Ipa or m34?

S

solekeeper

New member
Hey guys, I've been discussing with a few members what they like best to remove polishing residue. (I'm wetsanding, and my compounds are m105, m205, and UF)



I'm curious as to what the pro's/con's are of each and which you guys would reccomend me?



And as far as I understand I do not have to dilute the IPA, it's just a precaution, correct?
 
solekeeper said:
Hey guys, I've been discussing with a few members what they like best to remove polishing residue. (I'm wetsanding, and my compounds are m105, m205, and UF)



I'm curious as to what the pro's/con's are of each and which you guys would reccomend me?



And as far as I understand I do not have to dilute the IPA, it's just a precaution, correct?
Click to expand...



Personally I use a tightly woven towel and get the rest with 50/50 IPA and water. I've never used M34, but I haven't found a need to buy a commercial product. After polishing, I'd also recommend a dawn wash to completely remove all oils .
 
solekeeper- You already know my positions on this, but some others might benefit....



I use M34 when micromarring might be a concern. M105 residue is a perfect example; it stays abrasive and you can cause micromarring if you buff it off incorrectly. A product like M34 offers lots of lubrication and encapsulation and can thus minimize such concerns. ONR and other such products can work great too.



OTOH, I use IPA when my primary concern is cleaning off residual oils and other carrier agents. And FWIW I find TOL's PrepWash to be much better for this, even if it does, *IMO*, sorta need a little rinsing whereas IPA does not. The way IPA evaporates "cleanly" is a good feature when checking for hidden residual marring; it'll get the oils off well enough for that so it's quick and easy. But the PrepWash does a more thorough job, and with products like M205 that can be significant (even if you just use it at the end of the polishing session).



AFAIK, people dilute IPA to make it more gentle on the paint (and whatever else it might contact). I don't bother, but I might when doing one of my older, more fragile cars.
 
good explanation as usual accum.





One question, would you count fresh paint that has been wetsanded "fragile" enough to dilute the ipa?

or is there no need to
 
solekeeper said:
One question, would you count fresh paint that has been wetsanded "fragile" enough to dilute the ipa?

or is there no need to
Click to expand...



I wouldn't, but heh heh....do you want to risk a paintjob over my educated guess?



But seriously, shops wipe down fresh paintjobs with PrepSol/etc. all the time and IMO IPA is mild compared to such solvents.
 
Gotcha. Seems like I'll just try out the straight ipa wipe and see what happens.



Accum, how do I know if the residue is gone? lol
 
solekeeper said:
Gotcha. Seems like I'll just try out the straight ipa wipe and see what happens.



Accum, how do I know if the residue is gone? lol
Click to expand...



Sorta the flip-side to realizing that you have the problem in the first place :D See if you can spot an "holograms" (scare-quotes intentional, these are "pseudo-holograms" from the oils catching light in odd ways) and if not then no worries.



When I was tired of doing the requisite inpections (spotting those holograms, pseudo or not is a huge PIA), I just looked to see if repeated wipings with IPA/PrepWash resulted in "rainbow" type effects. Spray the stuf on, let it dwell, see if you can spot the rainbow effects that say "there's oil on here". With the IPA I kept seeing it, after two tries with PrepWash it went away.\



Again, you *might not even have an issue*. It's not like Meguiar's expects it to be a problem and they oughta know.
 
solekeeper said:
If you don;t cut it, and use it straight, would one wipe be enough to take off the oils from m105?
Click to expand...



Probably, but IME it's usually not enough to do the job on the oils from M205. But YMMV, some paints are "sticky" in that regard and it's really hard to get the oils out/off of them.
 
Legacy99 said:
You can use it straight, but it's better to cut it so it does not evaporate to quickly.
Click to expand...



This is the main reason for diluting Isopropyl Alcohol.



The reason for applying it is to dissolve and remove any residual oils or residue from polishing and to inspect the surface to ensure what ever defects were discovered were removed. Alcohol evaporates very quickly and by diluting it 1:1 with water, it slows doe the evaporation thus allowing you more time to wipe everything off before the it dries redepositing contaminants back onto the surface.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top