Is It Possible to Chemically Strip Sealants?

swanicyouth

swanicyouth

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I'm going to say almost No. The more I try, the more I fail. Waxes can be stripped, sealants not so easy.

My car had Wolfgang Deep Gloss Liquid Seal topped with Souverän. I started with CG Citrus Wash 1oz per gallon. No good.

Then I assembled these products:

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Each one was tried. This ended up being a 4 hour carwash. The beading wouldn't die. I planned on using a paint cleaner anyway.

These pics show the best I could do to kill the beading using the above products.

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While the beading isn't tight, I just can't kill it. Am I doing something wrong?
 
I have tried a lot of what you have as well. I've learned to use and love paint cleaners. P21s is awesome, and I like Pinnacle and Blackfire as well. They offer good ones. I don't have much advice, as when I hit this wall I just used a paint cleaner to do it! It's a hard battle for me as well. I know how you're feeling.
 
I'm starting to think Griots Paint Prep is a joke. It doesn't remove sealants, period. For $15 a bottle (and I used almost a whole bottle) I would expect something. Got better results with Sonus All in 1.
 
You know sometimes the protection may be gone and the paint still beads water if it's in good shape. I've had this problem a lot of times when I first started doing coatings, no matter what I would throw at some of these cars I couldn't get the water to flatten out. After this happen about 10 times and some consulting with lots of people I came to the conclusion that healthy paint beads water with nothing on it.
 
I agree, but I would have to say that they will tend to degrade the sealants eventually.

As Chris mentioned paint cleaners seem to be the best at removing sealants.
 
What about a product like Gtechniq panel wipe? I've never tried on a sealant, just after polishing. The stuff smells like gasoline so it's some sort of solvent. It seemed like a great product when I used before applying C1, but then again who really knows if any of these products really do as good of a job as they claim.
 
Low boiling point naphtha will strip most sealants. I know some car manafactures use it before applying emblems. It's in the Wurth clean solve along with xylene. It may be what smells like gas in the panel wipe.
 
Jsmooth said:
You know sometimes the protection may be gone and the paint still beads water if it's in good shape.
I've had this problem a lot of times when I first started doing coatings, no matter
what I would throw at some of these cars I couldn't get the water to flatten out.
After this happen about 10 times and some consulting with lots of people

I came to the conclusion that healthy paint beads water with nothing on it.

^^^:iagree:^^^
Click to expand...
Due to surface tension:
Clean paint surfaces, without having any applied protection/LSP's, will:
More often than not, exhibit water beading.

Also:
I've found the best bet to: "chemically totally strip" wax/sealant-LSP's in
order to leave behind clean-paint is to use what body-shop painters use:

Fast evaporating "strippers" that won't leave a film. Such as:
-DuPont PrepSol
-3M Prep Solvent
-Wurth Clean Solve
-Klean Strip Prep-All

But using a mild polish to "strip" wax/sealant-LSP's may be a process preferred by some folks.
You can usually, except for super-extraordinary situations...and "Test-Spot inspections"...count me in with them.

:)

Bob
 
FUNX725 said:
Due to surface tension:
Clean paint surfaces, without having any applied protection/LSP's, will:
More often than not, exhibit water beading.

Also:
I've found the best bet to: "chemically totally strip" wax/sealant-LSP's in
order to leave behind clean-paint is to use what body-shop painters use:

Fast evaporating "strippers" that won't leave a film. Such as:
-DuPont PrepSol
-3M Prep Solvent
-Wurth Clean Solve
-Klean Strip Prep-All

But using a mild polish to "strip" wax/sealant-LSP's may be a process preferred by some folks.
You can usually, except for super-extraordinary situations...and "Test-Spot inspections"...count me in with them.

:)

Bob
Click to expand...

Bob,

Of these four,

1) which do you like most and why?
2) any safety things I should be aware of if I store it in an apartment?

As always, thanks for your in depth information and posts :)
 
ihaveacamaro said:
Bob,

Of these four,

1) which do you like most and why?
2) any safety things I should be aware of if I store it in an apartment?

As always, thanks for your in depth information and posts :)
Click to expand...
Hi Roshan...

1.)
-Probably PrepSol
-Because it's a DuPont product
-Because it's like using: "souped-up"<<<(showing my age again...LOL) mineral spirits.

Note:
I've used all of the above solvents and am glad to report there are no: Losers...amongst them.


2.) From DuPont PrepSol's MSDS:

Handling and Storage Precautions:
-OBSERVE LABEL PRECAUTIONS
-KEEP AWAY FROM HEAT/SPARKS/FLAMES
-CLOSE CONTAINER AFTER EACH USE
-GROUND CONTAINERS WHEN POURING
-DONT STORE >120F

Other Precautions:
DONT SAND/FLAME CUT/BRAZE/WELD DRY COATING W/O
NIOSH/MSHA APPROVED RESPIRATOR OR APPROPRIATE VENTILATION.

