IPA Wipedown, Yes or No

UncleDavy

UncleDavy

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I have seen some videos and heard some discussions about using an IPA wipedown to remove polishing oils before a coating, sealant or wax. I have never used it myself but I wanted to hear from some of the people on the forum whose opinions I respect (you know who you are). Is an IPA wipedown necessary?
 
I am anti-IPA. never had a wax or sealant fall off a vehicle in all these years. Now as far as a coating, I would stick with the coating manufacturer's suggestion for a panel prep. Car-Pro suggest Eraser ect.
 
I only use a “panel wipe” when an LSP’s
Manufacturer specifies it’s a prerequisite.


Bob
 
I’m with Bob and Oldz. Unless the directions state so, I don’t do a panel wipe (when I do, I use the dedicated prep sprays, not IPA). I believe the oils can act as a glaze and fill and beautify, so I prefer to leave it.
 
I wrote the article on how to correctly dilute IPA to use as an option to chemically strip paint and I NEVER use IPA to wipe down paint.


In fact, I made a post asking for ANYONE other than myself to be the expert on this topic and NO ONE took the challenge.

So after waiting for a year and having personally seen IPA soften and bubble up paint, I took it upon myself to do the RESEARCH and then write the article.

I never listed the chemist I spoke with but it was Gary Silvers at Meguiar's and Dr. David Ghoudussi at Otpimum. I also checked with Jason Rose and Claude Sevigne for their input IPA and solvents in general.


In the second paragraph of the article, I shared WHY I wrote it and I'm happy to say the clowns that were always recommending IPA to strip paint are no longer members of this forum.


Here's the link to the article I never wanted to write but did write to prevent people from screwing up their paint due to the consistent and constant bad advice from a few experts.


How to Mix IPA for Inspecting Correction Results


I'm so glad those days are so far behind us and shortly after I came to AGO we implemented some "real" forum rules to set boundaries for everyone and get rid of troublemakers.



:props:
 
FUNX650 said:
I only use a “panel wipe” when an LSP’s
Manufacturer specifies it’s a prerequisite.
Click to expand...

^^ this.

I have and do use CarPro and GYEON's products, but I have recently moved to quality paint preps from body shops that are not only effective but of course safe and honestly, far cheaper per oz. than the other products.
 
I agree. If it is the proper thing to use before painting, then it should be more than sufficient prior to a coating.
 
I will wipe the car down with M37 N-914 after polishing before a LSP. Not at the paint prep ratio before applying sealants/waxes, about 1 oz per 32oz bottle. For peace of mind that all the smudges from polishing were removed and final dust removal.
 
You can skip IPA with a lot of products, I prefer to use it to clean the paint up after polishing because it's effective at a visual level when using a light source and glossmeter to confirm. Flashes clean, never leaves its own detectable presence visually on the surface for me. Some of the recommended solvent based prep products are much heavier and will flash slower, which is better for actual wax/grease removal which is something IPA won't do, but most likely overkill for removing polishing residue and I'm more included to follow these products up with an IPA wipe after use, even with one scented and colored like Eraser.
 
As a chemist, if I were to feel the need to do a final clean before waxing/sealing, I would use ethanol on a cloth just to remove particulates. Ethanol would also remove trace amounts of water but is less likely to damage the paint.
 
bbattle said:
As a chemist, if I were to feel the need to do a final clean before waxing/sealing, I would use ethanol on a cloth just to remove particulates. Ethanol would also remove trace amounts of water but is less likely to damage the paint.
Click to expand...

Hey Bill.

Could you elaborate on this?
 
bbattle said:
As a chemist, if I were to feel the need to do a final clean before waxing/sealing, I would use ethanol on a cloth just to remove particulates.
Click to expand...

^^^”Absolute-ly”!

724D2BA2-6855-411B-9DE2-2552DB9AAA68.jpeg



Bob
 
bbattle said:
As a chemist, if I were to feel the need to do a final clean before waxing/sealing, I would use ethanol on a cloth just to remove particulates. Ethanol would also remove trace amounts of water but is less likely to damage the paint.
Click to expand...

Interesting! Gtechnic Panel Wipe is based on Ethanol. And from many who uses it is more satisfied with it than the Gyeon PREP or Carpro Eraser. Which are ipa based products. They are not the only ingredients in them but have some smaller amounts of other chemicals in them all too.

I'm with Loach and use them more for the visual inspection after polishing. Even if the polish or compound not has fillers in them. The polishing oils can mask the true finish a little. Not that it's very common it does so but sometimes it do.

/Tony
 
So would it be straight ethanol or diluted to some percentage like IPA at 20-30%.
 
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