Wax bonnets turn BLACK!

[stanowen]

I washed my car with Woolite (cause I heard its supposed to be mild on the paint) and then proceeded to wax it with a rotary waxer, however after going only a a few inches, the bonnet loaded up with all sorts of dirt and turned a dark gray, almost black. Which is weird because the paint on the car is gold!



Despite doing a really good job washing it with soap, water, and a sponge, I figured that I must not be getting all the dirt off, so I used something I picked up at an RV supply place called black streak remover. It must be some sort of diluted acid, because it`ll sting your hands if you don`t wear gloves. Anyway I proceeded to rewash the car using the black streak remover, dried it, and then waxed it. Well, it seemed to work, cause the bonnets no longer loaded up with gray/black dirt. I did the entire car, but while I was doing it, I did notice that the sponge I was using was taking off some of the paint, I could see the gold paint on the sponge and in the bucket.



Well, now its been a few days, and I can notice a significant fading to the paint job. It doesn`t have the shine or rich/deep gold color it had before. No big deal, it was an old car anyway, and I`m sure that I`m the only person who will notice.



Well, I went to wash and wax another car of mine, and it did the same thing. The bonnets (with wax on them) turn a dark gray/black color. So I again stopped. I can`t see having to replace the bonnet every few inches and I don`t want to be waxing in that "dirty" wax anyway (causes swirls and leaves a residue/discoloration).



So where have I gone wrong? I don`t want to use the black streak remover on any of my other cars, as they are nicer, and I don`t want to ruin the paint.



What step am I missing that I should be doing, so that when I go to wax the car the bonnets stay (relatively) clean.



I know that with waxing, oxidation is supposed to come off, but this is WAY more than just oxidation. It ain`t even the same color as the car!



What do you recommend?

[SuperBee364]

I washed my car with Woolite (cause I heard its supposed to be mild on the paint) and then proceeded to wax it with a rotary waxer, however after going only a a few inches, the bonnet loaded up with all sorts of dirt and turned a dark gray, almost black. Which is weird because the paint on the car is gold!



Despite doing a really good job washing it with soap, water, and a sponge, I figured that I must not be getting all the dirt off, so I used something I picked up at an RV supply place called black streak remover. It must be some sort of diluted acid, because it`ll sting your hands if you don`t wear gloves. Anyway I proceeded to rewash the car using the black streak remover, dried it, and then waxed it. Well, it seemed to work, cause the bonnets no longer loaded up with gray/black dirt. I did the entire car, but while I was doing it, I did notice that the sponge I was using was taking off some of the paint, I could see the gold paint on the sponge and in the bucket.



Well, now its been a few days, and I can notice a significant fading to the paint job. It doesn`t have the shine or rich/deep gold color it had before. No big deal, it was an old car anyway, and I`m sure that I`m the only person who will notice.



Well, I went to wash and wax another car of mine, and it did the same thing. The bonnets (with wax on them) turn a dark gray/black color. So I again stopped. I can`t see having to replace the bonnet every few inches and I don`t want to be waxing in that "dirty" wax anyway (causes swirls and leaves a residue/discoloration).



So where have I gone wrong? I don`t want to use the black streak remover on any of my other cars, as they are nicer, and I don`t want to ruin the paint.



What step am I missing that I should be doing, so that when I go to wax the car the bonnets stay (relatively) clean.



I know that with waxing, oxidation is supposed to come off, but this is WAY more than just oxidation. It ain`t even the same color as the car!



What do you recommend?

Best recommendation: Brew a large pot of coffee. Then drink it over the course of several hours spent reading here at Autopia.



Second best: Brew a smaller pot of coffee and drink it while reading here on Autopia about how to clay a car.

[jDizzle]

first off, ive never heard of anyone washing their car with woolite, or even thinking about it, so i would reccomend you dont do that, if someone disagrees thats fine, but i doubt its good for your paint, and it deffinatley doesnt have the same lubricating properties as a car wash soap... i think you need to go get a quality car wash soap. if your looking for over the counter, eagle ones car wash is nice, the blue wash and wax one.. nxt`s wash is supposed to be nice too..

i cant think of anything that would turn a bonnet completley black in a few inches... claying removes contaminents which can show up as black on a pad/bonnet, but ive never seen or heard of something that severe. mabye you should clay the car after washing before you wax. a lot of people here like the meguiars smooth surface clay kit, youll be safe with that or mothers or blue magic? clay magic? i forget the name of that one.. then you can wax.. you could always just wax by hand and see how that goes... you should wait for a few pros to chime in though, because ive never heard of anything this severe, and honestly im a bit stumped..

[jDizzle]

and superbee is deffinatley right in suggesting you sit down here and read through some threads on washing, paint cleaning, and claying.

[Setec Astronomy]

Well...that black stuff is dirty film that you are buffing off of the paint. You can try a car washing regimen more aggressive than Woolite but, er, not an acid "black streak" (or paint?) remover. You could mix up an APC (all purpose cleaner) solution. This will likely remove some, but not all of the "black" stuff. But as jdizzle suggested, at least a strong mixture of car wash to work on cleaning that dirt (if these are cars that have not been washed in years the car wash may not do much).



The next step could be clay, to remove above-surface contaminants. You can get clay kits at Wal-Mart and Pep Boys, and Advance or AutoZone (I always get those two confused, we don`t have many around here, maybe both have clay). But what you really need is a paint cleaner, which is designed to clean the dirt you are observing. A commonly available one is Meguiar`s Deep Crystal Step 1. You would then follow that with a wax (or perhaps a glaze like Deep Crystal Step 2 between the cleaner and the wax).

[Eliot Ness]

Did it ever occur to you that somewhere between the extremes of Woolite and some harsh streak remover there were shampoos made for auto paint?



Anyway, since you found yourself here at Autopia you must have some search skills, so as the others have suggested look up how to clay a vehicle, buy some quality clay and clay lube and report back how it goes. Clay Magic blue at AutoZone or Advance will do fine.

[stanowen]

Big thanks to all of those who provided helpful suggestions. I`ll probably try my local car place and see what sort of car soap they offer, hopefully they`ll have one you`ve recommended.



The cars have all been regularly washed and up until recently regularly waxed. I had neglected to wax them for about a 6 month period. Still wish I knew what all that black stuff is, and why its on nearly all my cars.



Hopefully the car wash/paint cleaner will work.



Thanks again.

[Setec Astronomy]

No offense, but I`m guessing that up until this episode, you weren`t using any machine. That`s just built-up dirt on the surface of the cars. If you use a non-cleaner wax, a minimal-cleaner wax, or even a cleaner wax, whatever doesn`t come off gets kind of sealed in, and now you`re taking it off with the machine.



There`s a reason why cleaners and polishes are produced separately from wax, because using them separately produces the best results. However, it really takes a lot of work by hand to refine paint, no matter what you are using.