Hazards:
Routes of Entry:
Inhalation:YES; Skin:YES; Ingestion:NO

Reports of Carcinogenicity:
NTP:NO IARC:NO OSHA:NO

Health Hazards Acute and Chronic:
-INHALATION: MAY CAUSE NOSE/THROAT IRRITATION.

-MAY CAUSE NERVOUS SYSTEM DEPRESSION CHARACTERIZED BY THE FOLLOWING PROGRESSIVE STEPS:
HEADACHE, DIZZINESS, NAUSEA, STAGGERING GAIT, CONFUSION, UNCONSCIENCENESS.

-REPORTS HAVE ASSOCIATED PREPSOL AND OTHER SOLVENTS OVEREXPOSURE W/PERMANENT BRAIN/NERVOUS SYSTEM DAMAGE

-SKIN/EYE:MAY CAUSE IRRITATION, BURNING OF EYES

-LIQUID CONTACT MAY CAUSE SKIN IRRITATION W/DISCOMFORT, DERMATITIS
____________________________________________________________________________________________________


The other, above solvents will have similar precautions/warnings as their common denominators.

Hope this helps some.


:)

Bob
 
FUNX725 said:
Due to surface tension:
Clean paint surfaces, without having any applied protection/LSP's, will:
More often than not, exhibit water beading.


But using a mild polish to "strip" wax/sealant-LSP's may be a process preferred by some folks.
You can usually, except for super-extraordinary situations...and "Test-Spot inspections"...count me in with them.

:)

Bob
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I was gonna say, why not simply polish it. Not sure if it works well or not but that would have been the 1st thing I would have tried. Sealants are supposed to resist everything, it's their job.
 
As you probably know, I have been fighting this corner for some time. The old 'Dawn' myth is hilarious and, to a degree, worrying. The time is well over-due that the matter of surfactant residues/films becomes common knowledge and the myth of easy surfactant based stripping is well an truly debunked!

This particular example is just the problem I face all the time - how do you get the darned stuff off?! As I have said before, alkalinity will work but will take time (strong APC/water based degreasers). As Bob has pointed out, non-polar solvent based products provide the best option. From this point of view, Trix should have had reasonable effect but the tendency of this to separate when not shaken would be a problem here.

Any UK users will have strong solvent products as a routine part of their process, in the form of tar removers. No need for anything particularly special, most of the products in this class will be effective strippers. The only limitation is contact time as many are quite volatile and fluid so will evaporate or run off before full stripping occurs, as such you can need several applications.

Of course polish products (be careful they are pure polishes, no silicones or anything to give protection) will work even better. If you are willing to use a machine, even non-abrasive cleansers onto a finishing pad should be effective.
 
I only use paint cleaner-polish type products. If I'm going to go through the trouble of removing a sealant, I will use a paint cleaner with a DA polisher and work "Forward". That way, I know its done right , not to mention amping up the shine and gloss factor while preparing the surface for the next LSP.
 
It would probably take someone with a lab to resolve this but it would be interesting to compare these solvents both for effectiveness in removing sealants AND as to whether or not they leave any residues of their own behind. In addition to the solvents cited I would throw the following into the comparison:

DuPont 3909S Final Klean (this one specifically claims to leave no residue behind)
DuPont/Spies Hecker 7010 (slow) or 7799 (fast) Silicone Remover
ValuGard N-122 New Car Prep

The problem with many of the older "paint cleaner" detailing products on the market is that they leave something behind which can be an issue for coatings. I haven't used it yet bit I gather that Duragloss Squeaky Clean is designed to leave nothing, or close to it, behind. I don't know much about Orchard Auto Care Luminos or the new product coming from Optimum.
 
silverfox said:
I only use paint cleaner-polish type products. If I'm going to go through the trouble of removing a sealant, I will use a paint cleaner with a DA polisher and work "Forward". That way, I know its done right , not to mention amping up the shine and gloss factor while preparing the surface for the next LSP.
Click to expand...

My preferred method. Otherwise nu finish with dawn does the trick

Sent from my SCH-I605 using AG Online
 
Lost Highway said:
It would probably take someone with a lab to resolve this but it would be interesting to compare these solvents both for effectiveness in removing sealants AND as to whether or not they leave any residues of their own behind.
Click to expand...

In many regards the effectiveness of the base solvents is well enough known. Unfortunately there is more to it than that because stripping is only half the job, not stripping the paint itself is part 2. The more effective the solvent, the more likely it is to not only strip the LSP but also eat the laquer and even through to the underlying paint. This is why it is important not to just randomly use solvent products on your vehicle, you need to ensure that someone has actually tested that they are safe.
 
Pre-wax cleaner products such as PB Pro Polish, Wolfgang Paint Cleanser, Mothers Step 1.
 
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