Wax removal/buffing with PC7424

[vegasdenali]

I usually apply and remove my wax (souveran paste wax) with my PC7424. For removal, I use a mf bonnet over lambs wool. But I was just reading one of the descriptions of a mf bonnet which said for best results, I should use a terry cloth bonnet for removal and then do final buffing using mf. Once I started using mf, I never went back to anything cotton. So I'm curious what others do? Do you use terry cloth first?

[obssest]

I just saw a great technique on the Adam's Polish video. He just places a plush MF towel on the surface over the polish residue and uses the PC with the polishing pad over the towel to agitate the towel and pick up most of the residue.

This saves the need for MF bonnets and takes some of the work out of removing by hand. I'm gonna give it a try.

[zinc02gt]

I use a plush MF towel by hand. You can reach more with it.

[CharlesW]

I just saw a great technique on the Adam's Polish video. He just places a plush MF towel on the surface over the polish residue and uses the PC with the polishing pad over the towel to agitate the towel and pick up most of the residue.

This saves the need for MF bonnets and takes some of the work out of removing by hand. I'm gonna give it a try.

This works, but I'm not too sure how much of a benefit it will be for you.
I have used that method a few times, but just using a MF towel to remove product is pretty hard to beat.

Not to knock the Adam's Polish video, (Haven't seen it), but I first read about this method on Autopia in December of 2002.

[Mike Phillips]

I usually apply and remove my wax (Souveran paste wax) with my PC7424. For removal, I use a mf bonnet over lambs wool. But I was just reading one of the descriptions of a mf bonnet which said for best results, I should use a terry cloth bonnet for removal and then do final buffing using mf. Once I started using mf, I never went back to anything cotton. So I'm curious what others do? Do you use terry cloth first?

Here's how I do it...

Microfiber bonnet over a foam cutting pad because you want a stiff or dense pad with plenty of cushion. The lambswool bonnet works but offers no cushion.

The reason why terrycloth 'can' work better for removal is because typically the nap is larger in size than most microfiber material. The nap is th little cotton loops that make terrycloth... well terrycloth.

The larger the loop the better the fiber is able to slice into the continuous film you're trying to remove and break it up, breaking it's hold on the surface so it can be removed.

There was a guy on the Internet selling a alpine microfiber bonnet that had a large nap and it works really well and is more gentle to the paint than normal cotton.


I've been teaching how to remove dried wax or paint sealant using a DA with a bonnet over a foam pad for as long as bonnets have been around and actually like the method for show car work as it takes the pressure points of our fingers completely out of the picture.

Personal preference for sure.


Use the 5.0 to 6.0 speed setting and firm pressure, you want fast speeds when removing dried wax and sealant by machine. This technique doesn't really work well with WOWO products unless you apply them whisper thin.

With a bonnet, I show a technique for holding your fingernails against the face of the buffing pad and use them to lift and separate the fibers to remove accumulated residue and then quickly put the face of the pad back onto a panel of the car. You have to have your hand against the face of the pad anytime the pad isn't against a panel or the tool will speed up and your pad will go flying off.

This is part of every class we teach.

[Mike Phillips]

I just saw a great technique on the Adam's Polish video. He just places a plush MF towel on the surface over the polish residue and uses the PC with the polishing pad over the towel to agitate the towel and pick up most of the residue.

Works okay on a flat or horizontal surface but if you try this on a vertical panel you'll find it hard not to watch the microfiber towel fall onto the floor anytime you don't keep firm pressure against it.

This works okay at slow speeds but wax and paint sealant is removed best on the 5.0 to 6.0 speed setting, at least most effectively removed and for the higher speeds bonnets on firm, clean, dry foam cutting pads is the way to go.

[Rsurfer]

What about this theory on mf vrs. cotton for wax removal?
Microfiber or Cotton to buff wax?

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Removing Wax / Sealants

Water, being hydrophilic adheres to micro fibre; in comparison to cotton, a Microfiber will soak up 98% moisture, while cotton can only soak up at most 70%.
The polyester and polyamide content of Microfiber is typically; 80% polyester and 20% polyamide . The nature of this yarn is that it is an absorbent; the reason polyester appears to absorb liquids is the many thousands of micro fibres that collectively encapsulate liquids

a) Microfiber towel - made from polyester/polyamide will remove product due to its inherent properties (that’s why they are so good at cleaning without the use of chemicals). The polyester and polyamide are combined during weaving to create microscopic loops, which form a network of tiny hooks, scrubbing away dirt and grime while trapping it within the weave. These very fine fibres have little 'hook like claws' that reach into the tiniest of crevices, pulling out dirt, dust, grease, grime, and even bacteria. They hold these foreign materials in their web of weaves until they are washed in warm water where the fibres relax and release these materials.

Conversely the same attributes that make Microfiber so good at cleaning have an adverse affect when applying wax. A polymer sealant forms a molecular bond with the paint surface, so when you remove it, you are removing excess product. An organic wax however, doesn’t form a bond with the paint surface but merely adheres to it, forming a chain-link type coating. A micro fibre cotton towel will leave enough of the wax behind to enable it to form a surface coating.

b) Cotton towel - made from 100% cotton micro fibre with a terrycloth weave, spun with long staple cotton and then woven into 100% natural looped terrycloth or velour, the larger fibre loop size that makes up the towels nap are trimmed to produce a fine nap, ideal for buffing and leaving behind a coating on the paint surface.

[Mike Phillips]

That reads like something TOGWT wrote, at least the style looks/reads that way.

I was told that Microfiber aDsorbs while Cotton aBsorbs

Adsorb means to take onto itself
Absorb means to take into itself

I know I like drying off after a shower with a cotton towel.

[Rsurfer]

That reads like something TOGWT wrote, at least the style looks/reads that way.

I was told that Microfiber aDsorbs while Cotton aBsorbs

Adsorb means to take onto itself
Absorb means to take into itself

I know I like drying off after a shower with a cotton towel.

Mike, do you think that cotton or mf is better for wax removal?

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, do you think that cotton or mf is better for wax removal?

That depends upon how you define the word better


Microfiber is more gentle to automotive paints and that's all the reason most of us need to choose and use Microfiber polishing towels for removing polish and wax residues off paints.

If I'm compounding and going to polish afterwards I'll usually use cotton terry cloth with a healthy nap for the ability of the nap to break up product. Any toweling marks inflected during wipe-off will be removed during the polishing step and then switch to microfiber after that.


See what I wrote about Good Cotton Towels in this article,

The 4 minimum categories of wiping cloths


How about you?

• Do you think cotton or microfiber is better for wax removal?
• How about paint sealant removal?
• How about polish removal?
• How about compound removal?