Car claying and waxing for a freshly painted car

[Alex Lim]

Hi sifu's,

My sister's car would be coming out from the body shop soon for a
repaint and I want to give it an optimum level of protection. The
question would it be safe to clay and wax a freshly painted car?

There are so many suggestions saying that we should not wax/polish the
car for a duration of time after that car has gone for a respray as
the paint has not fully cured and should be given ample time for them
to dry completely. Claying/Polishing would actually damage the drying
the clear coat and paint and waxing would not allow the paint to
breathe and dry completely.

How true is this?

[Seckin Bodur]

As far as I know even fresh paint can be polished but I don't think there will be much need for a clay if there isn't any special occasions. For protection, there are some breathable products like Meguiars #80 Speed Glaze which is a finishing polish, glaze and polymer protectant in one package. I believe there are many similar products you can use but in general, waiting 1-2 months before using anything putting a layer onto your paint should be better for safety measures.

For Megs #80, there is a long (about 45mins) training video for Meguiars Mirror Glaze products on Youtube. At the and of this video, the guy applies #80 by hand to protect the fresh paint until it cures completely. They call it, paintable polymers. There may also be other and newer products in Megs lineup.

Seckin

2010/7/13 Alex Lim <alex....@gmail.com>

[Alex Lim]

I guess I'll try to be on the safe side and do an area where it is not
directly visible to see the outcome. Thanks guys!

On Jul 13, 4:43 pm, Seckin Bodur <seckinbo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> As far as I know even fresh paint can be polished but I don't think there
> will be much need for a clay if there isn't any special occasions. For
> protection, there are some breathable products like Meguiars #80 Speed Glaze
> which is a finishing polish, glaze and polymer protectant in one package. I
> believe there are many similar products you can use but in general, waiting
> 1-2 months before using anything putting a layer onto your paint should be
> better for safety measures.
>
> For Megs #80, there is a long (about 45mins) training video for Meguiars
> Mirror Glaze products on Youtube. At the and of this video, the guy applies
> #80 by hand to protect the fresh paint until it cures completely. They call
> it, paintable polymers. There may also be other and newer products in Megs
> lineup.
>
> Seckin
>

> 2010/7/13 Alex Lim <alex.li...@gmail.com>

[Kenneth Tang]

Wow great answer from Seckin and I totally agree! Other alternatives
you can look at is Fast Wax by Malco/Presta. They are breathable paint
protectants, not a polish like M80, so could be better suited for your
needs since your main concern is protection. Claying should be fine as
long as you use a body shop safe spray lubricant.

To be safe just use water or with a little bit of shampoo mixed in.

Professional polishes are usually body shop safe, i.e., paintable/
breathable, if you are using an OTC "polish" however, they may contain
waxes and will seal in the paint, preventing it to fully cure. Then
again, my test panel has been waxed immediately after painting(with no
ill-effects), and the body shop guy says can be waxed straight away,
but most online resources say have to leave for 1-2 months. To be
safe, leave it for 1 month.

If you are unsure whether the product that you intend to use is body
shop safe or not, or do not have access to a body shop safe/breathable
polish/wax, then just wash it frequently, like twice a week. The paint
should still look new until the end of the month.

After that, you can give it the full monty...