax, so have the dish soap help.

Sometimes fallout is not that bad. If you wash with car soap, feel fallout, try a little section with dish soap. Sometimes it will remove it and save you from claying. Both remove wax though.

One should clay before polishing. (Clay removes fallout or anything that sticks to the surface that washing does not remove)

"Polishing compound" is confusing.
A compound is a aggressive cutting agent. Great for removing oxidation and spiderwebs. May leave swirl marks and the finish may be a little dull. It is not a finishing product.
A polish is a ultra fine cutting agent, that removes swirl marks from a compound and produces the smoothest surface and gloss.

Once the car is waxed, then only use a car wash soap, so as not to remove the wax.

Griots has several products for washing, cleaning, polishing(various stages), etc....so many I find it hard to follow. There's a website you can join for Detailers that might help. Also check AutoGeek.com

 

[AUSMHLY]

Griots has several products for washing, cleaning, polishing(various stages), etc....so many I find it hard to follow. There's a website you can join for Detailers that might help. Also check AutoGeek.com

Years ago I spent a lot of times on those websites and their forums.
A search will bring up a lot of forums for Mothers, Mequires, AutoGeek, Griots, Poorboys, the list goes on and on.

 

[vette]

Cars should not be waxed for a couple months after they are painted, so as to let the paint gas out. After that, wax away.

Over here on the Right Coast, I wouldn't expect a paint job to need a clay job in four months. But if what you call "fallout" is having an effect then maybe a clay job is necessary.
When base/clear is painted (and i have done alot of it) the clear coat is wet sanded (usually) to a very smooth finish with a minimum of 1500 grit paper and usually to 2000 and 3000 grit paper. Exceptional very high end paint jobs would go even finer on the paper but I would consider anything more than 3000 grit to be headed to Pebble Beach. Then they are polished with a commercial polish and a buffer. Many times a glaze product is buffed into the paint before it is delivered to the customer. A glaze product is more of a very minute filling product which fills pores and almost invisible scratches from the sanding and polishing actions. Once this is done, it looks like a finished job. The glaze is somewhat of a protectant but it does not "seal" over like a wax would. There-by letting the paint breath to allow the solvents to evaporate out of the paint. The longer you can wait before wax the more long term life you should be adding to the paint. 4 to 6 months is a good rule of thumb. So here's the rub. Many production shops put some kind of wax on the car before it leaves the shop. And sometimes that is the day after it is painted. The wipe and shine products like Eagle 1 and Mequire's Quick Shine are a combination of an emulsifier and a very small ( think thin) amount of wax. The wax is not thickly applied and usually does not last that long. If you were to use that about every 2
weeks you would probably be applying the equivalent of what was wearing off in the previous 2 weeks. You could let the shop just keep buffing it about every 6 months. They would probably be using a glazing product. It has a mild cleaning ability with the benefit of a protectant. After a year and a couple of buffings I would just go to a good quality wax. But a paint can always be buffed later if it appears that the shine is getting dull.

 

[AUSMHLY]

"Over here on the Right Coast, I wouldn't expect a paint job to need a clay job in four months. But if what you call "fallout" is having an effect then maybe a clay job is necessary."

One clays a car because the surface feels rough from contaminates embedded on the surface. Not because of the paint job.

Body shops or detail guys will wet sand aka color sand the surface, or compound or polish the surface to make it smooth after painting or if left out in the environment and not taken care of. One must pay attention to how much that's done, for the more aggressive the proceedure the more orange peel is removed.

One clays because of fallout aka industrial fallout or pollution which embeds itself on the surface of the paint. If one does not wash the car regularly, then the fallout will need to be clayed off.

A glaze is a filler, and is breathable. That's why body shops apply it to the surface right before the car is given to the owner.

Some people apply a pure glaze, not a polishing glaze (which has a cutting agent), to the surface before they apply wax. It fills in any voids in the paint. Then a coat of wax is applied. Some waxes say they fill in voids, spiderwebs, but usually not a good as a glaze will.

Some people believe that first applying a synthetic wax, letting it cure 24 hrs, then applying a carnauba wax over it, will provide a better shine. Hang out on the detail forums and read all about the....theories. Synthetics give a bright shine, carnaubas give a deep shine, apply this product then the over it apply this product gives extra depth to the shine etc etc.

I think I'll go on Shark Tank and pitch my one wax does it all. It wet sands, compounds, polishes, clays, glazes and waxes in one easy application. I call it Wax-Elixir or snake-oil for short.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Griots has several products for washing, cleaning, polishing(various stages), etc....so many I find it hard to follow. There's a website you can join for Detailers that might help. Also check AutoGeek.com

I meant www.autogeek.net not .com

 

[LarryK]

Meguires, Mother's, and Griots makes excellent products. Usually a 3 step procedure, 1 cleaner, 2 swirl remover and wax. If not familiar with the random orbitor buffers, stay away, but use the softest cloths turning and renew cloths frequently. Do in garage or shade not in sun. Car should be cool. Griot's has a toll free hotline for questions and videos to make it easy.

 

[Keoke]

Meguires, Mother's, and Griots makes excellent products.

And, Which one you choose is generally based upon individual preference.

 

[LarryK]

I have never used McQuire's. I used Mother's exclusively on my Jags from in the 70s. Bought wholesale and have plenty left, but turning over to Griot's as my Mother's supply diminishes. Hard to find the Mother's in the St.Louis area have had to buy in Fla. while visiting my brother-in- law. He had a Mom and Pop family owned parts house that stocked it all so I would bring a lot home or ordered out of Tampa. Now, I use what I have left and order from Griot's. Used on 2011 Land Rover LR4 and newer MINIs. Love the waterless wash by Griot's, use all winter long with no scratches or swirls. Leaves wax intact.

 

[Keoke]

I used Mother's exclusively

ME TOO
I Just finished polishing copper bottom pots for SW-MBO using Mothers MAG polish.--So no more Honey Dos------:highly_amused:

 

[drambuie]

Just remember, a new paint job dries from the inside out! It takes a long time for the thinners to evacuate the paint. In fact I prefer not to even wet sand the new clear coat until 6 to 8 weeks... I start using 2000 then progress to 3000 and finish the wet sanding process with 5000. And finally use a foam pad with very light polishing compound to remove any fine imperfections. I recommend not waxing for a year to fully evacuate all the thinners and fully cure all primers,paint and clear coat for a long lasting tough paint job that will last for Many years. I prefer to apply a few extra coats of clear so I have a good buffer between the color when It comes time to apply compounds to remove scratches and fading throughout the years.