Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

[Mike Phillips]

Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

The topic of working on a car in direct sun comes up from time to time, there are some companies that claim you can use their products in the sun. That's kind of vague because there's a HUGE difference between working on your car in the sun in the morning when it's cool out and working on a car in the sun at noon in Arizona in August where temperatures can easily surpass 160 degrees.

So next time someone claims their product can be used in direct sun, ask them to be more specific, ask them how hot the surface can be and their product can still be used safely and key word here, still be usedeffectively on the very hot surface they're claiming their products can be used on.

(We're betting there will be a pause with a lot of hemming and hawing in the answer).


Just for the record, even if a product can be used on a hot surface in the sun, this same product will ALWAYS work better on a cool surface in the shade.

The below was taken from the 2nd Advanced Class we've coordinated through our forum, note that these pictures were taken in Irvine, California, (a coastal city where temperatures don't get extreme), and they were taken in May, not even summer yet. Still, look how hot the paint became while the cars were sitting in the parking lot of our Corporate office.


Advanced Class #2 - Pictures & Comments


It was a beautiful sunny day at Meguiar's Garage! Check out the temperature differences for the different colors of paint sitting in full sun, especially the difference between the temperature on a white car as compared to a black car.




White car - 110 degrees



Silver Metallic - 129 degrees



Green Metallic - 165 degrees




Silver Metallic - 154 degrees




Black - 168 degrees




Our demo car was parked inside Meguiar's Garage since early morning...




Even out of the sun on a warm day the surface temperature can still be warm.




Additional Information

What temperature ranges are best for applying cleaners, polishes, and waxes

[Mr Mustang]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

^and that's why I dont get to resume work on my car until september, outside washings

[pampos]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

So how it translated a 95 degrees air temperature away of direct sunlight on a black car ?? : )

[TxZ71]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

Even after only 20 minutes in direct sun here in West Texas, the surface of my truck is too hot to touch. And I can definately relate to the hot surface even in the shade. You guys have it good for detailing out there on the coast.

[pampos]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

I have the same problem here in Cyprus in less than 5 minutes in direct sunlight...Today i was applying some glaze on my car(it was out of direct sunlight all day long) and the glaze was drying almost at once,also the QD did so....

[danponjican]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

That's egg frying temperatures!

[TxZ71]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

I agree. I can't even think about using Quik Detailer when my truck has been out in the sun for 10 to 20 minutes because the QD will dry on the surface within seconds and just smear like a wax. I hate that because I love to use the QD often.

[new2detailing]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

I agree, even when the product states "use in sun or shade" I always try to use it in early morning or at dusk. Otherwise the flash time for "any" product is greatly diminished.

[pampos]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

I agree. I can't even think about using Quik Detailer when my truck has been out in the sun for 10 to 20 minutes because the QD will dry on the surface within seconds and just smear like a wax. I hate that because I love to use the QD often.

I used QD on shade and the car was on shade all day long

[Andy M.]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

You could also check out this video.

Meguiar’s Complete Video Guide

Andy
101impala

[danponjican]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

I just thought I would share this video of polishing on a panel that is measured to be 155F.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJPph-aCsIk

[Ryan L.]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

Great video and even better buffer swirls, never seen any buffer swirls so perfect!! What do you gain posting your own videos on another manufactures forum and showing horrible technique to people that are trying to learn the art of paint polishing? Are you just that bored?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

I just thought I would share this video of polishing on a panel that is measured to be 155F.

Thank you for sharing, it just makes us look good.

If you watch the video, the technician in the video points out how other manufactures of car polish and waxes recommend that you work on a cool surface in the shade.

Thank you. That is correct. That is what we, Meguiar's, a manufacture of a wide spectrum of paint care products recommends and it's great to have other people give us due credit and recognition for this sage wisdom.

Now follow me on this and it will all make sense...

Even if a product can be used on hot paint in direct sun.... wouldn't it still work better on a cool surface in the shade?

Of course it would!

Meguiar's has been around as long or longer than any car polish manufacture still in business today that you can name. (Any takers?) These other company's are Newbies to the industry and there's nothing wrong with that my point is we've been teaching people to work smarter, not harder long before they came onto the scene. So they can borrow that phrase from us but they can't claim they've been teaching that philosophy longer than us.

Make sense?

(You see I'm not cutting down the technician or the company in that video or any technician or any video or any other company, I'm just framing up the big picture for the point being made in this reply. I have to include this little snippet because so many people read forums and the either on purpose or without thinking out the bigger picture they take what's written out of context. I"m not cutting anyone down, I'm making the point that we've been teaching people how to buff out paint longer than anyone in at least the U.S. market today and a part of what we teach people in this industry is to work harder, not smarter. There's a very long history and precedence for this fact.)


So again, here's the point, Meguiar's has throughout it's entire automotive history put our focus on education, that is educating the people that use our products on how to do the jobs that require our products. We walk the talk and this forum is just another example of our focus on education.

Part of putting the focus on education is teaching people to work smarter, not harder and that circles us back to the point at hand...

Even if a product can be used on a hot surface in the sun, wouldn't that same product work better on a cool surface in the shade?

The answer is "Yes"!

So why would we teach people to work harder?

Answer: We wouldn't and we don't.


We teach people to work smarter, not harder and that means working on a cool surface in the shade. By doing this you keep the temperature down and your product of choice will perform better because the ingredients are not trying to evaporate and dry off the surface as you're trying to perform a task.

There is no benefit to working on a hot surface in the sun. If there is, then I personally don't know about it and anyone that can name a true and helpful benefit that is the result from working on a hot surface in the sun please feel free to post the benefit and then back it up in detail with written words in detail, (not just a fluffy one liner), so the rest of us will be convinced you're right.

That said, we understand that in the mobile detail industry, and even at body shops, sometimes people are forced to work directly in the sun due to lack of space or no cover. We understand this, but it doesn't change the fact that the best way to work on automotive paints is to work on a cool surface in the shade.

As for the technician in the video and the video itself? Thanks for giving us credit for dong the right thing and that's to teach people to work smarter, not harder and when you can work on a cool surface in the shade.

Also, there's a huge difference in working a small spot on the side of a car versus buffing out the entire car including the horizontal panels in the sun.

A HUGE difference. For a pro, (and I know a few), they can make any product look easy to use on a small spot on the side of a car in the sun.

Also, can I get a witness?

How many time on this forum has someone posted they're having problems with a product and the advice given on this forum is to shrink down the size of the area they're working on.

If you're a new member to this forum, or a new lurker to this forum, then you can take my word for it or go through my posting history and you'll find dozens, if not hundreds of recommendations to people to shrink down the size of their work area for all kinds of reasons.

Here's a recent example. (Second post, 2nd bullet point down)
Here's an example in a how to article. (first bullet point addresses size of work area)

Look how large an area he's working in the video?

(Hint... it's a small area)

Just some point to ponder...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

Also just to note,

The photos in the first page of this thread were taken from our Advanced Class #2 on Wet-sanding, Cutting & Polishing paint. (Education).

What the pictures on the first page of this thread don't show are these two pictures from page 2 of the thread,

Our demo car was parked inside Meguiar's Garage since early morning...




Even out of the sun on a warm day the surface temperature can still be warm.

That's right... we parked our demo car in the garage so our students could work on a cool surface in the shade. (Cool surface being relative as this is Sunny Southern California!)

[bluecadillac]

Re: Working in the sun? How HOT does your car's paint get?

i always do my car in the am so i can take lots of time and get it done nice