Fresh Paint Safe

[Murr1525]

I trued a search on the forums, and couldnt quite find the answer I was looking for..

I know #80 is good for fresh paint, but I am not sure about other products. Are the consumer lline products, like DC#1, DC#2, etc safe for fresh paint, and all the quick detail products(for both cleaning and claying)? Obviously no waxing, but does it have to be 'Body Shop Safe' or anything, or are all of the products ok?

[Accumulator]

I don't believe you can generalize according to which line the product is in. You're on the right track with thinking that you want to avoid waxes and sealants and "body shop safe" will be "fresh paint safe" too (though I'm not sure it always works the other way around).

The DC #1/#2 are safe, as are the "pure polishes" in the pro line: #3/#5/#7/#81. I *think* Mike has a list of fresh paint safe products but I forget whether it has stuff from the consumer line listed.

When it comes to claying and polishing, the big thing to remember is that fresh paint won't be as hard as it's gonna get until it's pretty much fully cured. So you generally have to use a somewhat less aggressive than normal approach.

[Mike Phillips]

Just to chime in...

All of the compounds, paint cleaners, cleaner/polishes and pure polishes in Meguiar's Professional Line are body shop safe.

Meguiar's roots and history is in manufacturing products for use by professionals in the automotive industry, so this only makes sense, (that our compounds, paint cleaners, cleaner/polishes and pure polishes are body shop safe). Meguiar's didn't introduce their Consumer line until 1973.

The below products are all body shop safe

Paint Cleaners
* Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner
* Meguiar's Clear Coat Body Scrub
* Medallion Premium Paint Cleaner

Car Washes
* Deep Crystal Car Wash
* Soft Wash Gel
* Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner
* NXT Generation Car Wash
* Rich Suds Car Wash
* M00 Hi Tech Wash
* M62 Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner
* D110 Hyper Wash
* D111 Shampoo Plus


The two products below are not body shop safe but they are safe to use on fresh paint.

* ScratchX
* Deep Crystal Polish

[Murr1525]

Thanks Mike

Both of the QD's are safe as well I assume, since it is ok to clay on fairly fresh paint?

And none of the waxes are body shop safe i guess, as you wouldnt want to paint over them.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Murr1525
Thanks Mike

Both of the QD's are safe as well I assume, since it is ok to clay on fairly fresh paint?

Both Quik Detailer and Speed Detailer are okay to use on fresh paint but they are not body shop safe and should not be used in a fresh paint environment, for this Meguiar's recommends M34 Final Inspection.

And none of the waxes are body shop safe i guess, as you wouldn't want to paint over them.

This is correct. Meguiar's waxes, (as well as most/all waxes), are not body shop safe. Any thing that seals or protects paint typically will cause fish eyes or other surface adhesion problems and should not be introduced into an environment where fresh paint is being applied.

[rusty bumper]

So the words Body Shop Safe imply that it's ok to paint over that product?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
So the words Body Shop Safe imply that it's ok to paint over that product?

It means the product doesn't contain any ingredients that will interfere with paint adhesion. Before your spray paint on a panel you prep the panel accordingly this does not include buffing it out but rather sanding/scuffing and wiping it down with a prepping solvent prior to application of primers and sealers followed by paints.

[rusty bumper]

Thanks for breaking that down for me.