What is recommended for stripping of sealer and wax

[pnut]

What product do you recommend for removing wax (Mothers california gold) or sealer (Rejex) in preparation for the twice yearly detailing?

I want to remove any excess or buildup that may be on the surface before starting fresh.

Thank you.

[MisterShark]

I'm going to say IPA wipedown (as the cheapest and most readily-available process) but wait'll some others chime in to be sure.

[CEE DOG]

I'm looking forward to Mikes answer on this one. I see a lot of people use Dawn. Some use auto body wash. I have bought in to the following: On the current generation clear coat paints you should use your regular auto wash. When you clay and polish the remainder of what you want off will come off. Mike, please educate us!

[Jimmie]

I may be old fashioned but it's a paintwork cleaner or AIO for me everytime. The only things that give me the feel and confidence of squeaky clean.

[Mike Phillips]

I'm looking forward to Mikes answer on this one. I see a lot of people use Dawn. Some use auto body wash. I have bought in to the following: On the current generation clear coat paints you should use your regular auto wash. When you clay and polish the remainder of what you want off will come off. Mike, please educate us!


I already did,

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/20525-best-product-methodology-remove-waxes-sealants.html




See posts, #3, #10, #12 and #16




(Dang... I really need the "Popular Tags" feature installed on vBulletin



:)

[KG21]

+1...I've been using paintwork cleaner after polishing as well. I have had instances where I can't get rid of all of the Menz polishing oils even after IPA.

[Mike Phillips]

I may be old fashioned but it's a paintwork cleaner or AIO for me every time. The only things that give me the feel and confidence of squeaky clean.


That's pretty much what I posted in my posts on the thread I linked to above, it's about moving forward in the process, not backwards.


If you haven't already, maybe click on the link above and read through the thread, I offered to get deep, or AR and then on page 2 I did.


:D

[Mike Phillips]

Everyone has a different mindset, some people want to get the paint squeaky clean for whatever their reasons, usually to get some particular type of paint sealant to bond to the paint.

Here's mine,

The Mindset of a Professional Detailer (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/20551-mindset-professional-detailer.html)


I like to make paint look beautiful and I don't like to do things that will dull paint down. I've never seen a coating of wax or paint sealant slip off the car over night because it didn't bond to the paint, so I would opt for a light paint cleaner or a light cleaner polish and clean the paint lightly, which will remove anything off the surface and while still leaving the paint looking beautiful. The idea of chemically stripping an entire car's finish before applying a wax or paint sealant is so foreign to my mindset. Maybe do it for a Test Spot to insure your defect removal system is working, but that's as far as I go and I usually don't go that far.

But hey... if it works for others... go for it !


:)

[pnut]

Thanks, I read the link completely.

It sounds like Dawn (which is what I have been using when I want to strip off stuff) works good.

Also, do I understand that IPA = isopropyl alcohol? and that AR = Anal Retentive?

What kind of product would be considered a "paintwork cleaner" as mentioned a few times? Also what is AIO?

Thanks so much.

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks, I read the link completely.

It sounds like Dawn (which is what I have been using when I want to strip off stuff) works good.

Also, do I understand that IPA = Isopropyl alcohol? and that AR = Anal Retentive?

What kind of product would be considered a "paintwork cleaner" as mentioned a few times? Also what is AIO?

Thanks so much.

A paint work cleaner is a product designed to remove light surface defects, contaminants, stains, oxidation, in an effort to prepare the surface for application of wax.

Here's 2 Paint Cleaners, one from Pinnacle and one from Mothers,
Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion (http://www.autogeek.net/pinpainclean.html)
Mother's California Gold Pre-Wax Cleaner (http://www.autogeek.net/motcalgolpre.html)

Here's a Cleaner/Polish from Meguiar's
M0916 Swirl Remover 2.0 (http://www.autogeek.net/meg9swirrem.html)



An AIO is a cleaner/wax, it cleans, polishes and waxes the paint in one step.

If you're doing a multiple step process and want to use "dedicated" products for each of the steps you would use a paint cleaner or a cleaner/polish for the cleaning step, not a cleaner/wax or would be doing all the steps in one step, not dedicated steps.

If that makes sense?

Here's two cleaner/waxes...
Klasse All-In-One (http://www.autogeek.net/klasseallinone.html)
Mothers California Gold Original Formula Carnauba Cleaner Wax (http://www.autogeek.net/motcalgolorf.html)


Which approach you use depends upon what you want to accomplish...

:)

[pnut]

Yes that explains it all. I've used all categories of those products.

What I have not figured out yet is if a pre wax cleaner, then carnauba wax (Mothers) protects or looks any better than the cleaner wax I have tried (Meguiars, came with the clay bars).

What I think is that the prewax cleaner cleans deeper than the cleaner wax, and the pure carnauba wax lasts longer, than if I use only the cleaner wax. Just a suspicion so far though. I have only used the cleaner wax once and it seemed to not last as long as I would have expected (that smooth slippery feel was quickly gone as compared to pure carnaauba).

[MisterShark]

The only thing I was going to point out is that there are some people that as a normal course of the way they approach detailing, they focus on always working forward in the process, not backward.

Working forward is when every step you do makes the paint look better and better, as in you're moving forward towards the goal of a flawless, show car finish. To do something to the paint that would dull it down would be working backwards, that is moving in the opposite direction of the goal. Some people can't imagine this, let alone do it.

In most cases, using a chemical, usually some time of solvent or soap, as a means of stripping paint to a fresh base tends to dull the paint down. You might get to a fresh base but you're working backwards.

Working forward would be using a a light cleaner/polish. A light cleaner/polish for example will remove whatever wax or paint sealant is on the surface but leave the paint clear, smooth and clean, ready for the next step. This is working forwards in the process.

Some will say that it doesn't matter if you dull the paint down if you're chemically stripping it because the future steps will restore or undo the dulling effect, (you could say, undo the damage), and they're right but it depends upon your point of view, thus in my original post I asked how AR do you guys want to get? The above is a skosh on the AR side.



Keeping with the mindset of moving forward 100% of the time (since it appears that there's no need to take the step back with a dedicated wax/sealant removal step/product): something like XMT 360 it seems would fit this plan very well.

I like this idea of not inserting extra unnecessary steps if they're not needed. This principle works particularly well for a time-challenged and budget-conscious individual such as myself.



Disclaimer for the above XMT 360 choice: that particular product selection was made in the interest of folks like me who have very limited time and are willing to accept a 'nice' final outcome versus others who can dedicate more time and may desire the dedicated 3-step individual (using dedicated single-focus products for each stage) approach in the interest of acheiving an eye-popping, incredible end result.