I was talking to someone who works at a body shop and they told me that waxing a vehicle doesn't protect the paint, the clearcoat does. What is everyone's take on this? Wax does help protect the paint by adding a protective barrier. It helps against UV fading, bugs/bird droppings, or road debris sticking to the paint or even etching into the clear, industrial fallout, and road salt damage. So what's this guy talking about? While I'm sure clearcoats help protect the paint, I believe waxing does also.
opinions please
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Wasatch
New member
A wax and/or sealant definitely protects the clearcoat since it is a layer above the paint, technically speaking. Without the protection the clearcoat will fail eventually.
AutoCadillac
New member
That is either a nut job, or a body shop that wants to do a lot of re-paints. Clear coat is just a non pigmented paint, isn't it? It needs the same protection as a pigmented paint.
Accumulator
Well-known member
AutoCadillac said:
Yeah, clearcoat *is* paint. I suspect the painter is either dumbing down what he knows in the assumption that you don't know anything, or else is overgeneralizing. Or he simply doesn't believe in "waxing" (hey, there are people like that out there). Note that just because he (presumably
) knows how to apply paint/work a paintgun, that doesn't mean that he understands the paint itself or even knows much about it. Heh heh, I've been claying with great results for around 15 years and I didn't know how it *really* works until DavidB's recent explanations! Knowledge and skill/ability don't always go hand-in-hand and you can have either one without the other.The clear *does* provide most of the UV protection, but it still needs to be protected itself. Using a wax/sealant/whatever provides a "sacrificial layer" that comes between the clear and the environment. How much UV protection LSPs *really* provide is debatable; somebody recently noted how his red (Volvo maybe?) fades in the sun even with a good coat of KSG on it. But there's a lot to be protected from besides UV rays.
Bill D
Hooked For Life
I see plenty of vehicles on the road down here in FL with notable, if not complete CC failure. Maybe those folks were customers of body shop guys like that.