Can waxing red cars turn them pink when left in the sun

What? Someone is going to have to tell us all what type of wax reacts with any paint at all, so that we do not use it.

I would think that the lack of wax would fade the paint in the sun faster.
Isn't that the whole idea behind using it, other than appearance?

 

I thought wax is for giving shine, smoothness, and to repel water

 

Some older (pre-90's, and pre-80's for sure) formulations of red, yellow, and white auto paints can indeed absorb the dyes from various products (even soaps) and may discolor over time. This is made worse if the paint never had a clear coat over it. I would avoid any product (soap, wax, etc.) that has a drastic color pigmentation to it --- unless that color matches your car --- yellow wax on a yellow car, for example.

If you look closely at older yellow or red cars, you can often see patches of discoloration on them --- though most of this is from UV degradation and road contaminants...

Another common cause of discoloration is "over-waxing". The newer formulations are much more gentle, but old-school waxes were all very mild abrasives (especially, the carnubas), and repeated waxing / rubbing can thin the top coat paint to the point where the primer may begin to bleed through and thus change the apparant tint of the overall color.

I recall a particular red Mondial in Oregon which had been so "lovingly rubbed" by its owner that the yellow primer (Ferrari used to prime most of their reds with yellow) was bleeding through so much that the car appeared somewhat orangish in certain lights ---- yellow + red = orange.

 

Incidentally, if you read the directions on the package of any waxing product out there, they all say to apply when the car's surface is cool, preferably in the shade, and avoid intense sunlight exposure until "cured".

...might be a reason for that...

 

That's what I thought also. It's my understanding and experience that red paint fades like no other color due to the sun's UV rays. I think I've heard that wax can help protect from UV rays but I am skeptical about that. I never leave my car outside in the sunshine around noon or the afternoon. Bad for the paint, bad for the interior. Anyway, I always prefer to drive in the early morning or in the evening.

 

Well this is my first post so I should start out by saying hello. I'll post a more detailed post about myself saying hello where it is appropriate.

Finnerty is right when he talks about the early 90's and prior paints. The reason older paints absorb the wax/soap or whatever you put on to it is because of a lack of clear coat. As far as making the paint look pink, I've never seen it happen. Maybe the person who said this waxed their car and forgot to take it off? I don't know. If you use a good quality wax it will protect the paint from UV rays, as well as provide a deeper shine. All waxes are made differently. Some are geared toward protection of the paint, others are geared toward making the car look good, and some are geared for long lasting.
Generally speaking, a full carnuba(sp) wax that you pick up at for a reasonable price ($65 or less) will provide protection for about a month or two depending on the conditions. The reason this is, is because the carnuba is a natural wax and breaks down in the sun and conditions. A product that is much like wax is called sealant. There are some waxes out there that cost tens of thousands of dollars, but I don't have or use it.
A sealant is basically a wax that is made in a lab. Since it is man made it can provide protection equal to wax and last much longer (usually about 6 months). The one downside to a sealant is they don't seem to provide the depth in shine as wax does. So, what I recommend to my clients is that after a full detail I put a sealant on their vehicle and then come back the following day, after the sealant has had time to cure, and then put a layer of wax on top of the sealant. This provides the depth of shine and added protection. The best of both worlds.

 

Excuse me, but the clear coats that I know of are basically the exact same paint without any pigment in them, and with different flow characteristics.

It's needed because the construct of many modern production paints makes it difficult or impossible to color sand smooth, therefore the clear coat system was developed to produce a flat appearance on the surface without sanding.

And the early base/clear had a ton of problems.

The reason that some of the earlier paints could absorb is that they simply were not as hard as the newer types of paint.
You can go right back to lacquer to get the most beautiful finish ever developed (IMO) but its so d*mn fragile that you can hardly drive it around the block. Very little chip resistance and fade prone even more so than single stage acrylics.

The modern urathanes are hard as nails, look like plastic sheet, and can kill you if you are not properly protected while spraying.
Carnubas were/are prized because not only for their shine, but because they are the secretion of the carnuba plant, which itself has UV blocking properties, but, since it is an organic, it degrades over a short period of time.

 

No, it will not happen.

 

You're close to right Gabriel. From what I've painted in the past there are some differences in the clear coat and the paint. They are not the exact same less pigment. I can't tell you the differences but I know they're there otherwise the paint mixing process would be the same. Paint is also certainly harder now than it was 10 years ago. There is currently a new clear coat in the works that will be even harder than what's out there now. It's good and bad. It will resist scratching and so on a lot more but once it is scratched it will be much harder to remove. Every paint is different. Porsche paint/clear is pretty soft, so is Subaru. Regardless of any of it, wax will not turn a red car pink.

