happy waxing... and dew

Y

YorkshireLass

New member
Hiya guys & gals,



I have a bit of a problem... as the title may suggest, I was happily waxing my car today with megs #26 (having successfully done battle with megs #7), when the dew came down - my car is now a mess of condensation and marks where I had been buffing off the wax. Could anyone suggest what I should do? Leave it til tomorrow (it's dark now) and try to re-buff, perhaps with a bit of QD? Mind you, it's due to rain tomorrow, so I guess that might be easier said than done. Is there anything else I can do? I do not have access to any garage where I can work, unfortunately.



I'm having a bad day today, as I got my car back from the dealer yesterday having had a new wing fitted, only to notice (today) a collection of fingernail scratches around the driver's door handle, and scuff marks on the nose around the new light cluster and on the passenger door. :angry



I know I ought to complain, but they'll only offer to try and fix it for me, and I just don't trust them any more. So that'll be fun to fix by hand. :rolleyes:



I'm starting to wish I'd stayed in bed today, so please forgive my wingeing! :sosad



Thanks for any advice,

Charlotte
 
Once the cold or dampness sets in, all your going to do is move the wax around. Leaving it will allow for some curing which might make it easier to remove. If not try some QD
 
Thanks for that :) , I'll just hang fire til we get a dry day, and see what's there... it doesn't look too bad this morning... :o I guess actually, going over it with the #26 again might help if there's 'stuck on' wax?



While we're on the topic (and for the less meterologically inclined), is there any way of predicting when, on any particular day, you're likely to get this condensation / dew?

Yesterday, it just happened all of a sudden (about 3pm here in the UK) - is it just before dusk for example, or earlier than that? Or is it all down to temp? :nixweiss
 
Its down to temp.

Its when the moisture in the air cant exist as vapour and has to settle on everything as dew.

I`m about to wash my car now and have it done before 2pm.

Any later and I cant dry the car fully...it gets too cold.

I`m on the other side of the pennines so the weather may be slightly different.



Mark
 
It's the same down here in London at this time of year...... Get it done between 10am and 2-3pm if the weathers good... Otherwise forget waxing any other time of day.



:)
 
I was lucky enough a few weeks ago to find some warm days and applied some Autoglym to keep the paint protected over the winter
 
Check your weather forecast for what's called the "dewpoint". This is the temperature that dew will start forming. Won't give you an exact time, but you can kinda judge by current temp and how fast the temp is falling, and go from there.

Geez, dew by 3 pm? The sun's still out! I'd always heard England was wet, but not like that.



Dave
 
Most of the time, dew occurs when the sun is going down or has been down for a while. It happens because the water vapor in the air can only exist as vapor until the air reaches a certain temperature.

Humidity rises as temperature falls (all other factors held constant) and when the humidity reaches 100%, the water vapor in the air will condense.

The dewpoint is the term for the temperature at which the air will have reached water-vapor-saturation.
 
I had the same problem last weekend - laid a coat of Super Resin on with a damp MF pad (my preferred application method) and because car was in the shade the horizontal surfaces just stayed damp. Reversed car into the sun for 10 minutes, buffed off and bob's your uncle.



BTW Alex, spent 4 hours on the Laguna Saturday, did 970 miles Monday/Tuesday and it's now looking just like it did when we met up last week - why do I bother????!!



Going back to thread, I simply don't wax at this time of year unless it's dry and sunny (in the UK, in December...) plus the co car's going back end of January and my new one's arriving so I'm not shedding too many tears about the swirls and marring all over the paint.



Like Lowejackson said, best to try a QD to assist with wax removal.
 
to m4xmw - it is a credit you are right!



I, like a few here, use Autoglym SRP & extra gloss for the winter as I find it a) gives a great look on my silver 3-series, and b) has excellent durability.



I managed to sneak a quick extra coat of EG on last weekend which I was very proud of myself for. I cheated a little and did what I call a 'cosmetic' coat - i.e. above the coachline, wings, doors and roof only. There is too much moisture to dry the car fully so it stays in trim etc - ruins the chances of buffing off - hence the subject of this thread.



Any other ideas?



(other than invest in a sealed, heated and airconditioned garage which is, sadly, outside of my budget!!)



Graham
 
m4xmw said:
Its a credit to UK Autopians that we even bother when its winter here LOL.



Mark
Click to expand...



Donâ€â„¢t know what you mean ! I washed mine and my girlfriendâ€â„¢s cars on Sunday and got till Tuesday PM before it pis**d it down again ... :mad:



Might be me going mad, but I think where you park or work on your car may help. The cars on the other side of the street (in shade as the sun drops) and those close to walls / corners (less air flow ?) seem to condensate more easily.



My house is on a corner and my drive is open only being shielded down one side by a slatted wooden fence. I also seem to get less algae growing on the flags / roof etc then the other houses so perhaps this may be a good indication.



I know it wonâ€â„¢t make a massive difference, but perhaps it adds and hour or so onto the 'useful' part of the day.



m4xmw â€â€œ What part of Northern England are you ? Bolton for me.



Cheers



WD :xyxthumbs
 
WD Pro,

I`m in Mossley,

I have a car port and garage..

It certainly helps whilst washing/waxing etc.

I think I`ll be trying to organise a Northern meet next year.

A good location and somewhere to chat and maybe swap techniques etc.

We`ll see eh?



Mark
 
AndyC_1 said:
I had the same problem last weekend - laid a coat of Super Resin on with a damp MF pad (my preferred application method) and because car was in the shade the horizontal surfaces just stayed damp. Reversed car into the sun for 10 minutes, buffed off and bob's your uncle.
Click to expand...



Andy, I have not tried this method with a damp pad, I always thought Autoglym did not like water?
 
What a wealth of information!



I tend to use megs stuff now (although I started with AG), and I can say for sure that doesn't appreciate water one little bit!

I spend ages trying to leach (?) all the collected water from around the headlights, wing mirrors, trim etc etc before I start, as even a little bit makes buffing off a nightmare if you 'catch' it with a MF. This seems particularly important with #7...



I was going to give AG another go, given that it's been about a year since I last used it, but when I got the spare wing back from the bodyshop (I asked to keep the old one) I did a side by side of AG SRP and EGP, and megs #7 and #26, and the megs won hands down. Much deeper & glossier than the AG.



My car is a 1992 mx5 with a mixture of single stage and clear over base on the repainted areas (why do they insist on doing this? I'd far rather have single-stage repaints...), in varying shades of black!



And I chose the megs products using a certain amount of info from this board, whereas the AG is more 'one size fits all' off the shelf gear.



Anyway, I'm rambling,



Thanks for all the info - when I'm rich I'll have a heated garage and never have to worry about dew again!



Charlotte
 
I think something similiar happened to me the other week. I washed then used Meg's QuikWax. This was in an underground car park, very chilly! The next day I realised there was a slight haze on the bodywork even though I wiped down the whole car with an MF after Quikwax. :nixweiss



Talking of washing in the winter, I just tried PoorBoys Spray and Wipe today. Great way to wash the car especially when it's December and cold out.



I also have an MX-5, had a few panels resprayed a couple years ago. The guy who did it used single stage paint. I think your bodyshop might be trying to make more money out of you!
 
m4xmw said:
WD Pro,

I`m in Mossley,

I have a car port and garage..

It certainly helps whilst washing/waxing etc.

I think I`ll be trying to organise a Northern meet next year.

A good location and somewhere to chat and maybe swap techniques etc.

We`ll see eh?



Mark
Click to expand...



Mossley, near Ashton-Under-Lyne?
 
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