finished painting today.

how long should I wait and let cure before wet sanding?

paint is Ppg deltron system base/clear throughout.

I usually wait 24 hrs of warm weather, a little longer like 48 hrs is better but
some clears get harder to sand after 48 hrs.

hmmm. interesting.

had read in a restorers book min 72 hrs. some wait weeks. asked because i figured theres a happy medium in there. i'm looking at around 3 weeks to do it looks like due to other things going on.

i'm only wet sanding the large skin areas of the car. mostly to de-nib. thinking start with 2000 grit then 3000 grit and on to polishing?

There is a definite "sweet spot" when it comes to sanding different clears. If you sand too soon the clear will be easier to work with however you may end up with some later shrinkage which can make for depth of image distortion or even ghosting here or there. If you wait too long extra muscle and a lot of extra time may be needed for sanding. And, then working out some of that may take extra time in compounding polishing. Depending on the clear I have sanded in as little as 4 hours (nano ceramic clear, if it got beyond 8 hours you COULD NOT sand it at all) and have waited as long as 2 weeks (easy to cut clear made by the company that we can't mention on here).

got it.

at least the result of waiting to long is simply harder work.

i'm stuck with waiting around 3 weeks due to vacation etc. maybe that isn't to long.

I have found that 2 days is a minimum wait time for most clears. However I use Slow Activator which extends to cure time and shoot at least 3 heavy coats of clear.
The other things that affect clear curing times are heat and sunlight.

I guess I'm the odd one out. I usually wait anywhere from 1-4 weeks to sand and buff. Yes, it is much harder to do, but the results seem to last longer, as by then, the paint is completely cured. No dulling out, or die-back.

You are not the odd man out on that.... it just means you are better and more confident in your cut and buff abilities and you are a patient person. Lot of the youngsters want to get on with the cut and buff and be done the next day after they shoot. Production shops obviously want their final write offs and payments asap as well......

The wait time is highly dependent on temperature but seems like its a wide margin from 3 days to 3 weeks with people almost like a matter of personal preference lol and also what DarrelK said above. I don't really think you can really screw it up by waiting longer, its just that its more "solid" and harder to sand that's all...

Buckwheat wrote:finished painting today.

how long should I wait and let cure before wet sanding?

paint is Ppg deltron system base/clear throughout.

fun fact, clear coat can take a month or more to fully harden , but no one waits that long to sand it and polish it (but i think they should)