polishing location

[blackws6ta]

Hey guys. I am awaiting the arrival of my junkman kit to arrive so I can begin my paint correction fun. My question is that I dont have access to a garage to do the polishing in, so my only option is outside. Is it safe to do outside as long as the sunlight is not directly on my surface and I am not doing it with the paint hot? After mid-day my Townhome blocks the sun in my driveway so I have almost complete shade in that area. Is that going to be fine? Thanks again for the help.

[Doug123]

That sounds pretty good. As long as it isn't too windy (wind blowing grit onto your clean paint) it should be fine. Check the surface temp with your hand. If it is as warm as your hand, it's probably too warm. I do my black paint early mornings in the cool or late in the evenings - gets rid of that direct sun. Some people get portable canopies and put them up to shade their cars as they work on them. One of the guys from Hawaii did that and it seemed to work well.

[ExpressThis13]

A portable canopy would probably work. I to also wait until late evenings when it is cooler outside and alot less sun to have to deal with. I made the mistake one summer of trying to wash my beloved truck on a very warm day in midday and the soap dried to my paint and made it look terrible. Luckily some detail spray and a little work later it looked as good as new. That was the first and last time I ever did that. I will work on my car at midnight before I do that again.

[Doug123]

If I wait too late when washing it, I can see the dew start to settle on the paint as I am drying it, or trying to dry it. Also, it starts to get tough to see

[Chris@Adams]

No garage bummer! Stay in the shade like you said. Have fun!

[GXPaycheck]

This works (as long as it's not too windy!).

 

[blackws6ta]

Yeah that canopy looks awesome! See my situation is that I live in a condo complex with a one car attached. I use it to store my motorcycle and boxes and what not. It also is very friendly in size if you need to have a car in there and move around. I would like to get a canopy like that or even a 10x10x10 but I just spent about 650.00 with Adams, so squeezing another 75-150 for a smaller canopy from the wife just wont work lol.

[Adam]

We polish outdoors all the time! In fact, at the last Corvettes at Carlisle, 40 cars came in swirled up, and left perfect. Each one of them was done in the sun.

 

The only thing that you want to watch is how long you let the Machine SuperWax, or the Americana sit on the finish.

 

If you have difficulty removing any polish, spray a fine mist of Detail Spray on the finish first.

 

Use more DS with the clay, and more DS on the pads when polishing with the PC.

 

I've detailed thousands of vehicles outside, and it's fine, as long as you use products that are effective in the heat.

[Chewy]

The problem I have with polishing outdoors is the SUN! I'm allergic to it... lol I burn like a banshie! BAD! I wait till later or REALLY early in the AM.

 

Chris

[Chris@Adams]

We polish outdoors all the time! In fact, at the last Corvettes at Carlisle, 40 cars came in swirled up, and left perfect. Each one of them was done in the sun.

 

The only thing that you want to watch is how long you let the Machine SuperWax, or the Americana sit on the finish.

 

If you have difficulty removing any polish, spray a fine mist of Detail Spray on the finish first.

 

Use more DS with the clay, and more DS on the pads when polishing with the PC.

 

I've detailed thousands of vehicles outside, and it's fine, as long as you use products that are effective in the heat.

With Adam we have done a bunch of cars in the sun at all of the shows.But if you are new to detailing you will be working slower and the shade will be your friend.But if no shade is available yes you can work in the sun!!Have fun!

[blackws6ta]

Thanks for all the replies guys. This forum is amazing. It is also great to see Adam in here on the forums too! My setup is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (tuesday). Later in the day my house block the sun perfectly so I will start my first stuff there at that time when it is cooler. If I get the SHR done that night but it gets dark can I leave the car and pick up early in the morning or is it best done in on shot?

 

Also if I do polish in the sun, is there something I should be looking for that would tell me I need to spritz the DS on the pad more? I take it that all the products that I ordered (junkman kit version 2.0 lol) are ok for sun use?

[Junkman2008]

... Also if I do polish in the sun, is there something I should be looking for that would tell me I need to spritz the DS on the pad more? I take it that all the products that I ordered (junkman kit version 2.0 lol) are ok for sun use?

 

Yes. The product will start flaking badly. That's a tale tale sign that you need to start spritzing the pad and using less product. If the surface of the car gets so hot that you can't touch it, either wait for the temps to drop or cool the surface somehow.

[blackws6ta]

Thanks AJ. Good new is I am moving due to my wife finishing graduate school and the house we are looking at has a 1.5 car garage. So I may hold off till after the move. Thanks again everyone for all the input.