water & alcohol

**beefy z** · 10-04-2005, 06:58 PM

on a few posts i`ve seen a 50/50 mixture of water & alcohol recommended to be used after polishing . can someone explain the reason for this & what`s it suppossed to do ?

exactly what kind of alcohol ? is thsi step really necessary ?

**imported_Neothin** · 10-04-2005, 07:12 PM

the alcohol will strip away any leftover wax, sealant, polish, etc thats on the paint leaving the surface completely clean and ready for the application of your LSP`s. I believe rubbing alcohol is to be used (please someone else chime in and confirm this though). I don`t know if its really necessary or not. I don`t see why you shouldn`t do it. I mean if you put the alcohol/water mix into a spray bottle, you can go over the entire car in what? 10 minutes or less? its just a spray and wipe thing. But from what ive seen on the forum, not many people do it (or tell us that they did anyways) and they havent had problems so...

**imported_MCA** · 10-04-2005, 08:02 PM

Hey Beefy z,

Some "polishes" hide swirls/marring by filling them in as opposed to mechanically/physically removing them. Depending on your situation, this is can be a good thing or a bad thing. For those who want to remove a swirl (not fill), an IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) wipedown cleans the surface of polish/wax residue to reveal the "true" look of the paint --> all fillers will be gone by this wipedown, thus all hidden swirls will be revealed again...this is the best way to check the progress of your polishing. Rubbing alcohol is the generic name of IPA...double-check the percentage on the bottle as many dilution rates are available. Hope this helps.

MCA

**beefy z** · 10-05-2005, 08:40 AM

ok...but when you use something like M80, isn`t that also removing all waxes and fillers and getting the paint ready for your chosen LSP. or are you saying that the M80 itself can also be adding a certain amount of fillers thereby hiding the true condition of the paint. thus, the water and alcohol is ued to stip the finish of everything so what`s left is truly only the paint??? thanks

**Accumulator** · 10-05-2005, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by beefy z

ok...are you saying that the M80 itself can also be adding a certain amount of fillers thereby hiding the true condition of the paint. thus, the water and alcohol is ued to stip the finish of everything so what`s left is truly only the paint??? thanks

Yeah, that`s it. #80 leaves a little "something" (I dunno if it oughta be called "fillers") that does do a little concealing. Using the IPA will strip this off and you`ll be able to see what`s really there. IF you care

When I`m gonna go from #80 to my LSP I usually just apply the LSP and I don`t worry about any concealing. The LSP pretty well seals in the "stuff" from the #80.

You can also use the IPA mix to remove existing sealants/etc. so they don`t foul up your polishing pads and/or leave a weird residue on the paint (KSG has done this for me).