How long should I wait to wax after a fresh paint job?
This question comes up a lot. “How long should I wait to wax after a fresh paint job?”. My answer is 60-90 days. I once made the mistake of listening to a shop that painted my car and insisted that I wax the paint to protect it right away. I got home from the shop and waxed the car. What was my outcome? The clearcoat NEVER fully cured. A year after the clear was still so soft that you could scratch the paint by dropping a cotton ball on it. This led me to do some researching on my own, something I should of done before listening to the paint shop. After contacting several of the large automotive paint manufacturers I got answers from 30 to 90 days of waiting for the paint to cure before waxing or sealing. My advice is 60-90 days.
“What about a brand new car?” This is a totally different story. Brand new cars on the dealer lots are perfectly fine to wax the second they roll off the assembly line. Why? Because the paint and process used on the assembly line is not the same as what a body/paint shop uses. Factory paint jobs are baked at extremely high temperatures to cure the paint on the assembly lines and the paint used is not the same as what a shop uses.
”You said to wait 60-90 days after I get my car from the paint shop but the shop said they baked the paint so I can wax right away right?” NO! Most shops will bake the paint after painting but their bake lamps are nowhere near the same as the factory uses. The shop bakes the paint so the work can be handled faster.
