Paint decon and polish on my 2021 camaro

[04lss]

Hi all,

I made a thread about a week or two ago asking about my first wash. im not a novice at detailing, but i am trying to be extra cautious with this paint since aside from iron and rail dust contamination its in good shape. (no swirls)
As Mike says an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of correction. I want some sanity checks, especially since ill be using some products i havent tried before. I also have a few questions

First, the products i plan to use:

Griots synthetic clay, lubricated with wolfgangs waterless wash diluted to what the bottle suggests for clay lube
My hope is that this will remove the iron and rail dust (Id like to avoid using iron x if i can)

Car pro essence polish on a fresh griots black finishing pad (never used essence before but it was highly reccomended on here)

Topped with a wax or coating to be determined


Questions:

1. I have applied griots garage 3 in 1 ceramic spray wax to the car. Will the clay bar remove this? Do i need a strip wash or some other step to get the paint ready for claying?

2. any tips for working with the essence? Ive read it doesnt like being worked to hard or being heated up. I figure half a panel and let it (and myself) cool down

3. I understand that the essence leaves some SIO2 on the paint as a base layer of protection. Can I put a caranuba wax over top of this? I know ive done this in the past with things like Klasse but the SIO2 is a different animal (for that matter can i wax over top of the griots spray wax?)

4. any suggestions for a coating or wax that will give me a lot of depth to the white paint? Im hoping the polish helps here as my camaro just looks kinda shallow next to my s4 paint.

[Eldorado2k]

-How are you completely certain your car has iron & rail dust contamination?
-Why would you like to avoid using IronX?
-I just read your cars white [that would’ve been another 1 of my questions]
-As far as using the WG for claylube, whatever you do don’t mix it any stronger than suggested because I did once and it turned my claymitt into a goopie mess that couldn’t effectively decontaminate the paint. Iirc I ended up tossing that claymitt because of that and never used WG Uber Rinseless for claylube ever again. So if you use it, go lighter not stronger on the dilution.

[04lss]

-How are you completely certain your car has iron & rail dust contamination?
-Why would you like to avoid using IronX?
-I just read your cars white [that would’ve been another 1 of my questions]
-As far as using the WG for claylube, whatever you do don’t mix it any stronger than suggested because I did once and it turned my claymitt into a goopie mess that couldn’t effectively decontaminate the paint. Iirc I ended up tossing that claymitt because of that and never used WG Uber Rinseless for claylube ever again. So if you use it, go lighter not stronger on the dilution.

The rail dust is a guess, because the car was shipped via rail from detroit. As for the iron, i saw rust spots in multiple places on the paint, which to me is indicative of iron.
For the ironx ive heard that it could potentially stain the paint. (i think someone mentioned that in one of my other threads) Might not be true, ive just never used it, and id be nervous on a new car. Id be open to trying it on my s4 though.

[Bruno Soares]

Definitely use Iron-X if you're seeing rust spots, the clay might not get all of it and even if it does, you'd be better not dragging that around with it, iron-x will dissolve it.

Clay plus polishing with Essence should be enough to remove Ceramic 3-in-1, especially if you were to use a pad with a light cut to it instead of black pad. I would not waste time polishing a car with a black pad, use a white one that has a little bit of cut and that will clean things up better plus remove whatever was there before.

Essence is amazing and super easy to use. If you overwork it you'll see minor dusting, then you know you're doing it too long but for the most part it's hard to get it wrong, the product is so easy to spread and wipe off. 6 to 8 passes on a 2x2 area will work fine. I assume you're doing it inside, I don't think a product with SiO2 in it would like to be used in the sun or hot panel.

You can put a wax on it but if you don't want to use a coating over Essence, I would stick with Ceramic 3-in-1 instead of a regular wax. Lasts much longer and will probably bond better over Essence.

I agree that wax has a deeper look but on a white car you won't see that much difference and the fact that it won't last is probably enough to opt for something else. That's just my personal opinion.

