Fresh paint.. Questions..

[pkjai]

Hey guys, my car just got out of the shop about a week ago, though it's probably been done being painted for about 2, I had a couple questions about the care and maintenance.

After reading this article..
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...s/26967-don-t-wax-your-car-least-30-days.html

I realized my painter told me he put 2 coats of wax on it before releasing the car to me, and also said I should not wash the car for 30 days.. What should I do? Should I try to strip the wax so the paint can 'outgas'?

I also noticed my car had slight swirls on the surface, must have been from the orbital buffers they were using when they were compounding the paint, but since then, the car has also gotten a little dusty, is it safe to wash the paint?

I want to take good care and keep the paint in the best condition I can.
Could use some tips.. Thanks, much appreciated

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hey guys, my car just got out of the shop about a week ago, though it's probably been done being painted for about 2, I had a couple questions about the care and maintenance.

After reading this article..
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...s/26967-don-t-wax-your-car-least-30-days.html

I realized my painter told me he put 2 coats of wax on it before releasing the car to me, and also said I should not wash the car for 30 days.. What should I do? Should I try to strip the wax so the paint can 'outgas'?

I also noticed my car had slight swirls on the surface, must have been from the orbital buffers they were using when they were compounding the paint, but since then, the car has also gotten a little dusty, is it safe to wash the paint?

I want to take good care and keep the paint in the best condition I can.
Could use some tips.. Thanks, much appreciated

I wonder if the painter is just using the word "wax" in place of "polish" or "glaze", something that doesn't seal the paint because either that's the words or terms he knows and uses for his products of choice or maybe he really did wax the paint?

At this point I would leave it alone and follow your painter's recommendation as they supposedly know their craft.

Personally, I've never seen or heard of a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint job fail because it was sealed with a wax or paint sealant before 30 days air cure.

Maybe it's happened? I just not seen nor heard evidence of this either in the real world or the cyber world. The recommendation to wait a minimum of 30 days is the traditional "Window of Time" recommended by paint manufactures. It could be a guideline that is no longer applicable to todays modern paint refinishing technology due to the way the top coat dries and hardens, but I have not seen nor heard of any paint manufacture stopping this practice.

So a good rule of thumb is to follow your painter's recommendation as he knows is craft and follow the paint manufacturer's recommendations as they know their products best. In your case, you get to follow your painter's recommendation because you already have your car back.


If you're curios, simply go to the painter and asked him what he used for wax?

I don't see why he wouldn't tell you? Then share it with us.

 

[Crazy Amos]

His definition of a wax may be different than ours. He probably put a glaze on it to try and hide the swirls you are seeing. Glazes typically are just oils that brighten paint and do not bond or seal as wax does. IMO I wouldn't do anything to it....at all until the 30 days are up. If you do anything they can put it on you if something goes wrong in the long run. Its not shady or anything, just business.
I would however take it back to the shop now and say that you have noticed swirls since you got it home and were able to inspect it more. Hopefully they will fix them, but you may run into a problem when they say that it was fine when you picked it up because nothing was said then. If he presented the car in a garage or you picked it up at night, you could say that is why the swirls were not discovered upon delivery.
I hope this helps some and I know it is frustrating but be patient and wait. In the end you are the one that has to live with the paint so you want it to be right.

 

[Crazy Amos]

Welcome to AG by the way!!!

 

[pkjai]

I wonder if the painter is just using the word "wax" in place of "polish" or "glaze", something that doesn't seal the paint because either that's the words or terms he knows and uses for his products of choice or maybe he really did wax the paint?

At this point I would leave it alone and follow your painter's recommendation as they supposedly know their craft.

Personally, I've never seen or heard of a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint job fail because it was sealed with a wax or paint sealant before 30 days air cure.

Maybe it's happened? I just not seen nor heard evidence of this either in the real world or the cyber world. The recommendation to wait a minimum of 30 days is the traditional "Window of Time" recommended by paint manufactures. It could be a guideline that is no longer applicable to todays modern paint refinishing technology due to the way the top coat dries and hardens, but I have not seen nor heard of any paint manufacture stopping this practice.

So a good rule of thumb is to follow your painter's recommendation as he knows is craft and follow the paint manufacturer's recommendations as they know their products best. In your case, you get to follow your painter's recommendation because you already have your car back.


If you're curios, simply go to the painter and asked him what he used for wax?

I don't see why he wouldn't tell you? Then share it with us.

Thanks, will do. I've been bombarding him with questions lately, and didn't want to come off as annoying, lol. Wanted to see if I could get some quick answers here. Thanks for the fast replies.

It just seems to me that the paint is extremely fragile, and it hurts me to see dust and dead bugs on the front hood and bumper, I'm too afraid to wipe/clean for fear of inflicting more swirls and scratches

Welcome to AG by the way!!!

