I see mentioned from time to time------using DAWN to wash the exterior----does this do anything for removing the wax on it??? PJRACER

 

moved...

 

dawn doesnt strip wax per-say, but it does greatly affect its durability. Unless your coat of wax is really old and degraded, dawn isnt going to remove it in one wash.

 

Are you sure about that, cause all the research I've done about car detailing/washing leads to the conclusion that a majority of dishwasher soaps will strip the car of wax. If not the wax than at least precious oils in your cars paint. I wouldnt recommend using it unless you were planning to do a complete detail from start to end. Just my $.02 from my experience.

BTW After you wash your car with dishwasher detergent you will notice that the paint is very "dry/coarse" which is the exact opposite of what its supposed to feel like when its waxed.

 

hmmmm......I'm not so sure I'd agree with that advice. Many very knowledgeable car-care sites recommend washing with Dawn specifically to remove all traces of wax before claying and applying a new coat. It does strip wax. For washing your car in between wax jobs, you want to use a mild soap which is made for washing cars. You can find several to choose from in the same section where the waxes are sold.

 

You don't do this everytime before re-waxing, if you do it will eventually eat away at the clearcoat then paint. You only do this in extreme cases or once every 4-6 months if you want to/feel the need to. I wouldn't recommend doing it any more than that. You also have to be extremely careful as to not applying too much dawn because it will also eat away at clearcoat if you use too much. I also wouldn't recommend using it on CF products.

Thats just my opinions though, do your research and decide whats best for your needs.

Cya

 

I agree. I didn't mean to imply that you should use Dawn. I was tying to point out that it definately will strip wax. I never use it. Not even before a fresh coat of wax.

 

I've done it once, it really didn't make that much of a difference, i wax once a month with ntx and wash once a week. Works well doing it. Unless theres a show im going to, then i'll wax it twice and wash three times of a course of two days prior to show.

Cya

 

I use the dawn before I clay and lay down a fresh coat of wax. I have not had problems using this method. IMO, I don't think the dawn will eat away at the clearcoat, but I cannot back that up. You might want to ask the fanatics over at http://www.autopia.org

 

I am an autopian :D I still stand behind my original statement, i've tested it myself along with a few other autopians and we all got the same results. My test was on a month old application of pinnacle souveran. Souveran is not a rather durable wax (it's more of a beauty wax instead) so a month after application, it was already looking pretty shotty. After the initial rinsing of the tC, beading was still present, not nearly as much as when the wax is new, but it was enough to know that some form of protection was on the car. I then went thru a dawn wash. After the rinsing, there was no beading present. Dawn had stripped the remainder of the wax from the car. I dried the car off and applied a brand new coat of Souveran. I let it set up for a few hours and then dawn washed the car again. The initial rinse beaded like crazy due to the new coat of wax i had applied hours earlier. After the wash, the water was still beading like crazy. The wax had not been stripped by the wash. This led me to believe that dawn isnt all that it's cracked up to be.

and i dont know where you got the idea that dawn will eat away clearcoat, but that's BS.

 

the chemicals in dawn and other dawn like products can eat away at the clearcoat. Just think of it this way, if its powerful enough to eat away at the wax, its powerful enough to eat away at your clearcoat.

Cya

 

Dawn was made to clean baked-on, greasy foods from pots and pans. There's no way it's getting on my cars paint.

 

Dawn isnt going to hurt your clearcoat. Period.

what about painted dishware? I don't see the paint melting off of those! Soap, be it dawn or a car wash soap, isn't going to jeopardize the integrity of your paint. All a harsh soap is going to do is significantly hurt the layer of wax or sealant that you have on the car. I don't know where you heard this, but whoever said it is wrong.

 

And what exactly do you base your statement on? Do you have any actual scientific facts, or is it more like, "this guy on a message board says so"?

You say, " All a harsh soap is going to do is significantly hurt the layer of wax or sealant that you have on the car." That's simply not true. Shaving cream is soap. It's a harsher soap, but it's soap. Have you ever seen the damage that shaving cream will do to a car? I have a friend who's car got decorated with shaving cream at his wedding. It was on the car for about 2 hours (he freaked out when he saw it and had his brother wash it off real fast). It ate right through the wax, the clear coat, and it fadded the paint. You could clearly see where the shaving cream had been. He had to have the car repainted.

 

As the originator of this thread-----THANKS-----it seems that the majority of opinion tells me NO DAWN PJRACER