How often should dirt build-up be polished?

[CarefulCleaner]

Seven years ago, Mike wrote an article on "The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us."

The lesson was that dirt accumulates on a car's finish over time and that "you need to either use a dedicated paint cleaner of some type to remove the dirt build-up and then afterwards apply a finishing wax or finishing sealant."

My question is: How often can I remove this dirt build-up without going through my paint? It seems like after couple of weeks, I can detect this layer of dirt graying my daily driver's white paint. Should I spot polish the build-up, or, preferably, polish the whole panel? But then I would be polishing several times every year, which goes against the advice (on this forum) that a car should only be polished once or twice a year, especially if a car has thin single-stage OEM paint, like in my case.

What to do? Would a longer lasting sealant reduce the need to polish away this dirt build-up every approx. every month? In other words, would a weekly maintenance wash be sufficient for getting rid of this dirt build-up, if the paint had a durable sealant+wax combo on top of it?

 

[Eldorado2k]

What to do? Would a longer lasting sealant reduce the need to polish away this dirt build-up every approx. every month? In other words, would a weekly maintenance wash be sufficient for getting rid of this dirt build-up, if the paint had a durable sealant+wax combo on top of it?

Yes and yes.

Make sure you're truly starting off as well prepped as possible.. Iron Decon, clay, polish, seal the deal. From there, weekly maintenance wash using a quality soap.
I recommend Carpro Reset. It only requires 1oz. per bucket and does noticeably better at not stripping your sealant compared to other car wash soaps + suds up nice and gets your vehicle clean.

Can you tell the difference between the vehicle that's properly maintained vs. the 1 that isn't?

And I've never even polished it.. Just protected and maintained since the day it was new

 

[CarefulCleaner]

Thanks for the reassuring post, Eldorado2k. Your photos are very convincing. I will look into Carpro Reset after I deplete my supply of Gold Wash. Maybe my problem was not really sealing the deal properly, hence having to paint correct too often.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Thanks for the reassuring post, Eldorado2k. Your photos are very convincing. I will look into Carpro Reset after I deplete my supply of Gold Wash. Maybe my problem was not really sealing the deal properly, hence having to paint correct too often.

Have you ever done the Iron Decon step? IMO it makes the biggest difference on white colored vehicles. No other color benefits from it as much as white. Brightens up and leaves it squeaky clean, and that's before claying. [so it gets even better]

 

[DBAILEY]

If you need to run a chemical paint cleanser over the car 3-4 times a year that won't thin your SS paint too much unless you are using a cutting pad. Polish with an abrasive polish when you build up enough swirls to bug you. You may just live in an area that has a lot of environmental fallout and the sealants are just not going to last as long as they do for somebody else.

 

[CarefulCleaner]

Have you ever done the Iron Decon step? IMO it makes the biggest difference on white colored vehicles. No other color benefits from it as much as white. Brightens up and leaves it squeaky clean, and that's before claying. [so it gets even better]

No, I haven't. What's that fluorescent green product? Looks fascinating!

If you need to run a chemical paint cleanser over the car 3-4 times a year that won't thin your SS paint too much unless you are using a cutting pad. Polish with an abrasive polish when you build up enough swirls to bug you. You may just live in an area that has a lot of environmental fallout and the sealants are just not going to last as long as they do for somebody else.

Okay, thanks. Without one of those expensive paint gauges, and because of a bad wet sanding experience in the past, I always get nervous about polishing too much.

 

[TMQ]

Got this quote from Mike from one of his educational posts that stuck with me.

Not sure of exact wording but something like this...

"Wet sanding removes much paint"
"Compounding removes much of paint"
"Polishing removes little paint"

Based on that, you should be fine doing light, simple polishing w/o losing much of anything.

Tom

 

[Desertnate]

Got this quote from Mike from one of his educational posts that stuck with me.

Not sure of exact wording but something like this...

"Wet sanding removes much paint"
"Compounding removes much of paint"
"Polishing removes little paint"

Based on that, you should be fine doing light, simple polishing w/o losing much of anything.

Tom

Great quote.

As long as you're only polishing once or twice a year, you should be fine. Doing the maintenance steps already mentioned should keep your vehicle looking good in between polishings.

I don't know where you live, but factoring seasons can also help your strategy. For me, I know my car will be constantly dirty from late fall until early spring. Therefore I only worry about protection during that time and not overall appearance. This drove me to polish once a year in the Spring. On a schdule like that, I'll probably not run any threat of removing the clear coat from any of my vehicles.

 

[Paul A.]

