Diesel fuel to clean the paint

SeaJay's said:
Wash solution for normal drive through car washes are heavy duty cleaners that will strip your car of the wax, grime, some tar, etc. Then they have the spray wax feature which usually doesn't last very long.

I was not talking about the Megs, 3m, optimum, etc. Most detailers shampoos are PH neutral so they will not strip any wax from your car.

Kudos to you for keeping your mouth shut! I've always had an issue with that and it tends to get me into trouble sometimes. But your smart doing it that way. Especially if they are going to bring you some business.
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Yeah... I know how to be political, that's for sure...

forrest@mothers said:
DaC - where are you located? I'm thinking you're not in the US, correct?

The comments about environmental concerns may not be an issue where he is, regardless of how those of us in the US think.
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I knew someone would eventually bring this question and I was waiting for it....
I'm from Brazil.... Im the MAN
Really guys, we still lack a lot of inspection and regulations about much stuff. I even never heard about MSDS before come into here and hear you guys talking about it.... really labels and manufacturers don't give almost any information or only superficial about what's inside their products....

As a civil engineering undergraduate I share all of yours concerns about the environment I think this should be taken more seriously here... :dblthumb2:
 
ZimRandy said:
This is from the MSDS of a popular waterless wash product (not sold by AG) that is pretty commonly sold at car shows and flea markets.
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+1 for ZimRandy. :)

Like it has been said - not best practice, but not harming it probably. On an old Single Stage paint, I can tell you why the would put it in wash solution. It will make it shine!

Back when I bought my first vehicle, it was a crappy, semi-existent paint job. Some spots were bare (surface rusted) metal, some down to primer, some just failing paint (single stage). It never looked better than when I gave it a Kerosene wipedown. The next day at school, all my buddies wanted to know what kind of wax I used. It GLEAMED!

Not sure if it has the same effect on clear coats or not - haven't ever tried it.

DLB
 
DaC said:
Yeah... I know how to be political, that's for sure...



I knew someone would eventually bring this question and I was waiting for it....
I'm from Brazil.... Im the MAN
Really guys, we still lack a lot of inspection and regulations about much stuff. I even never heard about MSDS before come into here and hear you guys talking about it.... really labels and manufacturers don't give almost any information or only superficial about what's inside their products....

As a civil engineering undergraduate I share all of yours concerns about the environment I think this should be taken more seriously here... :dblthumb2:
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I worked in large manufacturing facility for 35 yrs as maintenance supervisor. Had a crew of 27 people. MSDS is a must and OSHA requirement. Every chemical, spray, cleaner ,,,, had to have a MSDS sheet on it and I had to train every employee twice a yr on ALL products used in process. Just my 2 cents.
 
mark58 said:
I worked in large manufacturing facility for 35 yrs as maintenance supervisor. Had a crew of 27 people. MSDS is a must and OSHA requirement. Every chemical, spray, cleaner ,,,, had to have a MSDS sheet on it and I had to train every employee twice a yr on ALL products used in process. Just my 2 cents.
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Nice! I really don't know how things should work here on paper, I just know that regarding to this matter it's not even close like it's there. :bash:
 
The raw kerosene or diesel wipe down was common back in the day when single stage paint was the only type known. Many car lots and some consumers used it for a temporary shine and depth. It helped sell horribly faded cars by putting oils back into the dry lifeless paint.
 
The city I live in has a large car wash on the main drag, it's a fairly affluent area so they see their fair share of high end cars. There's an independent detailer there on weekends and all of his customers or the washes customers that use him have the cars washed offline by hand,. Maybe you could arrange soemthing like that?
I spoke with him once when he was at the McDonalds across the lot and he told me for the off line wash he refunds $15 of his fee back to the car wash and supplies all the materials. Did not ask what he used but thought that was a novel concept or avoid the CWISO. He mainly does Clay/waxes on weekends there. Says he gets about 5 cars a day on weekends.
 
