Rise of the Phoenix

iTrader: (27)

Just curious if other similar products like Palmolive will strip wax, or if Dawn is the only one?

egott_91

iTrader: (1)

Not sure about other dish soaps, but I know the ORIGINAL, BLUE dawn is the only dish soap I use to strip wax, if I even use it. Usually if I'm going to do a strip wash I'll add 3 oz of All Purpose Cleaner to my foam gun and my wash bucket. Dawn is really harsh on the exterior plastics.

Also, you can strip panel by panel with isopropyl alcohol.

Rise of the Phoenix

iTrader: (27)

Just asking because all I see at home is Palmolive dish soap. I googled it and from what I've seen, the Palmolive will strip the wax just as Dawn will. The plan is to wash and clay-bar the car tonight and then do the paint correction tomorrow so the car will be ready by Saturday.

JoeyG2

iTrader: (3)

I wouldn't touch my car with dish soap.

Rise of the Phoenix

iTrader: (27)

So enlighten us on what you use to strip wax then.

02TransAm/Batmobile

iTrader: (32)

I use dawn to strip the wax and use my Porter 7424 to polish the car. In between stages I have a 50/50 mix of water/isopropyl alcohol to remove the compounds completely before I use the next compound.

Rise of the Phoenix

iTrader: (27)

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to dig for some Dawn, but if I can't find any, I'll just use the Palmolive. Either way, wash and clay and the onto the Adams 2 stage paint correction, then Adam's Brilliant Glaze and finish it off with Adam's Americana Wax. I'll get some good pics.

LT4vert

iTrader: (3)

I use dawn to strip the wax before all my paint corrections. Contrary to negative comments on it, used as intended, I've not incurred the slightest evidence of damage, wear or otherwise on anything Ive used it on, including my own cars. Dawn is preffered as its one of the milder dish soaps and its poverty cheap at the dollar store. FWIW I use the the original dawn, not the new concentrated stuff.

egott_91

iTrader: (1)

It's not really necessary to remove the polish oils between polishes with IPA. Only time you really need to use IPA is to 1) strip wax before polishing and 2) remove polishing oils before laying a sealant or wax

Dawn is harsh on plastics. If you use it every wash, then it's extremely harsh on the paint. If you only use it once every 3 months before laying a sealant or wax then it's fine.

LetsRide

iTrader: (3)

Why are you trying to strip the wax off your car? If your going to polish the car out anyways I would just wash the car with whatever you normally wash it. Then from there I'm sure a clay bar or even compound/polish will take care of any wax that was previously on the surface. That's just me I don't personally see any reason to strip old wax off.

02TransAm/Batmobile

iTrader: (32)

I guess some do it and others don't. I've read that some compounds have fillers and the finish may appear fine but upon an IPA wipe down, some swirling may reappear. But I've been out of the detailing game for awhile so I may be wrong. What sealant or wax do you like? I'm looking to try something else.

As for the dawn soap being harsh, I believe this is based solely on anecdotal reports. I'm assuming people who don't know any better, (I was one of them), simply washed their car with whatever soap was around. If these people used a household product for an automotive need, it would be safe to assume this group probably didn't apply wax to protect their paint. Fom here, there was a correlation with using dawn soap and dried out clearcoats. However, correlation does not imply causation.

02TransAm/Batmobile

iTrader: (32)

Think of it like powder coating. You want a blank canvas to work with so before laying on the coat, you sand blast the piece. Not exactly a great analogy but it'll do.

CALL911

iTrader: (17)

FWIW, claying the car will remove the wax in itself. That being said, I would use dawn before claying it just to know all the previous wax was properly stripped.

Unless you are using dawn more than once a year to strip the wax, even if you use it on plastic, its not gonna hurt anything. Honestly, if you have a good quality wax you use like Zaino, you shouldn't need to strip it all down more than once every few years at the most. (That's my opinion, not a fact)

I use dawn on my F-bodies when I need to strip the wax and start over, and I've never had any issues. Both my cars have been in magazines, calenders and my Z made it in a Nitto advertisement, so whatever I'm doing it can't be that wrong.

egott_91

iTrader: (1)

You want to strip any sealant or wax that is on the car before polishing so that the sealant and/or wax doesn't clog the pads up.


I personally like Adam's products. They're the first "real" detailing product I've used and have liked all of their products.

I've heard good things about Blackfire Wet Diamond sealant and Auto Finesse products. I know a guy that uses Pinnacle's Signature paste wax and he likes it. I haven't messed with anything like opti-guard or any of those hard coatings.

AWDTBSS

Claying doesn't usually remove all wax, that's why most use dawn washes, IPA wipedowns, or car pro eraser so you can see what exactly u are working on. And for the absolute bond possible for your sealant/wax

LetsRide

iTrader: (3)

I understand all of that. I guess where I am coming from if your using compound especially if you don't have to worry about left over wax.

egott_91

iTrader: (1)

If you start polishing a panel that still has sealant and/or wax on it, you will clog up the pad, causing it to be less effective.

You want to strip any protection you have on the paint before starting to polish, whether it's a light cut polish, or a compound.

JDEP162

Just saw a dawn commercial, it says gentle, and they were washing a baby duck covered in oil

muttstang

iTrader: (1)

Get some good pics man! I'll be doing the same thing when I get my car back. She needs some TLC lol

LT4vert

iTrader: (3)

Which is exactly what I said. I in no way implied to use it regularly. Ive been doing this for nearly 10 years, and the conclusion I have come to with the dawn thing is that its a myth...urban ledgend. I have personally never experienced one thing the "internet" says dawn is supposed to harm. Not 1 thing. Its the 1 bad thing about the internet, lots if people talk out their *** and lots of people BLINDLY believe anything their told. It seems like maybe 10% of people in the detailing world as far as internet forums go speak from honest to god experience, sorry to say.

As far as plastics go, theres alot of inferior protectants that contain silicone on the market that actually accelerate the wear, they dry out plastic and discolor it. Use something like dawn to wash the car and couple that with hard water that most people have in their outside hoses, it removes all the silicone protectant exposing the damage it has caused and also leaves behind mineral residue from the hard water.....A myth is born, "dawn ruined my car" . Dawn doesnt ruin a thing, it strips away all the cheap crap people slather all over thier cars and exposes the damage that cheap crap caused.