just painted my car today in 2k how long should i wait before wet sanding and machine polishing ?
just done in the garage so no baking etc

so many different opinions on 2k some say next day some say drys so hard after a week or so the longer you leave it the harder it is to polish

used a 60/40 mix

any advice appreciated

 

If it's not been in the oven I would leave it 4-5 day atleast. But like you say i'm sure someone else will say something different.

 

if polishing/finishing by hand you could air on the side of caution the following day. depends on tempreture ect. if using a mop, give it a few days and use plenty of water. the paint will be soft under the surface and will melt/smudge oh so easy. im not a painter btw but did a fair bit with a mate who is a sprayer. its all about knowing when to stop. in a nut shell the longer it cures the better. more elbow grease is still better than ruining your nice new paint.

 

i always polish the after 2 days with clear coats not baked off as we dont have oven ,use 2000grit and fast cut 3m compound never had any problems to date ,if its a small repair il buff the next day

 

24hrs is good enough, i normaly wet sand next day an compound it aswel, some lacquers/2k paints are VERY hard to compound after 3days, i painted a roof the other day on a passat an took 3hours to compound, it was left for 4 days to dry

 

my painters who work with me always wet flat and polish next day, most modern paints require 16 hours curing, the longer you leave it the harder it will be to do