Some great perspectives and advice thus far. I absolutely agree with a proper prep and then a robust LSP after. That along with weekly washes should keep it cleaner and brighter longer avoiding more frequent machine work.

Having said that as the short answer, the need for abrasive machine work I do about twice a year. My daily driven black car accumulates enough light marring after about 6-8 months and I resort to levelling the paint again. My car is a 2007 with close to 100K on the clock. while I think I have refined my weekly washes and drying to almost completely avoid marring from those friction passes, fine scratches remain inevitable. My point is...after about 10 years of light machining and correcting (and maybe 20+ abrasive correction sessions) I still don't think I have removed enough clear coat to jeopardize burn through. Or at least enough to be concerned about thinning it in spots too thin.

Now, more to your point. My wife's car is white and also gets a good initial wash, decon, buff out and LSP initially. BUT...she then gets a paint cleaner (Duragloss 501) once or twice a year i.e. a non abrasive chemical cleaner to brighten up her white paint. She has some minor swirling but they're undetectable to 99% of the world and certainly to HER! She probably also has about 99% of her factory clear coat remaining. It's a 2013. The chemical cleaning once or twice a year removes very very little clear and "cleans" her white paint to remove road grime and dirt build up. If wetsanding and compounding removes a lot of paint and fine polishing (with fine abrasives) removes a little paint, I am guessing that chemically cleaning paint removes the least...but most of the imbedded dirt and grime.

 

[Eldorado2k]

No, I haven't. What's that fluorescent green product? Looks fascinating!

This is going to sound weird, but that fluorescent liquid on my paint is actually DUB Wheel Cleaner.

It works to remove imbedded iron particles from the paint, just like it would from the wheels. It's clearcoat safe, and you can tell it's working by the way it changes color from green to purple within 5min. [purple areas denote the removal of any iron particles]

There's other products similar to it such as Carpro Iron X, Mckee's Iron Remover, 3D BDX, Britemax Iron Remover, etc... But I prefer to use the DUB. Works just fine for me + doesn't stink like rotten eggs the way those others do.

Do a search here on the forum on "iron remover" Lots of info.

 

[CarefulCleaner]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I ordered some Carpro Iron X and Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer and will be testing these soon in my maintenance routine.

I've never tried an iron decontamination before because claying alone seemed to remove everything I could see visually. This will be a first.

I'm also eager to test out the paint cleaner to see if it can, without leveling the paint, remove defects that a normal car soap cannot.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I ordered some Carpro Iron X and Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer and will be testing these soon in my maintenance routine.

I've never tried an iron decontamination before because claying alone seemed to remove everything I could see visually. This will be a first.

I'm also eager to test out the paint cleaner to see if it can, without leveling the paint, remove defects that a normal car soap cannot.

Right on. It sounds like you've got a good gameplan, give us an update on your results once you use your new products.

 

[Eldorado2k]

When you do the Iron X on your paint, make sure to do it on a cool surface and out of the sun. You do not want that stuff drying on your paint. Early morning before the sun comes out is the best time.

 

[CarefulCleaner]

When you do the Iron X on your paint, make sure to do it on a cool surface and out of the sun. You do not want that stuff drying on your paint. Early morning before the sun comes out is the best time.

I tested Iron X on a panel and boy is the smell horrible! And it leaves a trail of carcass odor everywhere I carry it... Oh well, the purple streaks confirmed that my car was indeed contaminated. I will proceed with the rest of the car on a cool day---thanks for the reminder.

 

[SabbyNJ]

Check McKee's Fast Polish. It is not aggressive so your clear coat will be safe.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline

 

[fightnews]

Yes and yes.

Make sure you're truly starting off as well prepped as possible.. Iron Decon, clay, polish, seal the deal. From there, weekly maintenance wash using a quality soap.
I recommend Carpro Reset. It only requires 1oz. per bucket and does noticeably better at not stripping your sealant compared to other car wash soaps + suds up nice and gets your vehicle clean.

Can you tell the difference between the vehicle that's properly maintained vs. the 1 that isn't?

And I've never even polished it.. Just protected and maintained since the day it was new

I can't tell except on the rims. Prob because it's a picture

 

[oneheadlite]

I tested Iron X on a panel and boy is the smell horrible! And it leaves a trail of carcass odor everywhere I carry it... Oh well, the purple streaks confirmed that my car was indeed contaminated.

I would suggest reinstalling the shipping cap the bottle came with (or find a replacement from another bottle if you have to, and rinse the sprayer out with water. I do this + keep it in a gallon ziplock to prevent problems with the stink.

I had a bottle get knocked over and leak in a room at work - the guys were searching all over trying to figure out what died...