Thanks, appreciated :xyxthumbs:

 

[Crazy Amos]

Sorry, didn't mean to post pretty much the same thing as Mike and clutter it up. I must not have refreshed the page or I wouldn't have. Another rule of thumb, listen to Mike above the rest of us. He usually explains things much better and is always right.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I also noticed my car had slight swirls on the surface, must have been from the orbital buffers they were using when they were compounding the paint,

Body shops don't really use Orbital Buffers, they tend to use only Rotary Buffers unless someone that works there has been to some kind of class where they've been introduced to different ways of polishing paint or removing swirls or they hang out on detailing discussion forums like this one.

This is an Orbital Buffer
The Traditional Orbital Buffer aka The Wax Spreader

This is a Rotary Buffer
Pictures + Video of 1932 Ford Highboy Extreme Makeover

I also noticed my car had slight swirls on the surface, must have been from the orbital buffers they were using when they were compounding the paint, but since then, the car has also gotten a little dusty, is it safe to wash the paint?

What you likely have is a form of DISO

DISO = Dealer Installed Swirl Option

The variation is that you can get swirls installed for free at not only Dealerships, but also Detail Shops and Body Shops. It's all about the mis-use of a rotary buffer. See this article, which also demonstrates that DISO can be removed.

DISO = The Dealership Installed Swirl Option


These are Rotary Buffer inflicted Swirls also called Buffer Swirls or Holograms

The difference between Rotary Buffer Swirls, Cobweb Swirls and Micro-Marring

Tracers Tracers - RIDS - Pigtails - Cobweb Swirls - Rotary Buffer Swirls - Holograms - Water Spots - Bird Drooping Etchings - Micro-Marring

I want to take good care and keep the paint in the best condition I can.
Could use some tips.. Thanks, much appreciated

1. What are you working on?
2. Have you ever done any machine polishing?

 

[pkjai]

Body shops don't really use Orbital Buffers, they tend to use only Rotary Buffers unless someone that works there has been to some kind of class where they've been introduced to different ways of polishing paint or removing swirls or they hang out on detailing discussion forums like this one.

This is an Orbital Buffer
The Traditional Orbital Buffer aka The Wax Spreader

This is a Rotary Buffer
Pictures + Video of 1932 Ford Highboy Extreme Makeover

What you likely have is a form of DISO

DISO = Dealer Installed Swirl Option

The variation is that you can get swirls installed for free at not only Dealerships, but also Detail Shops and Body Shops. It's all about the mis-use of a rotary buffer. See this article, which also demonstrates that DISO can be removed.

DISO = The Dealership Installed Swirl Option

1. What are you working on?
2. Have you ever done any machine polishing?

Oh ok, thanks for clearing that up.. I'm still a noob here lol. The swirls are no where near that bad, they look more like scratches from wiping with towels in swirls actually now that I think of it, but you can see depth of the paint, and the scratches look really light on the surface.

And I'm not really looking to work on anything in particular. I just want to try and maintain that mirror-like shine.

I have not done any machine polishing yet, currently don't have a polisher, but plan to invest in one soon.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

And I'm not really looking to work on anything in particular. I just want to try and maintain that mirror-like shine.

There is a recent thread here where the same topic is brought up... it is worth a read-through... and I'll post a portion of my reply...


Fresh Black Paint



I have not done any machine polishing yet, currently don't have a polisher, but plan to invest in one soon.
[/QUOTE]


Fresh Black Paint


Excerpt

Maintaining any finish really comes down to how the paint is touched...

• Use the highest quality products you can obtain
• Anything that touches the paint has to be gentle to the finish and high quality
• Use good technique

I know many people reading the above will think that's all common sense, but I recently had the owner of a 1954 Corvette here at our Studio and after watching him "start" to wipe the Souverän off his Corvette I STOPPED him, and then shared with him "good technique" for wiping wax off highly polished paint.

Video: A Show Car Wax for a Show Car Finish at Show Car Garage

Then the next day I wrote this article,

How to correctly fold and use a Microfiber Towel

To maintain your car's new paint job you're really going to want to use the best quality products you can obtain, that is anything that's going to "touch" the paint needs to be soft and gentle to the paint, as in wash mitts, drying towels, etc.

And any products you use like car wash, polish and/or wax or paint sealant needs to be great quality and applied and removed carefully.

In my opinion, the best way to apply any polish or wax is by using a machine like the Porter Cable 7424XP. If you discover down the road that your new paint job does in fact have swirls, not matter how they were instilled, then the easiest way to remove them will be by machine. The PC can be used to remove swirls and apply wax and even remove wax.

Do some more reading and investigating and also get the opinions of others...