removing old wax...

[SpaceAce]

I know people say that a Dawn wash will remove old wax and sealants, but will SSR1 remove old waxes also since it is mildly abrasive? What about a good old clay bar?

I was just wondering if a regular wash (with gold class or other car washes) followed by claying and SSR1 would remove old wax. Thanks.

[Beemerboy]

yes Dawn wil remove the old wax pretty well. Also the SSR will has well, also polish.

[awd330]

Clay barring will remove some of the old wax. SSR1 should take care of the rest. Just use a regular car shampoo.

[EBPcivicsi]

Originally posted by detaled by hans
Who was the first fool to tell people to use dawn ?????

I think it was made popular by zaino users, but who knows for sure.

[Beemerboy]

I did a car not l;ong back that had a boat load of sap on it. I used Dawn and that stuff fell off, I also nust washed a truck that had been egged and again it falls off. I don`t recommded it unless I`m trying to get something nasty off the car like egg with out using anything harsh

[SpaceAce]

Thanks beemerboy...that`s kind of what I thought...plus people say that although it wont hurt your paint to use Dawn on occasion, it can be hard on the rubber trim and convertible tops. I was planning on just using regular car shampoo and skipping the Dawn to be safe.

[ACE]

No need to get paranoid about Dawn. If your car has a lot of crud on it and has never been detailed properly, a Dawn wash will remove a lot of crap. Once you get everything clayed, polished and sealed, I doubt you will have further need for it.

[Bri9801]

I thought that any abbrasive polish would remove wax??? I remember reading that somewhere anyway

[MadWax]

Depite popular beleif, it is easier to remove wax than many would like to have you think. Dawn will work while it is also known over time to cause drying to rubber and vinyl as well as premature fading, it sucks the moisture out of your paints finish causing oxidization, most people use dawn regualrly but do not wax afterwards. Many do not realize wax does not last that long by itself, most carnuabas on a darker color car are lucky to last a week in direct sunlight, if that long even. Polymers are lucky to last 2 months at best, and most sealants I have encountered are good only till the next cleaner wax or orbital polishing depending on car washing routines. You can clay your finish, it is good on occasion to do so to remove air born pollutants and even metal shaving from your brakes, as well as sap and other paint destroyers. If your car was recently waxed it will deffinitely remove the wax. I would then follow that up with at least an orbital application of machine glaze, or even some hand polishes to remove any light scratches from over ambitious cleaning. Then apply your choice of wax, followed by a sealant. In my business sometimes it is necessary to remove all wax before a vehicle goes to a body shop, as well as all slimey tire dressings. This stuff can contaminate their booth causing fisheyes many paint jobs later, so I use glass cleaner in this case knowing it will be painted, or in freshly waxed cases I use a light general purpose degreaser, I wet the car, spray on the aerosal cleaner or gp, then wash like normal, no wax survives. If I had to I could reapply the wax to replace the moisture this would remove from the paint. For the tires I use a general purpose cleaner and a bit of elbow grease. Completely Silicone and wax free car. Of course when I get it back I get to wet sand and buff their overspray, fisheyes and orange peel, but that is another thread.:) But wax survival under normal consumer washing is highly over-rated, and I would say best that a sealant will last is maybe 10 washes with no reapplication.

[JimS]

Originally posted by ACE
No need to get paranoid about Dawn. If your car has a lot of crud on it and has never been detailed properly, a Dawn wash will remove a lot of crap. Once you get everything clayed, polished and sealed, I doubt you will have further need for it. d:yeah

If I want to make sure I get down to the paint before I start a detail I use a Dawn wash then clay, then PP then Ex-P or Natty`s. :cool