How Long To Wait To Sand Clear Coat

Originally posted by hardlydangerous View Post

all depemds on the paint and cure time, temps and humidity etc etc

actually, what it depends on is the reducer used in said paint. it's the reducer that determines curing times. in the body shop trade, the reducer they use depends on the project that is being painted. if it's warm weather like in July, and they are painting a whole car, they will use a slow to medium drying reducer. if they are only painting say a fender, then they will use a fast drying reducer. this means they can paint the fender at 9am, and the customer can driver the car home at say 5pm. If you try to paint a whole car with fast drying reducer...well, it either has to be chilly in the paint room, or else you have to pretty much run around the vehicle in order to get the clear even before it dries on you.

when I paint bikes, I use nothing but fast drying reducer. I absolutely LOVE this method because 1) you can lay the clear on heavier with less chances of runs, and 2), you can be wet sanding in less than 12 hours. the last bike I painted...the one I used as an example in the "how to fine tune your paintjob" thread, well I was wet sanding that about 5 hours after I painted it.

IMPORTANT: if you need to give it another coat of clear or two, DO NOT use compound to remove the orange peel. use wet sandpaper only. if you use compound, which contains chemicals, you will need to thoroughly wash down your parts before spraying clear.....where if you just wet sand, you only needs to wipe it clean and spray.

as for the 30 days to 3 months that Hardly mentioned....well, I guess everyone has their own way of doing thing, but I have never waited nearly that long. all my work has been more like 3 days max after the clear is laid, and I am all wet sanded, buffed and waxed and out enjoying my ride. I am not saying that info is wrong because there is no harm in taking up to 3 months to do everything, but I do know for a fact, and from experience, that it all can be done in 3 days just buy choosing the right reducer for your paint. with a fast hi-temp reducer, you can paint, wetsand, re-clear, wet sand then compound and wax, all within a 3 day period, and be perfectly fine. it has to be fine because there is not a body shop in the world that will take 30 days to 3 months to finish your paint job. most will just tell you to wait a week or so before waxing, and that is just to cover their butts because most people can't tell if the clear is cured or not....but in a week it surely is.

all this dragged out stuff and info saying to wait these long periods of time...well, imho, it's all "inaccurate" and mostly comes from individuals who "think" this process will yield better results. you know...so they can brag that their paint job took them 3 months to complete, which somehow makes it more special. I don't know of any other way to call it besides "misinformation". but hey...like I said, there is absolutely no harm in taking that long, but it really doesn't have to, and if anything, it just leaves more time to scratch the paint or have some other mishap before the job is actually done.

I don't have a short temper. I just have a quick reaction to bullshit.