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Blazer15

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So how many people here machine polish in the direct sun with high humidity?

 

Any wisdom you care to share?

 

I'm tired of asking people to borrow their garages, so I'm going to be doing all oft detailing in my driveway.

 

Thanks for any tips

Kevin

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The only time I have detailed in High humidity was in Auburn, Indiana for a consistent time.

 

Helpful tips:

 

Stay hydrated.

Extra time may be required to get the polish to flash, or less time depending, so make sure to test an area to get happy on.

Make sure to blow out all the gaps with air before you start polishing. If there's water in there and either you didn't blow it out and/or tape it off...that paste you're gone create will be a real jerk to remove.

 

Mook

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I live in Miami Beach, I did it once and never again. The polish did not respond well at all for me. After an hour in the sun metal was hot as heck to the touch. I ending up stopping covering and waiting till sun set.

 

Also if your polishing im assuming your going to Seal/wax and Americana does not like nor respond well to hot metal. Ive seen it first hand :(

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The only time I have detailed in High humidity was in Auburn, Indiana for a consistent time.

 

Helpful tips:

 

Stay hydrated.

Extra time may be required to get the polish to flash, or less time depending, so make sure to test an area to get happy on.

Make sure to blow out all the gaps with air before you start polishing. If there's water in there and either you didn't blow it out and/or tape it off...that paste you're gone create will be a real jerk to remove.

 

Mook

 

Thanks Mook! There is a master blaster sidekick and some tape in my cart as we speak. :)

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I live in Miami Beach, I did it once and never again. The polish did not respond well at all for me. After an hour in the sun metal was hot as heck to the touch. I ending up stopping covering and waiting till sun set.

 

Also if your polishing im assuming your going to Seal/wax and Americana does not like nor respond well to hot metal. Ive seen it first hand :(

 

Well I wouldn't do it at noon. More like 6 am or 5 pm. Still warm and humid though.

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It's always better to ht it as early as possible so ambient temps are optimal.

:)

 

I usually always wash at dawn. The issue I have is at around 7 or so. I'm drying the car, but its so humid the paint just fogs up immediately. So I can't polish for an hour or so, until the sun comes out. :(

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Ok so in Florida without a canopy, I'm confined to working in high heat and high humidity conditions.

 

1) Work your polish in a much smaller area.

 

2) don't work your polish as long as you would normally

 

3) change your pads FREQUENTLY! (I'd say about 10 of each color you're going to use)

 

4) you will use much more polish in the sun than out of it, know that before you start and plan accordingly.

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Man as much as a canopy costs I'd recommend just investing in one. Ive done some polishing outside in Michigan, just not worth it in my opinion, make that initial investment and dont look back. If you get to do one persons car for them and charge them, there is the money you had into the canopy and you still have it.

 

Max AP 10 ft. x 20 ft. White All Purpose 6-Leg Canopy-25757 at The Home Depot

 

$100-250 and you can get a nice one, thats my .02 cause I hated working out in direct sun polishing, washing and other detailing is fine, polishing and compounding in the sun is just something you wanna avoid.

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I too live in Florida and don't have a garage to work in. Probably going to get a canopy, but I also wonder about this pollen in the air. Is that going to buff INTO the clear, or will the pad kinda wipe it OFF? I'm gonna have to do this outside, and I don't think the pollen is going away any time soon. Probably going to be an issue for months, lol.

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If you must work outside, canopy is your best bet.

 

 

However, I fear any dirt/pollen in the air falling on my paint during a detail session. You could certainly create more damage grinding airbourne pollutants in the paint with a pad. Thankfully, I'm able to keep all my sessions going indoors or in a garage.

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If you must work outside, canopy is your best bet.

 

 

However, I fear any dirt/pollen in the air falling on my paint during a detail session. You could certainly create more damage grinding airbourne pollutants in the paint with a pad. Thankfully, I'm able to keep all my sessions going indoors or in a garage.

 

Thanks. I was afraid you were gonna say that. :(

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When working outside and worrying about pollen and stuff...Would it be a good idea to clay, and leave the clay residue until you get to that panel. Then wipe down a small portion with IPA and polish that section, then keep moving on in smaller sections? If so, would it be a good idea to use IPA when moving on to the next step as well? Or would the IPA mess up the polish? I wouldn't think so since the polish isnt a product you leave behind, right? My car is only 7 months old and is yellow, so I don't really see any swirls or anything... so I'm probably only going to be doing a fine polish and machine sealant. So should I clay, then IPA a small section, then polish? Should I do the whole car like this before moving on to the sealant or just do polish then immediately sealant on each small section? Sorry... this ended up being longer than I thought and I dont mean to hijack. Just worried about doing this outside and I don't really have much of a choice. Basically, I know it's not ideal to do this outside... but want to make sure I do what I can to do the best job I can while doing it outside. (This is also my first time, so that doesnt make it any better)

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