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Accumulator · 05-21-04, 09:56

Yeah, you can wash it. You can even polish it (chances are the paint shop already did, they may have even wetsanded it), but note that the paint will be a little softer than normal while it's curing. After my S8 was repaired, the painter and I both wetsanded, compounded, and polished areas of its fresh paint shortly after he sprayed it- no problems, and it was easier to work before it was fully hardened. Watch that you don't use a polish that contains wax, though. During this time, the paint is "out-gassing", so you don't want to seal it up with wax or a sealant, but there are numerous products that you *can* use safely.

For protection, there are fresh-paint-safe polymers that give a little more protection than the 3M IHG. Meg's #80 is a good example- some mild abrasives, fresh-paint-safe polymers. Other Meg's "pure polishes" work OK too- #3, #5, #7, #81.

Don't use a carnauba-based QD, but yeah, Meg's #34 is perfectly safe, paint shops use it on fresh paint all the time, but it won't really leave anything beneficial. Best to use one of the glazes so you have *some* sacrificial layer over the sorta-fragile new paint.

FWIW, I use either the #80 or IHG on fresh paint. Never had a problem.

05-21-04, 09:56	#10 (permalink)
Accumulator Practical Perfectionist Accumulator is offline Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NE Ohio Posts: 20,380	Yeah, you can wash it. You can even polish it (chances are the paint shop already did, they may have even wetsanded it), but note that the paint will be a little softer than normal while it's curing. After my S8 was repaired, the painter and I both wetsanded, compounded, and polished areas of its fresh paint shortly after he sprayed it- no problems, and it was easier to work before it was fully hardened. Watch that you don't use a polish that contains wax, though. During this time, the paint is "out-gassing", so you don't want to seal it up with wax or a sealant, but there are numerous products that you can use safely. For protection, there are fresh-paint-safe polymers that give a little more protection than the 3M IHG. Meg's #80 is a good example- some mild abrasives, fresh-paint-safe polymers. Other Meg's "pure polishes" work OK too- #3, #5, #7, #81. Don't use a carnauba-based QD, but yeah, Meg's #34 is perfectly safe, paint shops use it on fresh paint all the time, but it won't really leave anything beneficial. Best to use one of the glazes so you have some sacrificial layer over the sorta-fragile new paint. FWIW, I use either the #80 or IHG on fresh paint. Never had a problem.