I hear about washing with dawn as if it cleans well.. Do you have to wax each time you wash with this dish soap? Or is it a bad idea all together?

 

bad idea all together

 

It's fine to wash with dawn soap, ONLY if you are preparing it for new wax.

 

You can wash with dawn to remove all prior wax from the car if you want a fresh start. I've done it once. IMO, and what i do now, is clay the car, that removes all the wax and little dirt/dust particles and leaves the paint very smooth and ready for a fresh coat of wax.
-GP-

 

So I take it washing with dawn strips it down//

 

can u do this...

wash with dawn..
clay bar
wash with regular car soap
then apply wax?

 

uhmm maybe do this instead in a diff order

regular wash first... then dawn..then clay bar...then wax....i think that would work better...clean off the dirt first...then the old wax...then clean off more dirt and old wax...then new wax

 

dawn will remove most natural waxes, but if you want to completely
remove polymer you will want to use Griot's PaintPrep, or alcohol, or
even vinegar mixed with distilled water.

clay removes most waxes too, but best to remove the bulk first with
liquid dissolvers, then clay. so as above, wash, paintprep, then clay,
go onto wax.

 

after washing you also want to polish before waxing in which case dawn is not needed. Any polish will remove what ever was on top of the paint.

 

I've washed my car with dawn since I bought and never had any paint problems

 

^^^ It doesn't cause problems. But it does strip off the wax. As long as you plan on re-waxing the car after you clean with Dawn, these guys say it's fine.

Kenchan's advice makes the most sense to me.

 

Anybody......that knows anything about detailing or auto paint will tell you
"NOT" to use dishwashing detergent on the cars painted surface! It dries out
the paint and even though you add wax/polish the paint still suffers from the
result.....just isn't smart! Companys that make wax also make cleaner that's
intended to do the job of preparing the surface of your car for wax. Zymol
makes a cleaner that smell like choc milk and does a great job of cleaning
my paint without destroying it......I'm sure Zaino make a simular product.

 

The issue with Dawn is not only is it hard on paint, but it really drys out the rubber and plastic trim. The first time I heard about using Dawn came from Sal Zaino. I am a Zaino system guy. The rationale behind using Dawn, was to prep the surface so that the Zaino polymers can bond with the paint directly without the intermediate layer of a wax. Having said that, I decided to NOT use Dawn on my new car when prepping it for a Zaino detail. I knew that there was not any wax on the car from the dealer or factory. Regardless, I washed my G35 using the Z7 car wash and clayed it to remove the sub-surface contaminants such as brake and rail dust that I observed when running my fingers across the paint. I was cautious, but in my opinion it is safe to use Dawn very occasionally. My main issue as mentioned before was the excessive drying that would cause cracking on the rubber seals and plastic trim on the exterior.

 

reaaallly.... i guess if you tell them not to prep the car...

 

i've been told by picus (gtaindetail) that wax lasts 2-6 weeks.. and claybaring it removes wax as well..

so if u haven't waxed for about 6 weeks now.. nd plan on claybaring, then it's not necessary to use dawn. just use regular car soap