Polish now or wait till spring?

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novarider

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I bought a 2011 Audi a4 in November and the paint has a bunch of swirl marks and some scratches. I was planning on doing a full wash, clay, polish and wax tomorrow since it's going to be 60 degrees. I read in another thread that you should wait till spring to do paint correction. Is this correct? If so why?

If I need to wait what should I do now other than just wash the salt off?
 
If you have the time and the weather is good then go ahead and do it now.
 
If you have a garage I would do it now. If no garage then weather permitting I would go for it!
 
If your area is normally going to get a lot of snow in February and March I would hold off on polishing until mid-late spring. There is too much junk that gets onto your paint when they salt/sand roads.

If your region is normally very little snow then go for polishing it now and enjoy the clean, glossy, corrected paint:)
 
LEDetailing said:
If your area is normally going to get a lot of snow in February and March I would hold off on polishing until mid-late spring. There is too much junk that gets onto your paint when they salt/sand roads.

If your region is normally very little snow then go for polishing it now and enjoy the clean, glossy, corrected paint:)
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Agree 100 percent.
 
Not much actual snow but we get freezing rain etc so they salt quite a bit so I will probably wait.

Should I wash, clay and wax tomorrow or just wash?
 
luvmyrv said:
You missed Mike's 1st rule of detailing...Don't set your tools on the ground, especially that DA and pad!!! :)
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Hahah oh I know. I realized that the moment after I took the pic. No pad was on the polisher though.


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novarider said:
Not much actual snow but we get freezing rain etc so they salt quite a bit so I will probably wait.

Should I wash, clay and wax tomorrow or just wash?
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Personally I would wash, clay and wax. The car will look better and be easier to maintain for the rest of the winter. Should be less work to clay again in spring before polishing it also.
 
Dan K said:
Personally I would wash, clay and wax. The car will look better and be easier to maintain for the rest of the winter. Should be less work to clay again in spring before polishing it also.
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^^ this. The only reason not to is if you don't have a climate controlled garage or work space. Otherwise, have at it. As mentioned here, you'll likely re-do it again in spring just to polish off the winter much and road grime. It will also give you another opportunity to review the level of correction you achieved and provide a window to correct any areas needing more.
 
novarider said:
I don't have a garage. I will be outside.
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I would wait to polish until temps are in the 50's or better then. Most products have a min. temp range for working but honestly, to polish outside in the cold would not be pleasant. I'd likely be hitting up familiy, friends, etc. to see if they had a garage :)
 
In the winter, when weather allows, I wash and apply hydro2or similar product. It’s easier to apply and still gives some durability. I save my full details for spring, summer and fall. Some products like polishes also only work well a over certain temperatures. Good luck and have fun.
 
Dan K said:
Personally I would wash, clay and wax. The car will look better and be easier to maintain for the rest of the winter. Should be less work to clay again in spring before polishing it also.
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This^^^
 
I will wait to they stop apply road salt and the most has dusts of the roads. And then polish and protect the car so it's stays glossy and shiney for summer. If doing it now it will be able to build up some road film on the paint before summer.

In your case it depends on which lsp you are applying. Is it a wax with 2-4 months of longevity a wash and clay and wax would be an option. Depending on the level of correction you are need to do. If just a polish would work a cleaner wax/AIO can be an option and wait to spring detailing and go with a more compound and polish option and lsp of choice.

Since you work outside have in mind moisture levels and the time a full correction takes. So you start in time and has the time to finish up if temps is lowering to the evening. Maybe do the wash the day before and start with the claying in the morning or even also the day before. And do a waterless wash or a panel wipe down the day you are polishing it. As you want to work with a as dry as possible paint.
 
novarider said:
I bought a 2011 Audi a4 in November and the paint has a bunch of swirl marks and some scratches. I was planning on doing a full wash, clay, polish and wax tomorrow since it's going to be 60 degrees. I read in another thread that you should wait till spring to do paint correction. Is this correct? If so why?

If I need to wait what should I do now other than just wash the salt off?
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You can do all of that in 1 day?
 
SWETM said:
I will wait to they stop apply road salt and the most has dusts of the roads. And then polish and protect the car so it's stays glossy and shiney for summer. If doing it now it will be able to build up some road film on the paint before summer.

In your case it depends on which lsp you are applying. Is it a wax with 2-4 months of longevity a wash and clay and wax would be an option. Depending on the level of correction you are need to do. If just a polish would work a cleaner wax/AIO can be an option and wait to spring detailing and go with a more compound and polish option and lsp of choice.

Since you work outside have in mind moisture levels and the time a full correction takes. So you start in time and has the time to finish up if temps is lowering to the evening. Maybe do the wash the day before and start with the claying in the morning or even also the day before. And do a waterless wash or a panel wipe down the day you are polishing it. As you want to work with a as dry as possible paint.
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I'm going to wait on the full polish till spring. I have a week off in April, might do it then.

I like the idea of wash and clay the day before then waterless wash the next day just before polishing. Thanks for the suggestion I may try this.

fightnews said:
You can do all of that in 1 day?
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Don't see why not if I start early.
 
Personally, I don't do anything except gentle washes during the winter, usually at a touchless wash. I prefer to wait until they stop salting the roads and we've had a good rain to wash the remaining salt & salt dust off the roads. Otherwise there's too great a chance of grinding salt & whatever else they throw down into your paint.

This spring, I plan on going to the touchless wash to get the big stuff off, then a good 2 bucket at home to remove the remaining road film ... THEN break out the clay and polisher.
 
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