Dawn wash necessary?

2002 Maxima SE · 08-17-05, 05:42

I recently used my PC on my 2002 Maxima (waxed with PUPP twice a year). I had a hard time with the polish (SSR2) not coming off completely. Is this because I still had a good base of wax? Should I have washed the car in dawn or some other wax removal wash?

Last night I used SSR2.5 and PC on our 1993 Sable (pics to come) and it worked just like the autopia.org instructions showed. As I made multiple passes, I was left with a very light film on the car. With the max, I had a heavy polish film.

Accumulator · 08-17-05, 06:54

Yeah, a healthy layer of LSP can make for tenacious polish residues. To clean the LSP off, I'd just use a mix of rubbing alcohol and water, or even the alcohol straight. Dawn's wax-stripping abilities are vastly overstated and it won't do much of anything to remove a product like UPP.

White95Max · 08-17-05, 06:56

I agree with that. Dawn is not all that good at stripping wax in my experience, and with polymer sealants, it will hardly do anything to the LSP.

2002 Maxima SE · 08-17-05, 08:36

OK, so a mix of alcohol and water after a wash to strip the wax. What ratio would you recommend?

blkZ28Conv · 08-17-05, 02:18

No need to mix the IPA. Straight from the bottle is not only safe but also maximally effective in oil/wax/sealant removal.

Be careful around rubber/plastic trim. IPA at low concentration or straight will wipe and pull all "close to surface" moisturizers and gloss components from trim.

Dampen a soft MF towel and wipe carefully painted surface only.

A pre-polishing IPA wipedown is an excellent "real" paint condition indicator. It will not only remove old protectants but also fillers. This revelation maybe quite surprising after the paint's "make-up" has been removed.

98GT · 08-18-05, 03:28

To strip any waxes I use a little P21s Total Auto Wash (citrus degreaser in the orange/white bottle) mixed with water and wash like I normally would. Seems to leave a nice "squeeky clean" finish to work with. Usually I clay after, then wash with normal carwash before polishing/lsp.

Accumulator · 08-18-05, 06:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98GT

To strip any waxes I use a little P21s Total Auto Wash...

Yeah, TAW is a handy product to have around, works well on the wheelwells/etc. of daily drivers and other dirty areas. Don't hear much about it these days, and I dunno how commonly available it is. I used to buy it in big jugs, still have a few.

98GT · 08-18-05, 09:30

Accumulator- definitely my favorite citrus degreaser.

GTScott · 08-19-05, 08:17

I used Dawn to strip the wax on my car prior to starting a Zaino regiment. I found that it did a VERY poor job of stripping even the old NXT that was on the car.

-GT

2002 Maxima SE · 08-29-05, 09:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98GT

Accumulator- definitely my favorite citrus degreaser.

Never heard of it, got a link?

White95Max · 08-29-05, 09:29

http://www.autogeek.net/p21s.html

TortoiseAWD · 08-29-05, 09:39

I think it's also worth mentioning that sometimes, a given polish doesn't get along well with a given paint. For example, the first car I used Sonus 2.0 polishes on was a bit troublesome; the polish residues were tough to buff off. I've used the Sonus polishes on three cars since, and on those cars, residue wiped off with no trouble at all.

And trust me, that first car that was problematic . . . no sign of any LSP. Water didn't bead or sheet; it just stuck to the finish like glue.

FWIW,
Tort