I came across a tin of "colour restorer" and decided to try it on the bonnet of my Z3. I applied it with a damp cloth to slighly thin it and it went on OK. When it came to buffing it off I found that there was a layer of wax on the surface and the "colour restorer" was strugling to remove the wax leaving a patchy look.
Anyone else come across this and what is the solution?
Barney
Wax removal
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Justin Time
- Joined: Thu 22 Jun, 2006 20:34
- Posts: 2183
- Location: Kent
If you value your paint work, don't use fairy liquid. It contains a very high salt content which is highly detrimental to paint in general, especially if it gets under any paint chips caused by grit. Instead use a double dose of car shampoo in hot water, and give it a few washes. Alternatively use the meguiars claybar kit available from online sources or from halfords, this will remove all surface contaminant as well as wax.
Autoglym Super Resin Polish is known to be effective at removing wax layers as well, if you aren't comfortable with using clay bars.
Autoglym Super Resin Polish is known to be effective at removing wax layers as well, if you aren't comfortable with using clay bars.
BMW Z3 2.0L Velvet Blue Individual Edition
Justin
The salt content affecting paintwork is an old wives tale. Modern washing up liquids contain a lot less salt than they used to and in a diluted form to wash and immediately rinsed prior to a detail would not cause corrossion.
It is recommended by high end products such as Zaino in their training videos to first prep a car prior to commencing detailing by washing in a mild diluted solution of a washing up liquid to strip back the top layer of wax.
If you look on the detailing sites there are a number of projects were the first stage is a mild detergent wash and dry to strip back the old wax layer.
It makes me laugh every time I see my neighbours spending a day waxing their cars on the hottest days and then washing in fairy liquid the week after
it does no harm just strips off the wax they just applied and leaves streakes unless thoroughly rinsed / detailed after.
The salt content affecting paintwork is an old wives tale. Modern washing up liquids contain a lot less salt than they used to and in a diluted form to wash and immediately rinsed prior to a detail would not cause corrossion.
It is recommended by high end products such as Zaino in their training videos to first prep a car prior to commencing detailing by washing in a mild diluted solution of a washing up liquid to strip back the top layer of wax.
If you look on the detailing sites there are a number of projects were the first stage is a mild detergent wash and dry to strip back the old wax layer.
It makes me laugh every time I see my neighbours spending a day waxing their cars on the hottest days and then washing in fairy liquid the week after
it does no harm just strips off the wax they just applied and leaves streakes unless thoroughly rinsed / detailed after.-
Justin Time
- Joined: Thu 22 Jun, 2006 20:34
- Posts: 2183
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- Location: Kent
Zaino do indeed recommend this, but I'd be hesitant to use it. Admittedly, Meguiars Gold Class shampoo that many on this forum use (myself included) contains common salt as well as Fairy liquid. However the concentrations of common salt and other ingredients varies greatly. In comparison:
- Meg's and Fairy both contain amines that are detrimental to rubber seals, however Meg's contains 0.5g (maximum, though this value may be less) in comparison to Fairy's 5-10g, per 100g of product.
- Meg's contains 5-10g of salt and Fairy contains 20-30g of salt, per 100g of product.
- The average pH of Meg's wash is c/a 8.5 compared to Fairy's pH 9. Using the logarithmic scale of pH, Fairy is 5 times more alkaline and reactive than Meg's.
I'm not scaremongering, only highlighting that this product isn't very practical for use on a car (I do realise it is meant as a rare use item). There are products better suited to removing a layer of wax (Autoglym SRP or clay bar for example as mentioned above) with less risk being posed to the paintwork and seals of a car.
Resources : Meguiar's material safety data sheet - Fairy Liquid material safety data sheet
- Meg's and Fairy both contain amines that are detrimental to rubber seals, however Meg's contains 0.5g (maximum, though this value may be less) in comparison to Fairy's 5-10g, per 100g of product.
- Meg's contains 5-10g of salt and Fairy contains 20-30g of salt, per 100g of product.
- The average pH of Meg's wash is c/a 8.5 compared to Fairy's pH 9. Using the logarithmic scale of pH, Fairy is 5 times more alkaline and reactive than Meg's.
I'm not scaremongering, only highlighting that this product isn't very practical for use on a car (I do realise it is meant as a rare use item). There are products better suited to removing a layer of wax (Autoglym SRP or clay bar for example as mentioned above) with less risk being posed to the paintwork and seals of a car.
Resources : Meguiar's material safety data sheet - Fairy Liquid material safety data sheet
Last edited by Justin Time on Wed 17 Jun, 2009 11:19, edited 1 time in total.
BMW Z3 2.0L Velvet Blue Individual Edition
Justin
I do take your point but I do think that using a mild dilution of fairy liquid followed by thorough rinse will do the job once a year prior to detailing a lot easier and cheaper than a clay bar etc.... without any detrimental effects.
I agree I would never wash a car using washing up liquid any more often than this but each to their own
I do take your point but I do think that using a mild dilution of fairy liquid followed by thorough rinse will do the job once a year prior to detailing a lot easier and cheaper than a clay bar etc.... without any detrimental effects.
I agree I would never wash a car using washing up liquid any more often than this but each to their own
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tetchmeister
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Justin Time
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