How long to wait before washing and/or waxing new paint?

[PiLOTLiTE]

My car will be back the end of this week with new doors, front fenders, hood, and bumper. All will have fresh new paint on them and I wanna know how long I should let the paint cure before cleaning the car again. The body shop doing my car told me 60 days no wax, but washing with plain water and a towel is okay from the day I get it back. Another place told me 30 days no wax, and 2 weeks no washing.

Anyone have advice or experience? I've heard paint can do some pretty strange things if you wax it too early. Thanks

[Loochy88]

i have heard as long as 6 months no wax!

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: Loochy88 ]</p>

[JAM]

Check with the shop that did the paint work. It depends on how it was dried, AND type(s) of paint used.

Enamles dry different than base color + clear combo's, and so on. "Baked" on paint dries different than "natural" air drying and letting cure. So could be a lot of variables.

Hope that helps a bit.

[Seppo Kaitainen]

After i got my car out of the body shop they told me a month. But their paint work sucked. So I'ld wait probably more like 2-3 months b/f waxing. But asking the body shop would be probably your best answer.

[The Sandman]

You should wait about 1 month before using wax. If using a polish, go right ahead and start now.

The reason why is because the paint has to have time to cure, which is done by heat from the factory. Parts are painted and 'baked' in several hundred degrees for rapid curing. This is why you can polish a brand new car.
A repainted piece doesn't get this same treatment, so it has to cure by sitting.