bobble said:
The city I live in has a large car wash on the main drag, it's a fairly affluent area so they see their fair share of high end cars. There's an independent detailer there on weekends and all of his customers or the washes customers that use him have the cars washed offline by hand,. Maybe you could arrange soemthing like that?
I spoke with him once when he was at the McDonalds across the lot and he told me for the off line wash he refunds $15 of his fee back to the car wash and supplies all the materials. Did not ask what he used but thought that was a novel concept or avoid the CWISO. He mainly does Clay/waxes on weekends there. Says he gets about 5 cars a day on weekends.
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This is just what I'm doing.
I actually agreed on a payment for the owner of the car wash for every car I did. I must say it was pretty hard to arrange that because I'm just beginning and charge very little for close friends, so I couldn't really offer much money, but I ended up getting along with this car wash after being turned down by a lot of others and also parking lots. I just needed a place to do it.....
At first it is gonna be polishing only, but I understand that polishing alone is only the first step to keep a car well cared for a long time..... so I'll try to agree with him a fee to wash a couple of cars also.... but I don't want to mess with his clients in the services he already provides... it will be kind of a double standard work I'll need to do....
 
RTexasF said:
The raw kerosene or diesel wipe down was common back in the day when single stage paint was the only type known. Many car lots and some consumers used it for a temporary shine and depth. It helped sell horribly faded cars by putting oils back into the dry lifeless paint.
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Ya beat me to saying this.

The 'lot boy' would keep hosing them down to show the customers how nice the 'wax finish' beaded up. Then the customer would wash it the first time and, KAPUT. The paint looked like poop.

Yup, those 'were the days'. Glad they are mostly over.

Just my $.02...

Bill
 
BillE said:
Ya beat me to saying this.

The 'lot boy' would keep hosing them down to show the customers how nice the 'wax finish' beaded up. Then the customer would wash it the first time and, KAPUT. The paint looked like poop.

Yup, those 'were the days'. Glad they are mostly over.

Just my $.02...

Bill
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I agree with you.... this is bad to business specially for detailers...
Still the best practice is to try to educate your costumer about things like that...
 
RTexasF said:
The raw kerosene or diesel wipe down was common back in the day when single stage paint was the only type known. Many car lots and some consumers used it for a temporary shine and depth. It helped sell horribly faded cars by putting oils back into the dry lifeless paint.
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Exactly what I was about to post. Those kerosened cars would look great for about a day; then the dust came. Boy could it cover some heavy oxidation. I might have bought one. Can't remember.
My Army buddy bought a twelve year old Ford for $150. Burned about five quarts of oil a week. Another dealer trick victim, lol.
 
When I first saw this thread I scrolled right by thinking someone was looking to remove tar or something. Now that I've read it it leaves me with mouth wide open that anyone would put diesel fuel in car wash solution.

Way back when many old-timers used to give their cars a kerosene bath before winter. The thinking was the petroleum distillates permeate the seams, nooks and crannies and prevent rust. It must've worked because the guys driving those 20+ year old cars didn't have any rust! But they also washed the kerosene off the surface and waxed the car before winter. And they certainly didn't have to worry about any tar before they waxed!

Those same guys used to save their used oil and spray the undersides of their cars then head for a dirt road.... kindof a poor man's undercoating. And like I said, their cars didn't have any rust. Crude but effective.

Their garages were pretty stinky and the floors covered with all kinds of drips and crud though.

Different strokes...

TL
 
Undercoating and oil spray on car did not help much. back in the 60's you buy a car for $2000.00 to $3000.00 finance it for 36 months and before you can pay it off there was no frame or body left on the car. Where salt was used on roads you had body holes in 2 yrs.
 
mark58 said:
Undercoating and oil spray on car did not help much. back in the 60's you buy a car for $2000.00 to $3000.00 finance it for 36 months and before you can pay it off there was no frame or body left on the car. Where salt was used on roads you had body holes in 2 yrs.
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Had a Vega, huh? :D Those things looked like swiss cheese after just a few years.

TL
 
Thank you for all the input guys (except for Flash Gordon, of course). I was able to draw many nice conclusions and get the big picture from where this diesel stuff came from....
 
DaC said:
Thank you for all the input guys (except for Flash Gordon, of course). I was able to draw many nice conclusions and get the big picture from where this diesel stuff came from....
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I'll take your rejection as a compliment ;)
 
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