Removing Old Wax And Polish

[sIIgtst]

Hi all

Planning on detailing the line before the SnS.

I'm going to clay bar the car to get the paint clear of impurities. But

want to remove all the old "products" that are on the paint first.

I have never givin it a thorough complete detail and I'm sure that over the

years its accumulated a nice layer of polish residue and wax's etc.

So what should i use to remove all the old products that are on the car?

normal car wash good enough? or is there a specific product?

Any input / recomendations would be great.

Cheers,

Corey

[Spunky Munky]

Go to Autobarn, and get a Turtle Icewash (or something like that)...it's basically a washing lotion that is really strong...basically put it through a drive-through car wash, then apply this lotion and scrub...then put the car through the car wash again....then you're ready to Claybar then apply wax.

Good luck.

[our12]

Hi.

Buy some wax and grease remover

[Psymon]

Most companies will do a paint cleaner designed for this purpose. I've always used Mother's paint cleaner. Not for any particular reason, just because it seems to do the job. Follow this with a clay bar for stubborn stains/sap etc. Wash again, then a polish. Finish it off with some good quality wax and it will be beautiful!

[fat-lad]

dish wash liquid with warm water, wash as normal,

[sIIgtst]

^^^ I was under the impression that dish wash liqiud was no good for the cars paint due to PH levels and such.

can anyone confirm this?

[PM-R33]

I used to sell car care products at Autobarn so i used a wide variety of products until i found the ones i liked best. Every one has different preferences, budgets and how long they want to spend on the car so it changes from each individual.

I also used slightly different products on my white car then what we used on the old mans black Monaro, however this was mainly with waxes and polishes.

For getting rid of wax and contaminents in the paint, wash the car first with something like Meguiars Soft Wash/Gold Class (the shampoo you use isn't really important for this stage due to you trying to get rid of everything on the paint first instead of keeping the wax on there and giving it a shine again). Once the car is washed well use a pre-wax cleaner. I find the Mothers pre-wax cleaner to be very good due to its easy application and fairly good price. http://www.mothers.com/02_products/07100.html

This will get rid of most of the contaminents in the paint, if however you want to do a more thorough job than use a clay bar afterwards paying a lot of attention to the roof and bonnet since this sees the most crap built up on it. Personally i use the Mothers clay bar or the Bowdens one due to them being a light colour so you can tell when they start to get dirty and need replacement.

Then your ready for the wax of your choice. Use a synthetic wax if you want a good shine/depth to the colour (mainly for darker cars, mine being white means its hard to get a depth in the paint compared to dads black) or use a natural Carnauba wax if you want long lasting protection. Personally i like the natural Carnauba waxes due to the harsh sun we have up here, even though they are a little harder to apply then a synthetic wax such as the Meguiars Tech Wax.

With all this done the car's paint should feel like glass and a cloth should slide off of it when dropped on the car's surface.

Goodluck

Edited November 22, 2009 by PM-R33

[sIIgtst]

Thanks for the detailed post PM-R33

i'm off work tomorrow so ill head down to supa cheap / autobarn and get some gear

and have a crack at bringing the black paint up to a nice shine. looks like ill

have my work cut out for me.

stupid black cars and stupid swirl marks

[PM-R33]

For a black car the best polish that i discovered was the Autoglym Ultra Deep Shine made for dark colours. Works well against swirl marks aswell. We use it on dads car. Down side is it's very expensive.

[Davexr8]

Grab some wax and grease remover from Bunnings. Its about $10.00.

Start off by washing then claying your car to remove as much contaminants as possible then rinse and dry.

Then use 2 old MF towels. 1 slightly soaked with the wax and grease remover and the other one dry. and use a wipe on wipe off method.

This will remove all old wax/polish/sealants.

You can then move onto your polishing and final waxing.

[sIIgtst]

For a black car the best polish that i discovered was the Autoglym Ultra Deep Shine made for dark colours. Works well against swirl marks aswell. We use it on dads car. Down side is it's very expensive.

Its cheaper than a respray which is what ive been contemplating as the only solution lol

so i think ill give it ago as nothing ive ever used can remove the swirl marks

cheers for the suggestion, real world experience is always the best IMO.

[PM-R33]

Yeah that Autoglym stuff is great on dark colours, really brings the depth of the colour back.

I know what you mean about the swirl marks, i've detailed a couple of mates cars before and dark colours and swirls is a pain. I find that doing a good thorough job a few times (say every couple of months or something) eventually gets rid of them.

[DaGr81]

Use the girl in spunky munkys pic , she's a little slow but shell turn out right

Oh and what pm-r33 said

[sIIgtst]

^^ LOL

yeah i figured I'd have to do a few thorough wash, clay, polish, wax jobs before it started to really shine.

but hopefully i can do just enough to make it look reasonable for the upcoming show n shine.

am planning on doing a full day. when the weather is right.

going to do the following

wash ( with a wash designed to remove other products)

clay (meguiar's quick clay)

wash ( meguiar's gold class)

polish (autoglym ultra deep shine)

wax (meguiar's carnuabu wax)

sit back with a beer and admire the shine

that is if my arm is still able to lift a beer after a day of on off terry towelling.

I'll post up my results with the above mentioned products for anyone who is interested.

will be done next weekend at this stage.

Corey,

[mosoto]

Without dissing your washing style, I'd suggest learn how to wash the car as well. Swirl marks are created solely from the technique used to wash the car, use the right technique and you'll avoid getting them back.

http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid...+car&hl=en#

http://waxit.com.au/proddetail.asp?prod=GG1010&cat=64

[sIIgtst]

^^ yeah i changed the way i wash a car when i first got the line. unfortunately the previous owner didnt have to much washing prowess and i think the car got a bit of a beating by many a car wash broom

finalinspection.com has been of great help to me over the years

ive learnt many a technique to not create any more swirl marks

i now use 3 buckets and mitts.

i just havent done a thorough detail hence why i asked about removing old products. as i want to give it the full treatment.

[mosoto]

no worries m8, I had a sneaking suspicion you were the innocent party