i touched up my Mercedes at multiple places for rust spots (the usual 2-3 coats of primer, 3-4 coats of basecoat & 3-4 clearcoat).

i want to then give her a complete claying, polish & wax job next, but how long should i wait? keep in mind, this is in MI so it's cold nowadays!! car is parked indoors though. thx!

 

Since you touched it up yourself I'd assume there was no baking of the paint involved. I would probably wait at least 60 days if not 90 before waxing or sealing that area.

 

does depend on the products that you used- diff cure times...
mikeyc gave you good conservative advice.
have seen cure times of as short as 30 days, and as long as 60ish- given that your car is not getting a lot of outdoors time i agree with mikeyc to go towards the long side of this.
you might be able to research the products that you used to get more specifics if you want, but i think you have good advice above.

 

thanks guys - always helpful info.

sounds like i need to wait til next spring for a complete detailing session. but can i even wash the car in the meantime?? or should i not even wash it?

thanks!

 

yes you can wash it...
you just dont want to trap in the paint (wax does not allow the paint to breathe properly). it needs time to cure (or "air out")-
normal wash & dry procedures are fine

 

You can also put a body shop safe glaze on the paint to give it some limited protection. I always use Meguiar's #7 Show Car Polish on my car during the paint cure period.

 

just got a note from someone who did not want to post-

they wanted to make sure that you use a good car shampoo that is shampoo only on a freshly painted car... not one that contains wax (some shampoos contain some wax, but they usually say so on the label)

good suggestion!