rfx45

Hello CL. I was just curious if it's true that dish washer soap is bad for washing the car? I heard it strips off wax but every car wash eventually takes the wax off anyways. Maybe it strips it off much quicker? Honestly though I've used it several times on my dark blue Matrix and it shines like other. It looks real good and have that just polished look. I've used the dish washer a couple of times with no sign of problems. Are there any long-term problems I should consider? Thanks.

jimmyjazz

Yes, that's what you wash your car with befored you Zaino or clay bar....so you can get all the old wax off!!!!

PPolisher

To offer a different viewpoint and for those who may not be Zaino enthusiasts please read on.

Dish-soap is a detergent wash that in a nutshell is overkill for what you're trying to accomplish. For a car wash it's too strong for the serious enthusiasts. Most of the population views their car as merely transportation and don't get into the "detailing thing".

For people that enjoy detailing their own car and maintaining the appearance to a high level, then using a product that can dull and dry out the paint as well as multiple other materials that make up a modern car, truck and suvs.

Dish soaps are formulated to remove grease and oil from plastic, glass and ceramic glazed dishware, it works great for this. Quality car wash soap is formulated to clean well without detergents but more than that a quality car wash is formulated to make the washing process slippery to help prevent scratching during the washing process.

Meguiar's offers some entry level car wash soaps that clean well for a low price point to transition people away from dish washing detergent soaps as well as premium car wash soaps that clean well but also offer more features and benefits to the process, the car and the user.

If you're happy with dish washing soap, by all means...

rfx45

^^^ I haven't tried it on my IS and I don't really think I want to. I was just curious since I get a good shine with it on my other car. What/which car wash soap/shampoo do you recommend that isn't entry level? I noticed that using those car wash soaps with wax in them just makes the car more atracting to dust and dirt. They seem to stick more than when I use a regular car wash soap.

Thanks for the great info though, I appreciate it.

MShybrid

One of the best carwash soaps available is Duragloss 901.
If you have never used it before...do yourself a favor and try it. I can almost guarentee it will be a part of your detailing supplies from now on.

Armand

RFX another thing to consider is that auto paints have oils in them therefore you don't want to use a product like DAWN to wash your car because it slowly eliminates the oils and dulls your paint. I won't happen over night but in the long run your paint will be in bad shape.

I've been detailing cars since the 80's (for extra cash while going to college) so I am well aware of the tons of different products out there and it can get confusing unless you have been in the detail game for a while. To make it easy for you I will advise that you just go into your local pep boys, autozone, target, walmart and buy the auto wash that is made just to wash autos. Soaps made for washing cars are Ph balanced which is whole thing i won't get into but your paint and wax will last longer using soaps specifically meant for cars. That should work fine and they really are not that expensive.

You will read of people using dish soap on the car but that is just before they clay, polish, wax and glaze their car all within 48 hours of the wash. THis is because the dish soap strips everything away but it's no biggie since you'll be reapplying it all over the next 2 days.

If you're close to the hollywood park / LAX area check out chemical guys .com auto detail supply house and very informative guys.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

il say only that most of the few detailers i know use a relatively concentrated dish soap/water solution to STRIP all teh wax and other crap on a car before they start detailing it.

GS300Rich

I like my p21s car wash, works very well, and as PPolisher pointed out so well it helps to prevent scratches. Very informative post PPolisher

PPolisher

I am glad to help out anytime and sometimes posts do give conflicting answers so I go with what has worked for me and my clients. I like Meg’s Gold Class car wash. Nothing fancy, not expensive and it does a great job for cleaning loose debris from the finish. Check around your favorite store and try some out and when you find a car wash or any car product that works for you keep on using it.
While on the subject of car washing here is a link I provide to my clients so they can properly clean their baby between visits to me.

Swirls are going to happen and the best we can do is to change our procedure or techniques to keep them at a minimum.

I believe the majority of swirls are from the washing & drying process and the following link will take you to what I believe is the most informative DIY video on how to properly wash and dry your baby.

So grab a cold beverage, get relaxed as this video is 28 minutes of watching Mike Phillips - detailing guru at MOL [Meguiar’sOnLine] taking you through the process.

How to Wash Your Car (Show car style!)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...wcargarage.com

Sit back and enjoy watching somebody else that knows what they are doing washing and drying a car.

Enjoy your day,
Al

SCRUFFDOGG

Is this something you've actually experienced or seen? Can you be more specific with how long and what bad shape constitutes. I'm asking because i've yet to see any evidence of dawn messing up paint but I have seen paint after 10 years of exclusive dawn washing with no ill effects.

Guitarman

I must step in to say that cured urethane enamel has no "oils" whatsoever, so none can be depleted. This is just one myth that has been around forever, and you can't really blame anyone for saying it because not everyone understands the chemical nature of car paint as it currently exists.

The solvents that exist in the makeup of the paint off-gas for a while when curing but when fully cured, urethane enamel is a solid film that does not blush or emit anything. It is in essence, a form of PLASTIC.

That said, anything highly alkanline or acidic can over time, dull the finish, it won't happen immediately though.

The only immediate negative of using dishwashing liquid is that it strips wax and most sealants (to varying degrees) so you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot by using it regularly, unless you wax/seal afterward.

Hope this helps.

RON430

Not a fan of dishwashing soap unless I am going to rewax. Oftentimes ph for dishwashing isn't exactly friendly to some car finishes. And one of the reasons you see Dawn talked about, and Tide if you are washing engine parts, is that many dishwashing soaps can come with additives that you might not want to be on your car. Certain Dawn and Tide formulations come as close as you can to just detergents/grease cutters/surfactants. At the least you can get citrus oils for aroma but you can also get various moisturizers that housewives believe will keep dishpan hands at bay. I just like to use the product developed for the job, washing car finishes and not to give me silky smooth hands in the bargain. But just to make it easy, Costco around here has sold both Zymol and Meguairs Gold car wash concentrates in the gallon size for very reasonable amounts. I just get a gallon and don't worry about raiding the kitchen to wash the car.

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

this is what I use:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=271735

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

^^^ Zymol smells hella good!

RON430

Got that right. Costco used to have the Zymol car wash at a pretty good price but seems like its been Meguairs Gold for some time.