Stripping Wax and sealant

Jenn1270

Jenn1270

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How often do you need to strip the old wax and sealant off your car if you don't have to polish it alot? Should I be using a paintwork cleaner when I am not using a cleaner wax? What is the best way to safely accomplish this if and when it is needed?

Jenn
 
Yesterday I've washed my car, use a clay bar and then finish with IPA ( isopropyl acohol ) before applying a coat of wax.
I'm pretty sure they were not wax/sealant left on my car before I applied the new wax.
 
Jenn, you will get a lot of answers to this very good question. Dom Colbeck, the owner of Dodo Juice, proposes a basic rule: Depending on how often the vehicle is used, whether it is garaged or not, and what kind of pollution and contaminants it is exposed to, strip the wax two to four times a year. Here is his reasoning:

You should remove old wax after 3 months and relayer from the beginning again simply because it will yellow and have become deteriorated through UV damage, as well as picking up contaminants and dirt in its surface that shampoos won't shift. It's like keeping the bath water for 3 months. At some point you gotta pull the plug and put in fresh water.
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This makes sense to me. I typically clay my vehicles twice a year. At this time I always either polish the car or at least use a paint cleanser. There are a number of good pre-wax cleansers out there, including Four Star, P21S, Pinnacle. I've been using Four Star and am happy with the product. As you note, an alternative is to periodically use a cleaner wax (e.g., ColorX, Klasse AIO, Duragloss 501, Autoglym Super Resin Polish, etc.).
 
Ok, so I was thinking the exact same thing as I have only applied sealant at this time. I'm not totally happy with my first attempt of polishing so I want to remove the sealant and reapply M205. Now I applied the sealant on Wednesday 6/23, can I just usa an IPA wipe down to remove it, or will I have to use a paint cleaner? I think I got a small bottle from Megs when I bought the clay bar kit. OR since I'm moving back to M205 for a bit more of what I belive would be correction, do I even have to remove the sealant as the M205 would be abrasive enough to do what it needs to do? I'm not getting that sharp mirror look on my paint as I'd hope so I'm pretty sure that this is what I need to do. When I look at the paint it reminds me of honeycomb shapes in the paint, not sharp clear reflextions. There is no way I could get a picture of what I'm describing so I'm sorry if I have confused some of you. But either way, I would like to know about removal of just sealant too.
 
If you use a clay bar it will take off wax, depending on what paint sealant is used, depends what takes it off. Some paint sealants only come off with abrasion. If your using wax, then you can tell when the wax layer is getting thin based on the size of the water beads. When the water beads flatten out, I will use something like Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite before re-waxing.
 
just repolish it... the polish will easily strip the LSP
 
jayhkr said:
Ok, so I was thinking the exact same thing as I have only applied sealant at this time. I'm not totally happy with my first attempt of polishing so I want to remove the sealant and reapply M205.
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Polishing with M205 will effectively remove any sealant or wax off the car.

If a product is aggressive enough to remove paint, it's aggressive enough to obliterate any micron, or sub-micro layer of wax or paint sealant.

FWIW...

If the goal is to create beauty, then I teach the philosophy of always working forward in the process, not working backwards.

Stripping off wax with a solvent doesn't tend to make the paint look better and better, so in the extreme, the opposite of better and better would be worse and worse, that's working backwards.

There are plenty of "Paint Cleaners", both abrasive and non-abrasive, that will effectively remove any previously applied wax or paint sealant and after removing the paint cleaner, (or mild cleaner/polish in the case of a product like M205), that after removal, the paint will look clear and glossy. That's working forward in the process.

Each person can choose which approach they prefer for their "style" or approach to working on car paint, and other's teach a different approach and say it doesn't matter; so each person can also choose whose advice they want to follow. As for me I prefer to work forward in the process and I teach that approach also.

:)
 
akimel said:
Dom Colbeck, the owner of Dodo Juice, proposes a basic rule: Depending on how often the vehicle is used, whether it is garaged or not, and what kind of pollution and contaminants it is exposed to, strip the wax two to four times a year.
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I agree with Dom, with an emphasis on this part,


how often the vehicle is used, whether it is garaged or not, and what kind of pollution and contaminants it is exposed
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Because the above is a huge factor.

I've posted something related to this in the past when the "layering" phenomena was peaking, mostly about how even if a product can be layered, that layering might not be a good idea for all people or more specifically, for all cars because if there were any embedded contaminants or impurities on the surface, then "layering another coat of a wax or paint sealant would act to seal these contaminants, or impurities onto the paint under the layer of freshly applied wax or paint sealant.

Over time this would tend to cloud or gray the finish, not make it more clear and beautiful. If the goal is the best looking finish, then in some situations, layering would be working backwards and a better option would be to clean the paint first and then apply a fresh coat of wax or paint sealant.


:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
There are plenty of "Paint Cleaners", both abrasive and non-abrasive, that will effectively remove any previously applied wax or paint sealant and after removing the paint cleaner, (or mild cleaner/polish in the case of a product like M205), that after removal, the paint will look clear and glossy. That's working forward in the process.
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Mike, can you provide a few good examples (of paint cleaners and not polishes) in Autogeek's inventory that will clean and remove said wax or sealant and instructions for application? The finish on my vehicle is about as good a daily driver will be. I just want something that is easy to apply that will clean the surface for my next layer of sealant or wax and if it happens to remove any paint defects along the way all the better.
 
CWS_302_clear-2.jpg
 
I have used a 4:1 dilution of optimum power clean to strip wax from my car. I spray it on the pre-wetted surface of the car, let it sit for a while and then rinse it off. It works like a charm.
 
Gritos Garage makes a paint prep product that will get you back down to just the paint. I am thinking about pulling the trigger on it but not sure if its worth the money. I too am on a quest to find the perfect NON FILLING NON ABRADING pre wax cleaner.

Chris
 
Pinnacle and P21S Paintwork lotions are a guys/girls best friend.
 
Da Fats said:
But they have fillers...
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But why does that matter? Presumably if one is using a paint cleanser, one is not intending to follow it up with paint correction. And if one is intending to do paint correction, is it really necessary to remove all previously applied wax. Won't the polishing do that anyway?
 
akimel said:
But why does that matter? Presumably if one is using a paint cleanser, one is not intending to follow it up with paint correction. And if one is intending to do paint correction, is it really necessary to remove all previously applied wax. Won't the polishing do that anyway?
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I agree with this also. My truck has ridiculously soft paint, I do my best not to put any swirls in it, but it happens and I do not always want to be polishing. I would like a good chemical cleaner that will leave a slick surface and allow for proper bonding of a sealant or wax. And like I said before, if it happens to reduce my swirls by some sort of correction or filling that's ok. I only want to polish my truck once a year and want something easier to help out during the rest of the year. I will look into the Pinnacle and P21 to see if that would fit my needs. Are there any other choices??
 
akimel said:
But why does that matter? Presumably if one is using a paint cleanser, one is not intending to follow it up with paint correction. And if one is intending to do paint correction, is it really necessary to remove all previously applied wax. Won't the polishing do that anyway?
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:iagree:but, back to the op post on stripping wax and sealant for what ever reason. Cheap and effective= Dawn
 
In addition to P21S Paintwork Cleanser, Pinnacle Paintwork Cleanser, and Four Star Pre-Wax Cleanser, AG also sells Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite, Mother's California Gold Pre-Wax Cleaner, and Sonax Premium Class Paint Cleaner. Perhaps AG also carries other paint cleaners, but these are the ones I have found by perusing through their website.
 
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