Isopropyl alcohol

[kimandbrad21]

I recently saw someone talking about it and i was wondering, are you talking about first aid antiseptic 70% isopropyl alcohol to wipe down your car? then apply wax and/or sealant? can it do damage and is the 70% stuff from walmart good/ okay to use, i have a clear coated 91 toyota corolla that we are going to do a full detail to its our family car given to us and we are trying to maintain it.

whats the app. process and everything if you dont mind....

thank you

[jayhkr]

Well I use 1:1 water/IPA 91% and have -0- problems. Just try to keep it off your rubber trim and tires, it'll dry them out.

[maximus20895]

You use alcohol to get rid of the dried polish/compounds that were left on the car. You can do it after each step or after your done with all of the polish steps your choice.

The Alcohol is just plain Isopropyl alcohol you buy at walmart or where ever. You can use 50, 70 or 95%. Your choice.

It just makes sure that the compound are not filling any swirls and are actually taking them out for good. You shouldn't worry about damaging the car.

What do you mean the app process? What are you trying to do and what tools do you have (D.A?)

[jayhkr]

whats the app. process and everything if you dont mind....

thank you

Pretty simple actually. My spray bottles already have a ratio marking on them so I use the 1:1 ratio, but you can figure this out yourself by using a measuring cup. Add x amount of water oz to the same x amount of IPA oz in a spray bottle. Take a clean MF towel and spritz it LIBERALLY with your mix. Then spritz the paint and wipe down. I usually use one MF to wipe on and one to wipe off just because I don't like water spots. I'm sure you could leave it alone and it would still be ok since you'll be adding sealant/wax at the end anyway.

[kimandbrad21]

thanks for the replys, and the app process was clearly explained thanks to you, i do all my details by hand, and i would never do anything with it on a da, but i didnt know what to use, if terry cloth, MF, etc. i will have to give that a try.

[superd]

Pretty simple actually. My spray bottles already have a ratio marking on them so I use the 1:1 ratio, but you can figure this out yourself by using a measuring cup. Add x amount of water oz to the same x amount of IPA oz in a spray bottle. Take a clean MF towel and spritz it LIBERALLY with your mix. Then spritz the paint and wipe down. I usually use one MF to wipe on and one to wipe off just because I don't like water spots. I'm sure you could leave it alone and it would still be ok since you'll be adding sealant/wax at the end anyway.


Does this process work better than a QD from WG? I've never used the IPA and it sounds like it would be much more economical.

The weather is much better the past few days.........have you started your project yet?

:dblthumb2:

[maximus20895]

I don't think a QD does the same thing as IPA so I would stick with IPA if you want to do this type of procedure. I also don't dilute it, but I don't think that it's important if you do or not. I just like how IPA dissolves quicker without water and leaves less streaks.

[jayhkr]

Does this process work better than a QD from WG? I've never used the IPA and it sounds like it would be much more economical.

The weather is much better the past few days.........have you started your project yet?

:dblthumb2:

QD and IPA are really 2 differnt products. QD is more of a "weak" wax where IPA is more of a solvent. For polish removal stick with IPA.

Yes, I have finished my project. Complete detail with sealant and wax to boot. I'll post some (a lot) of pictures here in a few minutes.


I don't think a QD does the same thing as IPA so I would stick with IPA if you want to do this type of procedure. I also don't dilute it, but I don't think that it's important if you do or not. I just like how IPA dissolves quicker without water and leaves less streaks.

I've never tried it full strength. I don't have much in the way of issues with streaks as I wipe it off with a dry MF after a few seconds anyway. But maybe I'll try it full strenght next time, just to see the difference.

[Expert Car Care]

Im not convinced on using IPA on paint. Alcohol is a solvent and can dissolve paint. It works great for removing tree sap, but if you are too liberal or not careful it can leave marks in the paint from rubbing too hard.

As a carpet cleaner which is my other trade, I use IPA for removing small paint spots from carpet. Just food for thought! I would use QD to clean up any compound, but of course that is just my personal opinion.

[maximus20895]

IPA is very weak on the totem poll as far as solvents are concerned. I wouldn't be worried about dissolving your paint. If that was the case it would be scary to get gas on your car. It's perfectly fine.

[jayhkr]

IPA is very weak on the totem poll as far as solvents are concerned. I wouldn't be worried about dissolving your paint. If that was the case it would be scary to get gas on your car. It's perfectly fine.
:iagree:

[sgtmillhouse648]

It really depends on the paint. Modern paints/clearcoats really cannot be described as paint. They really are more of a 2 part epoxy versus what would technically be a paint like farm implement enamel. When clearcoat is sprayed onto a car, it has an 'activator' which is added to it which starts the curing process. During this process, the clearcoat actually changes at the molecular level which transforms the clearcoat from a gel/liquid to a solid.

What many people tend to think of as 'paint' is more of an enamel like what is used on a house or comes in a rattle can. These use a solvent such as mineral spirits to actually thin the paint. If you ever try to use something like this in a clearcoat mixture to thin it up for spraying, you will be sorely hurting as the clearcoat will clump together and is not soluable in the thinner. But a typical household paint will never technically 'dry'. The carrier solution merely evaporates leaving just the pigment behind. This is why if you dump mineral spirits on the side of your house, the paint will soften and run off. You are introducing the carrier solution back to the pigment.

In automotive paints as I said, the carrier does not evaporate. It remains in the surface and undergoes the reaction to harden. Therefore, IPA is perfectly valid to use to remove polishes etc. and will not harm modern basecoat/clearcoat systems.

[Expert Car Care]

We have left spots when trying to remove pine tar with it. Fortunately we were able to fix the spots, but just barely.

[kimandbrad21]

do you think that it could hurt my clear coat on my 1991 toyota corolla? i know that the mirrors and rear bumper are single stage and i will not use anything on that other then reg QD to clean off polish etc. but the rest of the car is clear coated with no failure to date.

[superd]

I don't think a QD does the same thing as IPA so I would stick with IPA if you want to do this type of procedure. I also don't dilute it, but I don't think that it's important if you do or not. I just like how IPA dissolves quicker without water and leaves less streaks.

:whs: :iagree:


After reading what you and Jhawkr talked about I went out and bought some IPA 91% and diluted it by about 10% with water. I have to admit I was apprehensive (which is why I diluted it), but after using it I'll never go back!!!! It did just what you described, the paint was clean, and no streaks what so ever. I applied it with a mist sprayer and it was drying with one pass of a Cobra MF. I just finished using M205 with a PC on my wife's 2005 Acura TL and sealed it with WGDGPS and one layer of Fuzion. It "looked" awesome!.....It's been raining here the entire time I was working on the car and my wife took it out in the rain immediately after so I never had the chance to get any after pic's!

:dblthumb2: