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Having spent the whole summer taking a bike apart, painting it and now in the process of building it again, I was thinking about waxing it. I want the finish to last as long as possible, after all, I've spent sooo many hours on this project.

Would it help in anyway? Protecting the finish etc.
Or could it instead harm the bike?

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  • I think we need to know some additional details here to get a great answer. What kind of paint did you use? Multiple coats? Did you apply a clear coat or some other top layer? – BPugh Aug 14 '13 at 14:16
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    @BPugh I'd like to know in general, not just for my exact bike. In this case, rattle cans were used. Primer, sand, color, color, color, sand, clear coat. Looks very smooth. :) – Matsemann Aug 14 '13 at 14:27
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    Don't wax the bike until it's had a few months for the paint to "cure". If the paint has not fully cured the wax can actually damage it. (This is why you're advised to not wax new cars.) – Daniel R Hicks Aug 15 '13 at 1:27
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Using car wax on your frame could certainly help protect it over time, though storing it indoors is much more important so that all of the components are protected from the weather.

There are bike specific products like Pedro's Bike Lust but if you don't want to go that direction you should be just fine with any auto wax. In the past I have heard of people using furniture polish as well to give the bike that just out of the shop shine.

You will want to avoid the harsher products that contain aggressive abrasives like rubbing compounds, especially if you have carbon portions of your frame, as these will remove the clear-coat and can lead to damage or failure.

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    Only thing I would add is to make sure the wax only goes on the frame, not the parts, as it may react with metals, lubricants, etc. – Aaron Aug 14 '13 at 13:35
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    @Aaron, I would hope car wax wouldn't react with metals - but agreed that you want to keep it off mechanical parts - you wouldn't want a layer of it on your braking surfaces for example. – Chris H Aug 14 '13 at 14:58
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After your new paint has had a few months to cure, you should be able to use car polish or wax on it to protect it. I've used Turtle Wax on my bikes for years and years with no problems, but any quality polish or wax you prefer should work. I usually wipe the bike down with a soft dampened rag and then wax the frame and metal components. You could probably do the waxing during the winter months early next year and be safe.

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  • Hadn't thought about the curing part, thanks! – Matsemann Aug 15 '13 at 7:35
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Use a car paint sealent (polymer based) to protect the paint for the whole season (it lasts up to 5 months without reapplying). Wax or polish will only last a month before it fades away. I recommend AMMONYC skin but any paint sealent will do the job (menzerna or meguiars have good products aswell

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wax(carnauba) will not harm paint fullstop...there is not cleaner agents in carnauba....cured paint is only down to the hardness it forms so to say not too wax or seal a fresh paint job is silly...would you not seal a new car...i know plenty of detailers do the full multi stage machine polish and finally seal new cars or fresh paint jobs....paint will cure over time no matter what you do...but if u want to protect it i would advise in using a wax or sythetic sealant that has no silicone in it...silicone is paints worst enemy...it stops pores in the paint from breathing....i use a ultra fine polish just to bring the shine up with little effort the seal it with a sealant then a coat of carnauba wax...the same way i treat my car without the machine polishing aspect....thatll last 6mths easy...just wash it whenever and apply another coat if u like...or use citrus degreaser (or fairy liquid)on the whole frame and thatll strip the wax right off...hope this helped

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    Could you please use capital letters and write in full sentences? As it is, this answer is hard to understand. – Móż Jul 7 '14 at 21:51
  • Welcome to Bicycles SE. We ask that you write to the best of your ability on this site. That means proper sentences, punctuation, and paragraph structure. Please consider editing your post into a more readable format. Otherwise, the community is likely to downvote it and it may ultimately be deleted. – jimchristie♦ Jul 7 '14 at 21:53

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