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I finally got my order in of all Mothers products, clay kit, glaze, wax, etc, but first I need to strip off the crap the dealer put on. I hear that Dawn soap takes off all wax, sealers, etc. My question is, how bad will it hurt the clear coat layer or the paint? I will only be using Dawn this time to strip the waxes off and use the Mothers wash the rest of the time.
Location: Still in Portland, Oregon, for some reason
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Nope. I use Dawn all the time when prepping cars for clay, correction, and protection. It's a great sealant stripper that leaves the finish untouched. I wouldn't use it all the time, though.
It's not so much that's it's bad for the paint, but high alkaline soaps like Dawn are very harsh on exterior plastic and rubber pieces. Never a good thing.
If you want to remove the old wax, the clay bar will do most of the trick. Then you can spray down the car with Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) diluted 1:1 and that will take care of the surface prep. Klasse All-in-One also works very well for stripping old wax.
I;m old school "if it aint broke dont fix it" i've noticed that new cars today can keep a showroom shine on them with nothing more than an occasional wash and wax so i dont see the need for this major detailing you are about to undertake, you realize of course as a novice when it comes to detailing you could screw it up and then have to take it to a professional to get back to square one, lets hope it all works out fine..
Some before and after pics would be interesting..
Have you done some research on APC ? http://www.ehow.com/how_5967526_keep-shine-new-car.html
Dawn doesn't hurt the paint. It does strip off all protectants and waxes though, so you need to make sure you put a layer of something (wax, polymer sealant, etc) on it after you do a Dawn wash. Don't use it for regular washes, just to strip before a good detail.
Location: Still in Portland, Oregon, for some reason
890 posts, read 3,699,404 times
Reputation: 743
Quote:
Originally Posted by jambo101
I;m old school "if it aint broke dont fix it" i've noticed that new cars today can keep a showroom shine on them with nothing more than an occasional wash and wax so i dont see the need for this major detailing you are about to undertake, you realize of course as a novice when it comes to detailing you could screw it up and then have to take it to a professional to get back to square one, lets hope it all works out fine..
Personally I'm fanatical about keeping my car shiny and swirl-free. Some people may see it as frivolous and unnecessary but I like knowing that my car looks as good as it possibly can. It's a point of personal pride and also provides great satisfaction. And it just makes my day when people come up to me and say, "Your car looks brand new!"
Would you use laundry soap to take a bath? I try not to be cheap and use soap that's made to be used for cars. Just me.
The point is that soaps made for cars are supposed to NOT strip off teh old wax. He apparently WANTS to get rid of the wax and contaminants before starting a detailing regime, so in tis case, Dawn will work better than automotive soaps. After it's detailed, then he can use specific automotive cleaners.
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