Advantage of branded Paint Cleaner over IPA?

S

SiegeX

New member
I'm loading up on some products right now and I came across some branded paint cleaners to prep the surface of the paint for the LSP. In the past I have been using 91% IPA in a 50:50 ratio for this. Do these semi-costly paint cleaners do anything differently and/or better than IPA can do, or are they just a waste of money?
 
Paint "cleaners", literally clean and polish your paint. IPA helps to remove oils and residue left behind from polishes, waxes, etc.



IPA is more for when you're polishing and need something quick to remove any filling action. Whereas a paint cleaner is like clay, but for below the surface. Helps to decontaminate the paint.



Two different products for two different jobs. Whether you use a cleaner or IPA is up to you. I personally don't use IPA much, but I do find a paint cleaner to be useful for oxidation and staining.
 
So just to make sure I understand. If I intend on claying, then polishing the car with something like Menz SIP/106FA prior to putting on the LSP, the paint cleaner is overkill and the IPA is good enough to take out any fillers/residue from my polish such that my sealant will have the best bond possible?



However, if after 3 months go by and I notice my sealant is no longer doing it's job, this would be a good time to use a paint cleaner prior to re-sealing the car without needing to polish?
 
i'm kind of confused. i take your OP as IPA vs. a product like prepsol or the like. you are not asking about a "polishing/waxing" type produce, right?
 
"Sonax Premium Class Paint Cleaner" is what I specifically had in mind, I'm not familiar with prepsol but it sounds like a similar product.
 
IPA = ?



I used Ps21 paint cleaner after i polished my truck, i think just applying the cleaner brightend up the paint before th wax went on.
 
i want to use the IPA after polishing just to see if most if not all the swirls are gone but i do have P21S cleansing lotion that significantly brightens up the paint before sealing. maybe i'll use both steps this spring.
 
elk42 said:
i want to use the IPA after polishing just to see if most if not all the swirls are gone but i do have P21S cleansing lotion that significantly brightens up the paint before sealing. maybe i'll use both steps this spring.
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So what you said is pretty much the jist of my question. If I just polished my paint to a mirror finish with something like Menzerna 106FA then did an IPA wipe down and am satisfied with my work. Does it buy me anything to then use Sonax Paint Cleaner or Prepsol or P21S Cleansing lotion prior to putting down a wax or sealant?



I just want to make sure that I'm not wasting a $25 product when IPA will give me similar, if not identical, results.
 
Sonax "Paint Cleaner".... not the best name IMO, but that's probably just me.



PrepSol and the likes are more effective than IPA, a lot of times IPA will take more than one pass to completely remove residue.



Not to say that IPA is ineffective, it's just not AS effective as PrepSol. It's nice to have some around, but unnecessary in most cases.



I normally use a bit of paint safe APC and that seems to work better than IPA.
 
I use Menzerna Top Inspection every day in my shop, it very gently cleans any residual oils left behind by the polishing compound.
 
I've done multiple IPA wipedowns and *still* cleaned off a LOT of oils by subsequently using TOL's PrepWash and/or PrepSol-type solvents.
 
So is IPA good enough or is a paint cleaner worth the extra money. And is Top Inspection or something simular ok to use or they not the same or do different things.
 
jt get the P21S cleansing lotion. its not expensive and allows you to try either the ISP or the lotion. have fun. elk
 
jtford95 said:
So is IPA good enough or is a paint cleaner worth the extra money. And is Top Inspection or something simular ok to use or they not the same or do different things.
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I think IPA does a pretty good job of cleaning the paint and offers performance similar to some of the branded paint cleaners.



I know the company that makes Sonax and their paint cleaner is a combination of rubbing alcohol (low dilution), water, and surfactants (similar to soap). It could be argued that the lower dilution of alcohol is more gentle to the paint, but I have used solvents and 91% alcohol for several years and have never had a problem.



Keep in mind that some polishes can very difficult to remove all of the oils from the paint on particular paints, and require multiple wipedowns to get accurate results (piggy-backing on what Accumulator already said).
 
Bunky said:
Griots claims it has a citrus based solvent. Alcohol too? Anyone used this?
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Accumulator said:
Just saw that in their latest catalog. Probably works OK but I'm not eager to buy it instead of the PrepWash :nixweiss
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Griot's product is called Pre-Wax Cleanser. I use this between my polishing step(s) and my sealant or waxing step(s).
 
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