Cleaning post respray

[Chris.]

Both rear quarters of my car were painted 2 weeks ago. Do I need to leave it a certain amount of time before cleaning? And are there any special precautions that I should take? I'm sure I've seen somewhere that new paint should be left alone for a while but not certain.

 

[Jermal]

Both rear quarters of my car were painted 2 weeks ago. Do I need to leave it a certain amount of time before cleaning? And are there any special precautions that I should take? I'm sure I've seen somewhere that new paint should be left alone for a while but not certain.

You can wash it Chris, but don't seal it or wax it just yet. I can remember Andy H (minge) telling me that the solvents in the paint can take up to two months to fully disperse through the paint.

 

[Chris.]

You can wash it Chris, but don't seal it or wax it just yet. I can remember Andy H (minge) telling me that the solvents in the paint can take up to two months to fully disperse through the paint.

Cheers.

 

[R20190]

Actually Chris, I would leave it for a couple of weeks before you clean it. A few years ago new laws came in for automotive paints to be water-based instead of solvent based. This meant that drying and curing times took a lot longer.

My experience of using both types of paints is that the new water based paints do take longer to fully harden even after heating. A lot of bodyshops tend not to give paint jobs enough heating time in a rush to get parts out so they're usually around 80% cured. Which although you can still lightly polish, is still a bit soft and risky.

I always used to leave paints to dry for a week before I clean it especially when it's not been that warm recently. Better safe than sorry mate.

 

[Chris.]

Cheers, I hadn't cleaned it anyway.