Comparison for LSP Strippers (With photos)

[Joeyavhu]

I read a lot about people asking how to remove an LSP, whether it be wax, sealant, etc. I have found very few answers, besides dedicated paint cleaners and decided to do my own side by side comparison. I hope this helps those of you who are looking for different ways to strip off these products, whether it be for a new application or just to not clog up the pads.

As you see here, I started with my personal vehicle. 2013 Malibu LTZ, Granite Black Metallic. I planned on (and did) stripping everything, polishing, jeweling, then sealing with 2 coats of Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant. It is normally not in such a state but when I hurt my foot 2 weeks ago, I started parking outside my garage to let the dirt and pollen pile up.

The LSP that was currently on is a 3-4 month old application of Wolfgang Fuzion Wax. I really want it known that this is not how my car normally looks, it was painful to let it get to this level.

You can see the starting point is pretty rough. I taped up the four section that I planned on doing and then spray it with water to get a control. This is how the wax was holding up

Here were the products I was going to be using.

The big unlabeled bottle is Dawn Dish soap.

I worked from Right to Left. The most right section was
Purple Power Paint Safe Degreaser
As you can see, it fully removed the wax and left it with absolutely no beading ability at all.

Next section was CG Citrus Wash and Gloss. I used a strong amount, literally pouring some onto the hood and cleaning it with a microfiber, as I did with all the sections (I would normally not do this, but in the name of science, and since I was doing a full 2 step correction afterwards, added to that fact that it was nearly pure lubricant...). It did pretty well, I expected more from it. By the way, I used a blocker to prevent any water or soap from getting into other areas.

My next section was with Dawn dish washing soap. It was definitley better than the section done with the CG soap, but no where near as good as the APC degreaser.

The final area was Dawn dish soap followed by Pinnacle Ultra Poly-clay. This area retained a little bit of its beading abilities, but near fully lost its ability to sheet any of the water off. I feel as though I would put it in second place in this test.

Here are the finished areas without any tape.

I hope that this helps clear up any questions about the cleaning abilities of different soaps. I know that Dawn is frequently tossed around as a safe paint cleaner (and to me, especially when followed with a clay, it can be).

 

[Joeyavhu]

Here is what the finished product looks like

 

[jamesboyy]

Very neat of you to make a comparison of some of the most common ways of stripping wax also the end results are amazing I like how makes that color pop a little more in the sun...keep up the good work

 

[spiralout462]

How can you be sure that surfactants from the cleaners aren't causing a lack of surface tension? An IPA wipe would verify if in fact the tested cleaners stripped anything.

I guess it doesn't matter in your case since you went ahead with at least one polishing step. Which is what I always recommend anyway.

 

[ski2]

How can you be sure that surfactants from the cleaners aren't causing a lack of surface tension? An IPA wipe would verify if in fact the tested cleaners stripped anything.

Exactly--I did a similar test for my own benifit with Dawn and CG Citrus Wash (the original designed to remove LSP). After washing (with considerable dwell time) with these two products both sections showed no beading what so ever, but after an IPA wipe down the beading returned indicating the LSP was still intact.

 

[FUNX650]

A film-layer of car wax is ~7 millionths of an inch thick, and you're saying that after 3-4 months from the date of this wax's application:
There is still enough remnant of a film-layer of this particular LSP...(a car wax)...
that it can be observed when/where it has been, supposedly, "stripped-off" the hood of this car?
{I can't correlate this changing-phenomenon (by the use of cleaners), especially with your stated method of a "control".}

This comparison-test may show the cleaning abilities of these three products...
But does this test really show they can "strip" LSP's?

Also...I'm curious to what you used as a "blocker".
Would you mind posting a picture of this apparatus?
Thanks.

Bob

 

[Bunky]

I wonder if a control panel could be used with a paint cleaner like DG Squeaky Clean, AF paint prep, etc. The problem is beading (presence or lack of presence) is not provide an accurate method to determine if something is present on the paint.

 

[RMM]

Thank you for taking the time to do this test. :xyxthumbs:

However, like others said, lack of beading is not a good indicator of full LSP stripping. And you should have saved a strip of paint to use as a control.