[Eldorado2k]

The rail dust is a guess, because the car was shipped via rail from detroit. As for the iron, i saw rust spots in multiple places on the paint, which to me is indicative of iron.
For the ironx ive heard that it could potentially stain the paint. (i think someone mentioned that in one of my other threads) Might not be true, ive just never used it, and id be nervous on a new car. Id be open to trying it on my s4 though.

I’ve never used IronX, but I have used color changing wheel cleaners i.e. Meguiars DUB Wheel Cleaner which was my favorite and never experienced any issues.






That’s something I’ll do when I’m going all out aka on my own car yes, I’ll do the iron remover, but honestly I think the clay can and will knock it out just fine.

But on a white vehicle it is rather satisfying when you see that it actually changed colors because it actually needed it. Doesn’t get much more satisfying actually.

[04lss]

Definitely use Iron-X if you're seeing rust spots, the clay might not get all of it and even if it does, you'd be better not dragging that around with it, iron-x will dissolve it.

Clay plus polishing with Essence should be enough to remove Ceramic 3-in-1, especially if you were to use a pad with a light cut to it instead of black pad. I would not waste time polishing a car with a black pad, use a white one that has a little bit of cut and that will clean things up better plus remove whatever was there before.

Essence is amazing and super easy to use. If you overwork it you'll see minor dusting, then you know you're doing it too long but for the most part it's hard to get it wrong, the product is so easy to spread and wipe off. 6 to 8 passes on a 2x2 area will work fine. I assume you're doing it inside, I don't think a product with SiO2 in it would like to be used in the sun or hot panel.

You can put a wax on it but if you don't want to use a coating over Essence, I would stick with Ceramic 3-in-1 instead of a regular wax. Lasts much longer and will probably bond better over Essence.

I agree that wax has a deeper look but on a white car you won't see that much difference and the fact that it won't last is probably enough to opt for something else. That's just my personal opinion.

Unfortunately ill probably be working outside, though i do have a canopy i can setup. (apartment living)

I thought the griots (non boss) black pads had light cut, that the red pads were the ones that had 0 cut.

(per griots): "When used with polishes and sealants, this pad removes fine swirls, scratches, and light defects on the most delicate paint finishes."

[Eldorado2k]

I agree for the most part, black pads are borderline a waste of time. Especially for me since I like to apply lsp by hand which renders my black pads useless… Good thing I only have 2-3. Lol.

But then again, what exactly is a Carpro Gloss Pad? I have 2 of those and I can’t really remember whether that things technically a finishing pad or a polishing pad? Must be more of a finishing pad because I never use it.

[04lss]

What pad should i get for my polishing then? Thats a bummer since i spent like 40 bucks between the 3 and 6.5. Griots white pads seem to be boss only and fast correcting.
I do have a griots 6.5 microfiber fast finishing pad, but i imagine that will be too agressive.

[Jayfro]

For white, I just applied two coats of 303 Graphene to my wife’s white X3 over the weekend (2nd coat was last night), it made the white “pop” a lot more as well as excellent gloss. Since I applied the second coat last night, I haven’t had a chance to see it in the sun, but in the garage it looked great though.

For no other reason than it was a shipping error, I’ll be applying a coat of DoDo Juice Diamond White Hard Wax Wax (or White Diamond) in the coming days just to see what if it’ll “pop” more!

As for Iron, definitely use some kind of iron remover!




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[fly07sti]

I believe I commented on your other thread. If at all possible, I’d use IronX or something similar before using a clay or alternative, especially if you’re trying to do more “prevention”. As far as staining with IronX, just don’t use it in direct/hot sunlight and let it dwell until it dries and you’ll be fine. For sh!ts and giggles, spray on a section of your car to see if you even get any reaction then proceed accordingly. Claying will mar your paint. While Essence is an awesome product, especially when topped with UK3.0 ( believe I posted pictures as well with this combo) it will undoubtedly not remove the marring with a black pad. Will need at least some sort of polishing pad paired with Essence. Save that black pad for applying your wax or sealant. Yes it’s fine to wax over Essence.