Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics Dawn?

when you guys talk about using dawn on the car .. are you talking the dish soap? also i just got my car buffed and detailed by a pro. Now i want to do the up keep.. what meguires products should i use and in what order? ( zaino's is not sold over here ) or is mothers better ? thanks for the up coming replies !!

Thanks for posting i wonder about dawn too, i have heard it is good to use and i have heard its bad to use, anyone care to elaborate?
Curious Matt

Dawn is the soap you should use if you want to remove the wax on your ride.

As far as I know Zaino is only availible if you order it off the net. I have never seen it sold anywhere else.

For up keep find out what wax they use at the shop. It is never a good idea to mix wax. If it is Meguiars than I recommend there Gold Class wax. Also, it is a good idea to use there clay bar system every once and a while before you wax. I used it last week and you would not believe the **** that came off. Hope this helps.

The shop said they put a protective coat on.. thats all they said and that it is good for a year, so i dont have to wax it. Should i wait till next summer before i start to clay bar and wax? They also said that i should use regular dish soap and hand wash the car. So does that mean its not wax that they put on?

FWIW, Zaino is availible in CA via Mike Adams at Car-Fanatic .

The Dawn people refer to is Dawn, the dishwashing soap.

Aynway, it sounds like whatever the shop used was some kind of polymere similar to Zaino or Klasse or Blackfire. If it was a wax and they recommended to use Dawn, then it is no (carnuba) wax. Dawn with warm water works great for taking off all the old wax so I doubt they would advise you to do that if they think it will last a year. It is a little to strong for weekly washings, but good every once in a while (6-mo or so) when you want to start fresh. Dawn does not remoce polymere sealants like it does wax, but over time it will wear the protective coat away. I don't recommend using it for weekly washings.

So, what do you do? If the water still beads, try picking up a good car wash soap (without wax in it) and some quick detailer like Meguiars Final Inspection (profesional) or the standard quick detailer. Wash and use the QD and it should maintain the look you had when you picked it up from the detailer.

If you did not care for the look the detailer did (sealants tend to have a certain look to them), then you may want to use some wax. Sometimes the oils in wax break down the sealant and end up with an inferior finish. Some combinations work, others don't and with no one knowing what product the detailer used, I'd stick to the wash and quick detailer until you notice the water not beading in the rain like you want it to. Then, you cna start fresh with a good prep and wax if you'd like.

Oh, since I suspect a sealant was used, you can use a clay bar over the top of it without removing much of the sealant's durability. However, do you think the car needs clay? Maybe the detailer did it already. Run the back of a finger across the paint. If it feels smoother than a baby's behind, you are fine. Note: there is a difference between slick and smooth. Clay bar makes it smooth. Wax and sealants make it slick.

1. Nothing is good for 1 year. Period! At the bare minimum I would use a detailer/enhancer every month. This along with regualr washing will help maintain the finish longer. Even with a polymer product you are still probably only looking at 6 months tops. (If it's carnuba only a couple months at the most!)

2. Clay bar will strip the paint surface of contaminents (and probably whatever they put on/definitely if it's carnuba) Do not use it until you are ready to redo your car (the multiple step process)

3. They are wrong. Dish soap will strip about anything that has been applied to the paint. I guess they think they will get repeat business if they tell people this??? :p
Use only a "Car Wash" (sudsing/foaming/etc) & nothing that is "Carnuba fortified"; that stuff is pure crap!

4. They may have used some type of paint "polymer/polish" that is not carnuba based. These do tend to last much longer than carnuba does. However they are still stripped by using dish soap.

ok went and checked out those products.. i dont have to put the meguires detail on after every time i wash .. do i? or just once in awhile?

You can use a quick detailer whenever you'd like or never. I use it before each coat of sealant for extra slickness and gloss. I also use it after a wash because for the same reasons plus it helps keep the dust away.

All, I have to say is that Megiuars makes the best stuff!