Can I just spray off iron remover?

bennylava

bennylava

New member
The wife just got a 2017 Corolla. Only has 3k miles on it, so I`d wager that the iron contaminants in the paint aren`t too awful bad. Sure they are there, but maybe there`s a good deal less of them than on a 5 or 10 year old car. So I wanted to stop by and ask if I can just spray on the Iron remover, wait for it to turn purple, and then just rinse it off with the hose. I saw some youtube vids where they were saying you need to rub it in with a sponge (or something) and then let it sit even longer. Then you rinse it. Something about that doesn`t seem right. It seems like you`re just going to be rubbing the iron that got loosened up, into the clear coat. And creating new scratches.

So couldn`t you just spray on the iron remover, wait 5 minutes, and then hose it off? Wouldn`t that be better than rubbing it in?

I was going to do this, and then put some quality wax on the car. I don`t see a need to buff a car with 3k miles on it. But please correct me if I`m wrong. I`ll be using Collinite 915.
 
The times I`ve used it, I just put it on, waited for it to turn purple, and then washed the car in the conventional sense with car wash soap… Works fine for me, no scratches
 
I usually wash car, mist iron remover on while wet, let sit until I think the bleeding has stopped, then I take a wash mitt and move it all around and hose off. I have always done this, not sure it moving the stuff around is helpful but I feel in spots that may have been missed there is now contact and some additional dwell time all around. CAUTION-never let this product dry on your car.
 
Rinse then do a normal two bucket wash. Let Iron-x dwell for a few minutes, but as others have said don’t let it dry on your paint.
 
bennylava said:
So couldn`t you just spray on the iron remover, wait 5 minutes, and then hose it off?
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This is perfectly fine.

I actually use an iron remover on dry paint. I took this from what Mike has posted on AGO. It won`t dilute the iron remover. I have actually sprayed it onto dirty paint (you don`t want it too dirty) and that also worked fine. No agitation from me with either and it has always been fine. Similar to Mike`s Aggressive Wash Method.

I`ve done this with CarPro Ironx, Optimum Ferrex, Mckee`s Iron Remover and have never had any issues. IronX and Ferrex dry out a little faster but have never had any issues with them damaging the paint if an area does show signs drying out. McKee`s stays the wettest the longest. What you want to avoid is using it in direct sun light.
 
Thanks for the help all. I was also partly trying to confirm that just spraying it on, actually loosens up the embedded iron. And that it doesn`t just make some nice purple colors as the liquid touches the iron. I wanted to know if the liquid was actually removing large quantities of the iron, just by making contact with it. Cause it looks like most people will say that you need to spread it around with your mitt or whatever you wash the car with. Which makes you think that you`re now sort of dislodging the iron yourself.

I`d like to think that all you really need to do is spray it on there, wait, and then rinse it off with the hose. And that by doing this, you`re still getting pretty close to maximum iron removal.
 
bennylava said:
The wife just got a 2017 Corolla. Only has 3k miles on it, so I`d wager that the iron contaminants in the paint aren`t too awful bad. Sure they are there, but maybe there`s a good deal less of them than on a 5 or 10 year old car.
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You might be surprised at the level of contamination on a brand new car as they are often transported by rail. My wife`s 2015 car has been an extreme example of this little problem :(
 
I mostly work on well maintained cars (Lucky me) , and I find the clay really picks up minimal contaminants since I stared using an Iron Remover.

If you use it on dry paint I assume you don`t wash, then dry, then apply Iron remover do you? I feel funny putting Iron remover on top of a dirty car. Wondering what you exact process is. Thanks for sharing.



The Guz said:
This is perfectly fine.

I actually use an iron remover on dry paint. I took this from what Mike has posted on AGO. It won`t dilute the iron remover. I have actually sprayed it onto dirty paint (you don`t want it too dirty) and that also worked fine. No agitation from me with either and it has always been fine. Similar to Mike`s Aggressive Wash Method.

I`ve done this with CarPro Ironx, Optimum Ferrex, Mckee`s Iron Remover and have never had any issues. IronX and Ferrex dry out a little faster but have never had any issues with them damaging the paint if an area does show signs drying out. McKee`s stays the wettest the longest. What you want to avoid is using it in direct sun light.
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When I do a decon wash I start with prewash foam with the foamcannon. Then use the water pressure from the PW to clean rinse it from the bottom up. Since I got a leafblower I blow dry it as good as possible. Apply a tar remover to desolve the contaminants that it does. So the oxidized iron particals is cleaned around it. PW clean rinsing it off before blow dry it again. Then apply the iron remover and let it dwell as long as possible before clean rinsing it off. If it`s long time since it`s has been ironx and the second application of the iron remover is showing still bleeding on the test spot where it was the most bleeding effect. I do a second application where I use a mf wash sponge damped with wash solution. And rinsing this off and do a 2bm wash.

It`s the oxidized iron that desolves and not the iron particals it self. So it`s a help to get them the ability to dislodge from the paint. If the iron particals is to much jagged edges a clay bar is needed to get them out after the ironx treatment. Often this is not needed but if the iron particals comes from the railroad it`s bigger and often needs both ironx and claying to get them out.
 
Thanks Swetm! For my next question, should I use wax remover on this car with 3,900 miles on it? Or should I just wash the car, use the iron remover, and then wax with the Collinite? Any reason for me to try to remove whatever wax may have been put on the car? Or can I just put the collinite on there and not worry about it?
 
