is a paint decontaminant a mere cleanser ?

Hi all, i was reading some article the other day, and on the page there was pics showing base coat clear coat paint, and those contaminants present on the top layer of paint, etching into the sub layer of paint. The guy whose name slips me right now, said that claying is very good at removing the outter part of contaminants, yet would fail to remove parts that are deeper in the paint finish, so he suggested using a *paint decontaminant* in order to properly remove those, therefore preventing them contaminants to further spread and oxidise the paint.

He mentioned washing the car starting from bottom to top, then applying a stuff(all i know is it was from finish kare), to the paint, not allowing it to dry or haze on the car, but rather let it sit there for about 7 minutes.....................my question is, what is this, is it some kind of acidic substance to open paint pores ? Is it just the same as any paint cleansers like meguiars *deep crystal* cleaner ? I`m asking cause this seems to be a step not much talked about on here, yet this step might just be the same a using any paint clearner outthere, i don`t know.

But since the procedure is somewhat different, i reckon the stuff is not the ordinary paint cleaner some use here.

Is the decontaminant step mandatory, can it hurt the paint ? is it something which would be highly beneficial for me to do , say like on my gf`s car (2000 corolla) ?


Now, i`ll hit the hay as i can barely see what i`m typing :D

see y`all and thanks

Hopefully someone with more knowledge and experince will jump in here, but....
From what I have read, there are some "acid bath" cleaners that can be used in extreme conditions. It is a multi-step process with the acid and a neutralizer. maybe more. It sure didn`t sound like something an enthusiast detailer would be likely to use. Actually, it didn`t sound like something that would get much use from any detailer.

I agree with Charles..not much use or call for using an acid on clearcoat...yes a pure paint cleaner or even polish will do the same to remove contaminates from the finish...this catagory does not included AIO products that leave protection after cleaning.

I would have to say that if the paint is contaminated to the point that a clay bar won`t take it off, you have an extreme situation. I am a little afraid of giving a car an acid bath for fear of not getting ALL the acid off you may cause more harm than good. I have been detailing cars for 16 years now. I can only think of 1 car that was so bad that it could have used a acid bath. It was damaged with acid rain so bad that it needed paint not wax. You can do as you wish but for me I believe that I will stay away from acid baths.

I know of two companies that carry that type of product, Automotive international and Finish Kare. It was designed to remove rail dust and other ferrous metal partials from the paint. Also it neutralizes the paint. I used AIs "A-B-C system to decontaminate 33 , 40 foot school buses.
see here-
http://www.superiorshine.com/bus%20IFO.htm

Now that`s a reason to use it:eek:

and for sure the school busses aren`t going under 5000gigawatts to find swirls either;)

Nice system a friend has similar for doing small planes....
now where did you get 7 people togther that do good work:confused: :D

I found additional employees from labor ready (www.laborready.com)

I was able to get help and have all their insurance and social security covered. Ofcourse I won`t use them for regular detailing but it worked out perfect for the buses.

RThe buses actually came out pretty good. When we got them they were chalky and had metal particals embedded on the horizontal surfaces that were rusting. We took care of all 33 buses plus 57 maintenance vehicles in 15 days.