Ipa

I'm confused. When I smell Four Star's prewax paint cleaner, it smells likes mineral spirits to me. I've used other paint cleaners for years and I'm sure there are solvents and lubricating oils in them. I have to assume that all the prewax cleaners that are used before a sealant contain some type of solvent and polishing oils.

Since mineral spirits is cheap, it doesn't react with clear coat paints and the Meguiar's chemists used it to clean paint between experiments, I would guess that it is a commonly used solvent in formulation of car care products.

If that is true, mineral spirits should be a good solvent to remove residual polishes, sealants and waxes as a wipedown product.

If nothing else, at least we have a couple of options to wipe down paint surfaces between steps.
 
Kurt_s said:
If nothing else, at least we have a couple of options to wipe down paint surfaces between steps.
Click to expand...


That's always been one of my points... there are multiple options, find the one that works best for you and you like, (that's two things).

Off the top of my head...
  1. IPA
  2. MS
  3. APC
  4. Detergent Wash
  5. Glass Cleaner
  6. Paint Cleaner
  7. Paint Prep Products (Preps-All, Menzerna Top Inspection , or Griot's Paint Prep)


Find something --> you <-- like...


:D
 
If there seems to be pros/cons to the top two wipedown options (IPA and MS), then why not use something formulated for such a purpose? i.e. Menzerna Top Inspection/Griots Paint Prep? I mean it's something that could be conveniently sprayed just like IPA/MS, so you could use it immediately after polishing or between polishing steps.

Why hasn't anyone commented on just going this route instead? Is it the COST? because IPA and MS are simply cheaper? Or are there issues with Menzerna Top Insp and Griots Paint Prep that I don't know about either?
 
sportscarhiatus said:
If there seems to be pros/cons to the top two wipedown options (IPA and MS), then why not use something formulated for such a purpose? i.e. Menzerna Top Inspection/Griots Paint Prep? I mean it's something that could be conveniently sprayed just like IPA/MS, so you could use it immediately after polishing or between polishing steps.

Why hasn't anyone commented on just going this route instead? Is it the COST? because IPA and MS are simply cheaper? Or are there issues with Menzerna Top Insp and Griots Paint Prep that I don't know about either?
Click to expand...

Since IPA and MS does the same job, cost is definately a factor.
 
sportscarhiatus said:
If there seems to be pros/cons to the top two wipedown options (IPA and MS), then why not use something formulated for such a purpose? i.e. Menzerna Top Inspection/Griots Paint Prep? I mean it's something that could be conveniently sprayed just like IPA/MS, so you could use it immediately after polishing or between polishing steps.

Why hasn't anyone commented on just going this route instead? Is it the COST? because IPA and MS are simply cheaper? Or are there issues with Menzerna Top Insp and Griots Paint Prep that I don't know about either?
Click to expand...

It is because sometimes or really most of the time these two products are not strong enough to remove all the polish residue. Find yourself a true solvent and all your wipe down problems will be solved.

Also those that asked about a paint cleaner they do container some filler so they are not going to fully remove your lsp or polish residue.
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
It is because sometimes or really most of the time these two products are not strong enough to remove all the polish residue. Find yourself a true solvent and all your wipe down problems will be solved.

Also those that asked about a paint cleaner they do container some filler so they are not going to fully remove your lsp or polish residue.
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Would gasoline work? J/J Where have you been?
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
It is because sometimes or really most of the time these two products are not strong enough to remove all the polish residue. Find yourself a true solvent and all your wipe down problems will be solved.

Also those that asked about a paint cleaner they do container some filler so they are not going to fully remove your lsp or polish residue.
Click to expand...

I've never used it, but would Varsol be too strong for a wipedown? That stuff is strong.
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
Neither do I but, I like to give correct information when I post though.
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I agree, it's important to provide accurate information.

I just spoke with a real chemist just now on the phone about this issue and he said the fast drying mineral spirits don't contain any appreciable amount of oils that would mask defects.

He did say that wiping with IPA could lead to scratching because it drys the surface so thoroughly and evaporates fast enough that it provides no lubrication.