Having said this, I think Fuzion is not that hard to strip: specially if compared with a sealant like WGDGPS 3.0, MPL or BFWD.

 

[HateSwirls]

Thank you for taking the time to do this test. :xyxthumbs:

However, like others said, lack of beading is not a good indicator of full LSP stripping. And you should have saved a strip of paint to use as a control.

Having said this, I think Fuzion is not that hard to strip: specially if compared with a sealant like WGDGPS 3.0, MPL or BFWD.

Lack of beading may not be the best indication that the lsp was removed but it does tell you something, why isn't it beading anymore?
Well IMO he indeed removed the lsp, he used a very strong APC, I use it to clean my engine and does a great job cutting through grease so it must do good in removing oils.

Thanks for taking time for this tip of yours, it will be very helpful to many:dblthumb2:

I wonder how the DP Prep Polish would stack up against what you tried?

 

[RMM]

Lack of beading may not be the best indication that the lsp was removed but it does tell you something, why isn't it beading anymore?
Well IMO he indeed removed the lsp, he used a very strong APC, I use it to clean my engine and does a great job cutting through grease so it must do good in removing oils.
...

Lack of beading doesn't provide any definitive conclusion.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/66896-lsp-stripping.html

This thread is great: read the first post and you will see that lack of beading isn't a good proxy to know if the LSP is stripped.

 

[FUNX650]

Well IMO he indeed removed the lsp,

I still have a contention that, after 3-4 months, there was very little...to no trace...of this particular LSP remaining upon the entire vehicle...let alone upon a horizontal surface like a hood-panel...to be removed, to begin with.

Bob

 

[swanicyouth]

I've done tests like this. My consensus is:

1. Wax (+/- hybrid) - easy to remove with most APCs.

2. Sealants - almost impossible to chemically strip with paint safe products once properly applied and cured

3. Glazes - have little to no affect on a sealants chemical resistance to stripping.

4. OptiCoat - can not be stripped chemically once cured

5. DLux - " "

Now, some may say "how do you know it's stripped, could there be an APC film on the wax?" For me that didn't pan out, because I did the wax right next to the sealant and the sealant clearly was beading and the wax was not. So any "film" would likely have been stuck on both LSPs and made neither bead - if such a film was present.

 

[Joeyavhu]

I agree with many of the statements you guys have made. I do agree that perhaps some form of the soap is left on the vehicle, which may lead to skewed results.

I do think that for accuracy of when you would attempt to strip wax though, it is spot on. I think around the 3 month mark is when most would attempt to remove and reapply. Polishing and paint cleaners are really the only way to ensure complete and total removal (especially of sealants).

As for what I used to block the water, it was a set of large window tinting water blades.

 

[shagnat]

Great article. Thanks for your time and effort.

 

[PiPUK]

Missed this one. Yes, it is somewhat vital to ensure that there is no potential surfactant residue. A quick wipe with IPA should mostly sort that or a good wiping with hot water likewise. As another posted has identified, this will often result in the miraculous re-appearance of beading.

As addressed elsewhere, the water beading. There is the argument that the IPA wiping will strip and the return of beading is a result of the surface being super clean. A couple of points there:

1) If that is the case, anything which doesn't bead is not clean. As such, any demonstration like the OP did isn't telling you anything. Yet these threads come up and no one raises the issue about clean paint supposedly giving strong beading. I believe this argument is a bit of a last ditch effort to counter my proposals.

2) How do most people get to having clean paint? They almost certainly polish. They then buff it off and water beads. Proves that clean paint will make the water bead, right? Wrong. Your polish is almost certainly bunged full of oils (many even having silicones). These are there to give lubrication and work time before the product dries out. They are necessarily low volatility meaning that they do not flash off quickly. Many will take hours or days to evaporate away, some will basically never evaporate and will only be removed when you wash or by other environmental factors. Summary being that, after polishing and buffing, you will almost certainly have a thin oil film on the surface. I put it to the community that it is the oil film which gives the strong beading many people note after polishing. If you were to wipe the surface down with IPA and give it a wash, I have a very strong suspicion that you would change your view.

The message that keeps jumping out at me is that detailers are often so bound up in trying to get the very fine nuances out of their processes that the fundamentals are forgotten. A house built on sand and all that...