Paint Hardening/Waxing

This message is a reply to an archived post by Bryan, WI on December 31, 2008 at 19:00:13.
The original subject was "Paint HardeningWaxing".

Recently had my F350 repaired at a body shop and was advised to wait 3 months before waxing the newly painted area. Larry (my auto body guy and friend) told me that waxing seals the microscopic pores in the paint making the curing process take longer. He said I can wash it to my hearts content but wait 3 months for any wax application to be on the safe side.

Since no-one wants to stick their neck out here , I will. It depends soley on the products used and the outside temp where you live and whether he used a "bake" style paint booth cureing system. Notice he told you "to play it safe"? That's what he is doing. Old tech. systems needed that long to "breath" out the trapped solvents. New tech. systems should be all "breathed out" in a week or so , BUT , a lot of the bargain products out there call themselves urethanes and "hardeners" etc but are of such low quallity that they may take a month or two or more.Depends on what he used and how he used it.Now for a little "painters secret" most people don't know. When you take your vehicle home after a paint job , you usually only look at it from a "scan" and it looks pretty good so you don't pay it no mind UNTIL you get the wax out and REALLY see every square inch of it up close and personal. Now you see these little dirt or lint specs or maybe even a mosquito leg or a sag that you wouldn't have seen if you wouldn't have waxed it. DUH! Sometimes they hope you have washed it enough times in three months that there will be enough fine "wash scratches" in it that the flaws will not show. You have heard the ole "it will level off and shine up after a few wax jobs" jarg? Sometimes it is the ole "bring it back in three months after it's cured and I will buff it out beautiful" jarg. First of all if it is "good" catylized urethane or the same in base/clear then wax will do nothing but make it wash better by putting a layer of silicone between the finish and the dirt. Wax will not make the paint shine better or last longer. Polish will take out all the fine lines that washing causes and make it shine like it did when painted. Show cars are NOT waxed , they are POLISHED. In your case , follow his instructions because you don't want to void his warrantee (hopefully he does have one). Also , I forgot to talk about the customer who goes home and waxes his new paint job in a week cause that's what the shop told him/her and gets a phone call half way through and while on the phone the sun moves into the gap in the shade trees and bakes the fresh wax into the week old paint and then they wonder why it is permanently streaked! Things just don't always go as planned on both sides and that might be why he told you three months. Personally , I tell people to never wax. Keep it clean and use a polish or 3M hand glaze.