I washed and for the forst time clayed my truck. I was really nervous doing this because it felt like I was dragging sandpaper on the truck even with lots of lube After 2 hours, the clay ended up being trashed and the paint was smoooooth

Anyway, the sun is up, hotter than Hades here in Florida already (and it's only 8:30am!!) It's too hot to #9 and wax

I searched and read sooo many posts on detailing but nothing hit upon what I'm going to ask so here goes.



1. Will it harm the paint by driving between the clay process and my #9/wax process?? Will a QD after the clay protect until I can get to those steps??

2. If I do get a polish in, but don't have tiome to wax, again will a QD keep my paint safe until I can get to the wax process. I realize I'll need to wax ASAP but the weather doesn't always cooperate and I'm hoping if I QD every night after I get home from work this allow me to wait until the next weekend to do the wax.


Thanks for inputs.

 

No problem at all. I'd recommend washing before you go to #9 to remove any surficial dust/grime that could've built up while driving. Again though, no big deal.

Just remember it's not protected and that you should get to it ASAP.

I've done this on SEVERAL occasions with my own vehicles.

Again, not really that big of a deal. Just make sure the surface is clean before you go back in with any type of coating on the paint. Hence, I'd recommend washing it again before application.

The sooner, the better.

RP

 

When you say it's too hot to #9 and wax, I'm assuming you mean for YOU and not for the products, right?

I live in Houston, which I'm sure gets every bit of the heat and humidity you have in Florida, and I've never "not" used a product because of the outside air conditions. Now granted, it's a lot more pleasant to detail in November than in July, but I would suspect the products should work the same regardless, except for possibly a longer "hazing" time in high humidity conditions (?).

As far as driving after claying, I'm sure its not a HUGE problem, although obviously it would be ideal if you didn't. However, I might be inclined to wash again, rather than just QD-ing. When I detail my vehicles, I just go into it with the assumption that the car WILL NOT be driven until everything is done. But since I have more cars than people in my house, it's a little bit easier for me than it might be for others.

But I feel your pain -- I just ordered a new F-150 and I am regretting the fact that it will arrive in early-to-mid July. That first good detail that I do on all of my new vehicles (wash, clay, multiple coats of wax) would be a HECK OF A LOT more exciting if it was November instead of July! Maybe I'll get lucky and there will be an unseasonable break in Houston's hot and humid summertime weather the week my truck arrives!

 

Hmm... good thought ddellwo...

I was just assuming that the painted surface was too hot due to direct sunlight...

If you can get the truck into the shade and allow it to cool, there's no problem with ambient surrounding temperatures. Humidity will, however, play a role in dry times.... (#9 shouldn't be allowed to dry to the paint though).

RP

 

All hail the detail gods This definitely helps alleviate many concerns I had.

DDellwo, It will never be too hot for me but by the time I finished with the clay bar the body was already pretty warm to the touch ( no shade available) so I decided to hold off on polishing. Not sure how hot is really too hot to proceed but I'll err on the side of caution until I learn the ropes.

I do hope your truck gets in sooner..maybe for a 4th of July celebration I know the waiting can be painful since it took me almost 5 months to find mine.

 

Yeah -- I would avoid applying most, if not all, products in direct sunlight. You need to find yourself some shade!

 

I think you're making the correct move. I, personally, HATE working with polishes on a hot surface or, even worse, in sunlight. Simply put, the product dries entirely too fast and causes more problems than what it solves.

Never applying in direct sunlight or to a hot surface is a pretty good rule of thumb...

RP

 

The sun went down and I finished doing the #9 on my truck. AWESOME Is all I can say. Being a first timer using polish I wasn't sure how long to buff each 2ft x 3 ft piece before wiping off but about 99% of all the noticeable scratches and swirls are gone. I can still see a couple if I look real hard at certain angles but otherwise I'm greatly pleased and I still haven't even put on the NXT yet. Many thanks RP