Detail over a few days?

[hawk115]

Since it takes a while to detail is it okay to leave the vehicle overnight? For example, I strip washed, clayed then revived. It was too dark to finish. I won't be able to get back to waxing until the following evening so the truck will be baking in the sun. My question is: do I need to start any steps over? Is my truck going to vulnerable to the sun and dust?

[Len]

Quick wipe with WCW and you should be good to go.

[Shermanator]

You should be ok...I did my Mustang over a couple weeks, but I also had it in the garage the whole time, but it still picked up dust from me parking my daily driver next to it and opening the door. 

[Chewy]

The first time I did my G8 I did it slowly over like 5 weeks.  

 

My new truck was washed on Thursday and I just got some polish and sealant on half of it last night.  I'm doing the other half tonight. 

 

Chris

[GerryC]

At the very most you should only have to re-wash the car again. Unless you live next to railroad tracks, you shouldn't have to worry about re-claying after only 24 hours.

 

Next time if you are going to be detailing a car and you are limited on time and don't have a garage: after washing the entire vehicle, work one panel at a time with clay/polish/wax. This way, the panels that you did get to detail are protected and worry-free, and the only unprotected areas are the ones you didn't get to touch yet.

[windycitylp]

i did mine over a couple weeks. i washed&dried&alcohol'ed the car in the afternoon, then after dinner clayed, polished and sealed. then a week later, i just rewashed, glazed, americana waxed. my garage is dusty and any storage beyond a few hours requires at least a re wash. im guessing waterless car wash would work. just break the project up into manageable bites with good stopping points. doing it this way caused me an extra wash but on such a big vehicle, i just cant devote enough time at once. the first time i washed the wheels took a lot longer. i also sealed them after the first time and then used car shampoo/water mix to wash them the next which took very little time. 

[hawk115]

Yeah definitely breaking it up helps now! I use the shade to my advantage from 6-8 pm only. I don't have waterless wash. Would a detail spray work over a two bucket wash?