How to Care for Your Car After it’s Been Painted

A fresh paint job can make a car look brand new. It’s also a bit terrifying because you know how easily your new paint job could be damaged. A paint job is completely different from the paint on a brand new car. New cars get a cure job and they don’t immediately get out on the road afterwards. But when you get a paint job, the paint itself is still drying long after you get the car back.

The most important thing to know about caring for a new paint job is that it has to be allowed to breathe. Fresh pain off-gasses for some time and it needs to be allowed to do that. Car paint also does something called flashing, the process that the solvents go through as the paint dries. So rule number one is that you do not want to put wax or any other sealing products on your newly painted car. Generally, that means two months of cautious treatment before you can put a sealant or wax on your paint job. Check with the paint manufacturer to be sure of the timeline, but two months is pretty common.

But this also means that your paint job is dangerously susceptible to damage during those two months. It doesn’t mean you can’t take the car out in the rain, but you’ll regret it if you let dew dry in the sun. Water spots will be permanent on new paint if it dries in out in the sun. You’ve also got to keep an eye on bugs and bird droppings. If a bird poops on your car you’ve got about 5 minutes to make sure it doesn’t do damage.

You’ve got to keep the paint job clean, but what do you use to do that? Even washing your car should be handled with care. The first thing is to make sure that you’ve used water to rinse off any dirt or dust, because rubbing that around will be pretty damaging. Use a soft towel or car washing mitt that’s brand new. Rinse the towel separately from your soapy water so that you’re not at risk of transferring dirt back to the car.

The one thing that you can apply to your car is polish meant for new paint jobs. After the 60 days are up, use protective wax. It’ll keep things like water, bugs, and bird droppings from damaging the paint job.