So again... the big picture is find a product you like and use it often, or as you need it...


"Find something you like and use it often"


:laughing:
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I agree, it's important to provide accurate information.

I just spoke with a real chemist just now on the phone about this issue and he said the fast drying mineral spirits don't contain any appreciable amount of oils that would mask defects.

He did say that wiping with IPA could lead to scratching because it drys the surface so thoroughly and evaporates fast enough that it provides no lubrication.


So again... the big picture is find a product you like and use it often, or as you need it...


"Find something you like and use it often"


:laughing:
Click to expand...

Are there any other kind of chemists other than the real ones?

Assuming that we are using Grade A Autogeek microfiber towel, there should not be any scratching to the surface after the alcohol dries? I use IPA day in and day out without any problems...
 
bimmersales said:
Assuming that we are using Grade A Autogeek microfiber towel, there should not be any scratching to the surface after the alcohol dries?
Click to expand...

Even the "Grade A Autogeek" towels can scratch the paint ;)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I agree, it's important to provide accurate information.

I just spoke with a real chemist just now on the phone about this issue and he said the fast drying mineral spirits don't contain any appreciable amount of oils that would mask defects.

He did say that wiping with IPA could lead to scratching because it drys the surface so thoroughly and evaporates fast enough that it provides no lubrication.


So again... the big picture is find a product you like and use it often, or as you need it...


"Find something you like and use it often"


:laughing:
Click to expand...

Mike that is great you found a chemist to ask for information about this for yourself. In the real world though, after wiping paint down with mineral spirits it does leave a film. Also how would IPA cause scratching other than using a cheap towel to wipe off polish residue. Plus the whole point of a true solvent wipe down is to remove the lubricant and have the paint as dry as possible so you can see the true finish.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I agree, it's important to provide accurate information.

I just spoke with a real chemist just now on the phone about this issue and he said the fast drying mineral spirits don't contain any appreciable amount of oils that would mask defects.

He did say that wiping with IPA could lead to scratching because it drys the surface so thoroughly and evaporates fast enough that it provides no lubrication.


So again... the big picture is find a product you like and use it often, or as you need it...


"Find something you like and use it often"


:laughing:
Click to expand...
Ironic that you mentioned this. I was just going to start a thread asking about mineral spirits masking defects because I found that IPA(1:1) was marring the paint, and I did use a high quality MF towel. If you spoke to a true chemist, I'm sure they know this issue. Is there a specific "fast drying" type of mineral spirits?
 
bimmersales said:
I use IPA day in and day out without any problems...
Click to expand...
It depends on the paint. Today, I used a Cobra 530 MF towel to remove polish residue. Then, I did an IPA wipedown, wiped the area and it marred like crazy(not polish induced marring). I re-polished the area and wiped down with mineral spirits, no marring. IME, some paints work well with IPA, some don't.
 
I've been convinced that IPA is not just for zits anymore so I got 2 quarts of the high grade from Wally World. It's a good thing that I have grade A+ microfiber towels.
 
In my experience IPA alone has not marred paint. I have sprayed it on paint and let it dry and it still didn't scratch. :dunno: Seriously though, I have used the 91% straight with no effects. I firmly believe that it's the product you are using it with. I used a generic mf towel to remove polish residue with slight marring, switched to a Cobra Indigo and no marring.
 
Dubbin1 said:
Even the "Grade A Autogeek" towels can scratch the paint ;)
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I guess what you are saying is that IPA is not the cause of the scratching but rather the inferior Autogeek towels....

to Z- OH-6

A good quality microfiber towel should not scratch the paint, regardless of the paint type....Plain and simple...The whole point of using IPA is to get rid of any remaining residue of polish or oils or whatever.....IPA does not cause cause scrtaching. Can you tell me what kind of car and what year it was that the IPA with the 530 towel caused the scratches on? If your 530 towel caused scratches with IPA, it did it with mineral spirits as well. You just didn't see it because of the film left on the paint from the mineral spirits.
 
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