 

Yeah, I'd be interested in what kind of wax he's talking about and on what kind of car?

 

Using "Liquid Glass" on my 1979 Jeep turned it from red to pink in the Sun. Took me a while to get the Liquid Glass off to bring her back to red again. Nasty stuff.

Wasn't permanent, though.

 

Please provide more detail on the type of wax. I never heard that.

 

Thought I'd chime in here and clear up some things I'm reading about. First things first, leaving a car in the sun will not make the wax turn a different color. Hence, a red car will not turn pink if left in the sun. However, if you have a film of wax that has not been properly removed, you will see a haze that may make the red car look less red if that makes sense. As far as clear coat goes, simply put it's paint without pigment. Chemistry wise, it is different than paint. It was designed because of the body shop emission laws in the late 70s early 80s. Since the old lacquers contained lots of lead and VOCs, we moved away from that to more water based paints. Today's clear coat is of two types. The traditional clears and the new ceramic clear. The paint on a Ferrari has switched from Glasurit to PPG; it's been this way since the mid to late 90s. Ferrari uses a traditional clear. A few years back, Mercedes was the first to launch CermiClear. Instead of a clear being applied over a paint while wet, it's a powder over the paint that bakes on in an oven. Once cured, it's pretty resistant to scratches and swirls. There are new polishes and compounds that are designed to safely remedy any problems should you have swirls, scratches, micromarring, etc. A professional detailer or a great body shop will fix these issues. Using a high quality wax such as Zymol, p21s, einszett, autoglym, etc. will not harm the finish. You cannot rub the clear away by hand. The yellow primer talked about earlier that is showing is due to a novice burning through the paint with a buffer. Waxes do not contain abrasives; cleaner waxes do. So waxing alone will not remove clear. A wax's sole purpose is to protect and increase depth. Hope this helps guys.

 

That's so you can buff it/polish it (even it out/remove excess) before it dries too hard.

 

A few years back, Mercedes was the first to launch CermiClear. Instead of a clear being applied over a paint while wet, it's a powder over the paint that bakes on in an oven.

Well, that doesn't sound easy to do at home!
I've haven't sprayed in a few years, so thats a new one to me.

 

I agree.

Everything fades from UV rays. How often have we seen a coke can (just one example) in a field? The red fades away. Red seems to suffer more than other colors for whatever reason.

As for wax providing protection from UV rays I don't believe that either, at least not significant protection. Why would we not apply wax to our eyeglasses then to help reduce damage to the eyes caused by UV rays? Heck, it would help repel rainwater too.

 

Probably because most high quality eyewear is already hard coated for UV protection.
Wax could not help your prescription very much...

 

Isn't the pink color the result of oxidation (the paint actually drying completely)? Wax or other coatings are supposed to slow that process by keeping the paint relatively moist and away from contact with air.

 

UV protection and "hard-coated" are a couple of separate options (typically) which allow eyeglass companies to advertise lower prices. Yes, it's available and yes you should have it but of of course they're an additional cost option, very often, that is always highly recommended ;-) A buffed coat of wax would have no noticeable effect on a prescription.

 

I'm not sure that "powder" is the right desciptor. PPG makes a big deal about "nano particles" but they're suspended in a liquid.

PPG has version of the product which is formulated to work in the type of temperatures possible with a fully assembled car.

 

My car is "Carnival Red" and much of the paint is original. My biggest concern is "blooming", which is when the paint gets a whitish cast from too much sun and too many waxingings thinning the paint. Red cars are said to be particularly prone to this. I only wax it twice a year, and use a polish to keep it shiney. It is decidedly NOT pink.

Ken

 

Ken, you are a little backwards in your statement. As posted earlier, wax will not remove the clear coat since it is not abrasive. Polish will remove the clear coat since it is abrasive. I'm not sure what year your car is but if it's the pic in the icon it is would be only a basecoat and the polish is removing microscopic layers of the paint every time. The wax however is not. Waxing twice a year with a high quality wax is about right, depending on how often you drive and the driving conditions. Didn't mean to nitpick or call you out, but I just wanted to clear up the differences between wax and polish. Too many people get confused and can lead others to be confused as well