JSFM35X said:
If you use it on dry paint I assume you don`t wash, then dry, then apply Iron remover do you? I feel funny putting Iron remover on top of a dirty car. Wondering what you exact process is. Thanks for sharing.
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That is correct. Like everything else one has to make the judgment call on what is considered dirty. Google "Mike Phillips Aggressive Wash Method" and you will see the process I am referring to.
 
SWETM- That`s a good point about how many/most Ferrous Contamination products won`t work nearly as well on unoxidized contamination.

If something needed the Chemical followed by the Mechanical Decontamination, I`d do yet *another* Chemical one in case the Mechanical left something behind in the pores/etc. of the paint.

bennylava- Just FWIW, the Decon systems I`ve used always do an alkaline step first, which strips off anything like preexisting LSP. I`d be careful about assuming that a product made to remove Ferrous Contamination will also remove everything else.

With all the Decon work, I`d bet anything that *I* would end up doing some kind of something (polishing? paint cleaning? AIOing?) in-between the Decon and the LSPing anyhow.

BUT...OTOH...if everything seems fine, IME Collinite is one of those LSPs that can usually go over top of all sorts of stuff, including old wax, with no problems at all. Eh, that *is* kinda Autopian Heresy though :o
 
bennylava said:
Thanks Swetm! For my next question, should I use wax remover on this car with 3,900 miles on it? Or should I just wash the car, use the iron remover, and then wax with the Collinite? Any reason for me to try to remove whatever wax may have been put on the car? Or can I just put the collinite on there and not worry about it?
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As accumulator wrote an alkaline based product would be a good thing to do if you would only chemical stripping the paint before LSP. The prewash foam I use is an alkaline product and I could use a alkaline based degreaser to spray on before as a prewash decon step. Then a tar remover so you desolve the contaminants that is oil based that much of the road grime is. There is alot of worn off rubber and leaks and soot from fuels that is on the roads and been coming on the paint which some gets imbedded.

That is a logical move to even do a iron removal after claying too accumulator. This is a 3 step in the chemical removal I do the ironx product step.

The thought is that different chemicals desolves different kind of dirt on the car. That`s why I do those steps to get the paint clean as possible. If the paint still feels rough and have much of bonded contaminants left the claying is done. And if the claying is needed a fine polish maybe also be needed to get a clarity from the paint.

If you feel like the paint is clean enough and it`s smooth after your wash and ironx and I would wash again. Then go ahead and wax the car. If you see some kind of dirt and spots I would think about what dirt it is and use the chemical needed. When I think about it a bug and grime remover that many has manufactured as of late would be like the alkaline prewash spray on product I use. So use it on the whole car and not just on the front and front of the roof and mirrors.

This steps would I follow if it`s necessary to reapply the lsp and get the car clean as possible with chemicals only. I give the links to Gyeon products but could be switched to your likeing.

1. https://www.autopia-carcare.com/gyeon-q2m-bug-grime.html#.WxG9AlWew1I

2. https://www.autopia-carcare.com/gyeon-q2m-tar.html#.WxG9mVWew1I

3. https://www.autopia-carcare.com/gyeon-q2m-iron-500.html

3 and 4. Just read in the description of Gyeon Tar that their clay can be used with both Tar and Iron. So in useing Gyeon Iron with this clay you saves a couple of steps. This is also something that are getting more common with chemical resistant clay bars.
https://www.autopia-carcare.com/gyeon-q2m-clay.html#.WxG-a1Wew1I
 
pwaug said:
Accumulator--do you think a cleaner with a PH of 10 is alkaline enough to strip an existing lSP??
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I don`t know. I *do* think "gee, that`s pretty alkaline alright" but I`ve never been schooled on such stuff and I don`t want to talk without knowing.

I suspect that there`s more to it than the ph. And I *know* that you gotta be a bit careful about going extreme towards either end of the scale.
 
Note how SWETM and I are kinda presenting different points along the "how much to do?" spectrum. One of those genuinely subjective things where different subjects are gonna have different needs (and wants).

Look at all the stuff SWETM is suggesting...based on his experience that`s what often/usually needs doing, right?

Look at how little I`m leaning towards...based on my experiences with year-round dailies exposed to Ohio winters no less!
 
Accumulator said:
I don`t know. I *do* think "gee, that`s pretty alkaline alright" but I`ve never been schooled on such stuff and I don`t want to talk without knowing.

I suspect that there`s more to it than the ph. And I *know* that you gotta be a bit careful about going extreme towards either end of the scale.
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It just seems to me that it might do a better job of removing old wax/sealant than other "soaps" that claim to remove them and at least it is designed for vehicles--Purple Power Heavy Duty Premium Vehicle and Boat Wash Concentrate. Only $7.84/gallon. Not that you`d use this as a normal wash product, but for those times you need a strong wash.
 
Work upon work upon work! lol. Guess that is detailing for ya.

Anyway I was thinking that all you really need to remove old waxes, was the... ISP? IPS? Forgot the letters for this but its just an alcohol and water mixture.

Lastly for my education, lets see if I have this right. You need 3 things for this particular subsection of detailing:

1. The iron remover spray
2. The bug and grime remover spray
3. The tar remover spray.

Does that about cover it? I assume the "grime" in bug and grime remover is just simply dirt that may be embedded?
 
CarPro sells Trix which is an iron remover and tar remover combined. It doesn’t work as well (for me) as separate iron and tar removers but you could give it a try.
 
On average - how much of the iron is removed via chemical decon (Iron x, etc.)? Does it loosen the remaining contaminates so it is easier when claying?
 
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