I'm going to be getting my truck back soon from paint, the dealer is going to wash the truck up for me but how long until I can wax? Should I take it easy on the washing for a little bit? How long do I need to wait before waxing? What does everyone think?

 

I have been told to wait up to a month before you do anything with the paint. Wether that is right or not, im not sure, but thats what i have been told. I am picking up my ram air hood for my truck this weekend, which just got painted, so i will ask them what they think.

 

I did a little research and found 90 days before waxing and just to use caution when waxing and to not exceed more than 1 wash per week. Does this sound about right guys!?

 

90 days before waxing if not baked. If they do have a curing device (kiln?) at the stealership, than you can wax from day 1. As for washing, no need to do so more than once a week.

 

At least 90... but, in your environment, you've got mother nature on your side. Heat will accelerate the curing process...

My word of advice -- talk to your shop. They should be able to recommend a base time based on the paint manufacturer's suggested care.

 

I picked up one car I had painted and the shop was washing it (without soap) the day after they shot it. I've had about 10-15 personal cars painted and another 25 of inventory done and never waited long to wash or wax but they say four to six weeks min before waxing. You got to figure baking in the sun speeds curing though.

 

when I painted kenworth trucks for a living they put a sticker in the window saying don't wash with anything but water for 30 days... and 90 days before wax. And this was imron paint.. the best out there for durability. We baked the crap out of the paint to cure faster for high production volumes. Baking is the worst thing for your paint. It ages it and dulls it faster than anything. Two part paints like they use now don't need heat to cure it. It is a chemical reaction that takes place. Heating when the paint is wet gets it to set faster, but in a week the paint cure doesn't care weather it was baked or not. It is just as cured. Either method needs the time for the paint to finnish up after the initial cure. I would wait for the 90 days.

 

Everybody forgets that here in florida yeah its hot but it is also humid as hell and humidity is not your friend but as stated above all newer paints are chemically (baked) so i would wait the 30 days and be careful with just the water washing method then after that you should be good to go and wax her to seal that clearcoat

 

When i picked up my new hood this weekend, they told me to wait at least 30 days.

 

I just had some paint work done and my paint guy said to wait 30 days before waxing.He said I can wash it anytime.

 

I did automotive refinshing for three years and we baked every car that we painted and usualy a couple of hours after its painted we would put a buffer on it. I dont see why you could not wax it after the first couple of weeks just dont put an electric buffer on it. If you dont know what you are doing you will tear the paint right off. Now if the car was not baked then I would wait alot longer before you mess with it.Another way to tell is to actually tell is to press your finger on the pannel kinda hard and see if you leave a finger print. If you leave one then it is still kinda wet. But usualy after 90 days the paint is compleatly cured and will deal with any kinda chemical you can put on in.

 

Why is that??? Does it make it brittle???

I hate to break it to you, but the heat is increasing the Delta H and decreasing the Delta S of the reaction. (Ie: increaing heat and decreasing overall energy/disorder) What the heat does is make the gaseous molecules evaporate out of solution. (and those that keep the pigmentation in solution/hydrous.) Chemical reaction rates are very dependant on temparature--the higher the temp, the faster the reaction. Also, you may be familiar with catalysis--Using a catalyst to lower the activation energy and speed up the reaction by forming bond receptors for each molecule. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that there are some paints out there that use this method for drying. (In the case of Freightliner, the 'catalyst' is heat.) Now that I typed all this, I realize how much of a Chemistry nerd I am.

Couldn't agree more.

 

The buffer has nothing to do with it-- a high speed may be problematic due to the extreme friction, but a D/A is little more than hand speed. The wax, though, seals the paint and prevents the chemical reaction (as I described above) --actually more of evaportation of VOC's-- to take place. If you wax too soon, you could very well end up with solvent pop (isn't that the right term???) If I'm remembering the names right, this is where the paint has VOC's that are trying to escape, and since they can't, (typically in the case of factory finishes, this is due to the clearcoat) they will break the clear/paint. This causes bad spider webbing, cracked clearcoat, etc. Don't try it. Besides, how much harm is really done by waiting for 90 days??? You'll be fine. I'm pretty confident that your whole finish will not oxidize away in 3 months.