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View Full Version : Decon/clay on a new car - little to no contamination? Is this possible?



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someidiot
08-26-2018, 12:42 PM
I`m not sure if I`m being paranoid, but I used a couple of new products and wanted to hopefully get some reassurance.

Wife just got a brand new car. We`ve had it about 2 weeks and it stays in a garage at home and at work. I foamed it today, washed, then used Iron-X. I saw just a few purple spots after letting it sit, which was far less than I`ve ever seen. Usually the car is bleeding purple all over. I also used some McKees iron remover (ran out of Iron-X) with the same result.

Then I used a Nanoskin autoscrub fine grade sponge. This was my first time using it. I used Griot`s speed shine as lube and used not a lot of pressure. I had practically no resistance anywhere on the car. I even went back over some spots with my Griot`s clay just to make sure. There was nothing.

Has anyone ever prepped a new car and had really no iron contamination and nothing that clay had to take off?

Mike lambert
08-26-2018, 01:10 PM
Simple answer, yes.

Accumulator
08-26-2018, 01:26 PM
Sure. I`ve decontaminated used cars with none to speak of. So common for me that I hardly ever bother decontaminating anything any more even though I`m a *big* advocate of the process (when it`s *really* needed).

Although regulars here might think I`ve done a 180 on the topic, I now consider "Decontamination" to be another Shiny New Thing that`s being used to get people to expend resources whether it`s really necessary or not.

Other than Rust Blooms and/or etching from nasty [stuff] that needs neutralized (not that *those* are unimportant concerns!), why bother...we really *did* get by pretty well for decades without doing such stuff.

"You`ll grind contamination into the paint when polishing unless you decontaminate first!" Eh, maybe...but it`d have to be awfully bad, bad enough that I`d suspect something`s haywire (wrong LSP?).

"Your LSP won`t last as long if you don`t clay/decontaminate first." Not IME, not at all. Zero correlation for me between claying/etc. and LSP longevity.

IMO it`s those "gee, that *NEEDS* decontaminated with the right stuff!" situations that aren`t getting the proper attention. Sometimes you *NEED THOSE CHEMICALS* and it seems like those are the cases where people are trying to get by without doing that.

Heh heh, OTOH, I could always go back to arguing that every new vehicle needs decontaminated for a known-fresh start. I generally have done that with mine.

someidiot
08-26-2018, 01:40 PM
The paint also has no appreciable defects upon inspection. Any thoughts on skipping a quick one-step polish prior to coating? Or is it always best to be as swirl-free as possible?

SWETM
08-26-2018, 02:07 PM
If you don`t see any defects and the defects you do see you are comfortable with having there. Coat the car and be happy. It`s a benefit to do a finishing polish. Cause you can get a higher gloss and you deep clean the paint too. But if you feel you don`t get those benefit with a polish on your paint and it`s clean. Go ahead and coat the car. Don`t skip the panel wipe product wipe down before coating it.

Are you sure that the dealership did not polish your car before delivered to you? Not all dealership is hacks LOL. Did you noticed if there where and protection on it when you did the first wash on it?

Accumulator
08-26-2018, 02:09 PM
someidiot- Heh heh, despite my own view of how vehicles oughta look....

Marring on your car doesn`t matter unless it matters to you.

someidiot
08-26-2018, 02:10 PM
If you don`t see any defects and the defects you do see you are comfortable with having there. Coat the car and be happy. It`s a benefit to do a finishing polish. Cause you can get a higher gloss and you deep clean the paint too. But if you feel you don`t get those benefit with a polish on your paint and it`s clean. Go ahead and coat the car. Don`t skip the panel wipe product wipe down before coating it.

Are you sure that the dealership did not polish your car before delivered to you? Not all dealership is hacks LOL. Did you noticed if there where and protection on it when you did the first wash on it?
I had them skip the prep. There was no appreciable protection on the paint. No hydrophobicity at all.

Accumulator
08-26-2018, 02:26 PM
I had them skip the prep. There was no appreciable protection on the paint. No hydrophobicity at all.
Good decision :D Bet that saved you a bunch of headaches.

Mike lambert
08-26-2018, 05:57 PM
So if the car has a fine mist of sap, just polish it off?

Accumulator
08-27-2018, 12:00 PM
So if the car has a fine mist of sap, just polish it off?
Did I miss something?!? Fine mist of sap?

Heh heh, can`t imagine anybody would start polishing on anything that had such contamination on it, sounds like a perfect example of "when you *do* need to decontaminate" :D

I gather some sap can be a lot tougher to get off than any that I`ve dealt with, but I`d think that a Decontamination Chemical like ValuGard`s "A" would make short work of it...sure did in testing and I`ve never heard of it failing anyone.

Mike lambert
08-27-2018, 12:16 PM
I would at the least polish the car. Any defects no matter how small will be magnified by a coating. I was responding to the opinion you don’t need decontamination.

Accumulator
08-27-2018, 01:03 PM
Mike lambert- Heh heh, yeah...I`d polish it too. But that`s just me (and you).

Decontamination is, uhm...IMO, necessary except when it`s not :D AFAIK, I was the second person here to embrace Chemical Decontamination all those years ago, and I continue to spot-clay at *every* wash, so it`s sure not like I`m *opposed* to it when it`s called for. I just don`t believe it always is called for, and when it`s not required I wouldn`t do it any more than I`d do any other unnecessary Detailing task.

Member someidiot asked whether any of us had.. "..ever prepped a new car and had really no iron contamination and nothing that clay had to take off?"

I have (more than once) and I said so. You also replied "yes" to his closing/summarizing Q so we appeared to be in complete agreement.

I figured he was asking primarily out of intellectual curiosity as he`d already *thoroughly* decontaminated the vehicle in question anyhow; he was just surprised that there wasn`t evidence of much contamination (e.g., no tree sap or anything else). I suspected he wondered whether he`d done something that could`ve possibly been unnecessary and IMO it was indeed possible.

Matters of contamination/marring/etc. are subjective in the truest possible sense; cosmetic defects on a vehicle don`t really matter unless they matter to the subject in question, in this case someidiot. Sounds like he`s happy with his new car. I want him to stay happy, and I sure wouldn`t want us to impose our standards in place of his to where he goes looking for reasons to be unhappy.

JustJesus
08-27-2018, 05:56 PM
My wife`s Kia is a 2014 model, which she bought new.. I didn`t maintain it from the start. I took over only after seeing some slight scratches and a bit of marring/swirls on the hood. Bad bird poop removal.

Some years later, I want to clean it up (and light polish) with some Blackfire products. I drive down to a coin-op for the chemical decon process. A guy in the other wash bay saw me with a bunch of gear: multiple mitts, brushes, various spray bottles. When he was done with his, he comes over and asks about all the stuff I had. I explained the iron remover and went to show him what it does.

and waited.

and waited.

I was surprised. I expected a decent amount of purple to show him but there was very little. VERY little. Had to look really hard. Even the wheels weren`t all that bad. Maybe it`s testament to my maintenance of that car?

Sometimes we don`t need much decon, and that`s a good thing!

rlmccarty2000
08-27-2018, 09:51 PM
Imho, iron Decon is a cheap insurance policy. It takes about 10 minutes and costs about $10 for piece of mind.

Accumulator
08-28-2018, 12:04 PM
Are people finding Ferrous Contamination Products effective for use on NON-ferrous contamination? I`ve always used different products for the two categories; my stuff that works on one isn`t optimally effective on the other.