Re: Bug sprayer bike cleaning method

On 29 Aug 2006 08:01:28 -0700, "Jeff" <jthomas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


Wow - that is interesting. I wouldn't have thought that dish soap
could damage modern hard shell car paint, or even bike paint. Please
don't take offense, but can anyone back that up?

Well, I have empirical evidence from years of experience. You can
drive down your street or check a parking lot the next time it rains
and see how many cars the finish fails to bead up the water.

You can use this Google Search and here's one source from Meguiar's:

http://www.meguiars.com/tips/article_viewer.cfm?selected_ID=10

Unfortunately there are many myths when it comes to car care products
and activities. Below are twelve common practices that can cause all
of your hard work trying to maintain your car's appearance a waste of
time.

1. Dishwashing detergent is safe to use as car wash.

Absolutely not! Detergents are formulated to strip everything off of
the surface, leaving it squeaky clean. A squeaky paint finish tells
you that it has no protection. With repeated use, dishwashing
detergents remove everything from your paint finish including waxes,
silicones and polymers. Once this is accomplished, they then proceed
to remove the life giving oils in your paint finish, actually
accelerating the oxidation process. For best results, use a pH
balanced car wash product, like Meguiar's NXT Generation® Car Wash,
with conditioners specifically formulated to enhance the appearance
and protection of automotive paint finishes.
---------------------------------

Here's a contrarian view, I completely disagree. Notice he makes no
mention of the paint's composition of oils and resins:

http://www.dccarcare.com/tipowk/tipowk7.html

2. Dishwashing soap does not "strip" wax off cars. I use Liquid
Ivory exclusively on all my cars. Several national champions, 40 year
old original paint, and daily drivers. The act of washing with ANY
product will take a little bit of your wax off. That is what it's
designed to do! Wax is supposed to slowly wear off to keep dirt from
embedding in your paint. That is why Carnuba is such a great product.
Every time you wipe, wash, rinse etc your car, you strip wax. It's
going to happen no matter what you use.

Use a small squirt of Ivory Liquid in a bucket of water. You will
get lots of suds. These are essential to helping get the dirt off
your paint and away from your car without scratching. Any wash
product that doesn't make lots of suds that last, is doing more harm
than good. Most car wash specific products do not make good suds, and
when you feel the wet paint it is not slick, but grabs at your hand.
Ivory is slick and rinses clean.




Your best bet is to use a carwash soap that will not strip these
essential paint ingredients out. You can save your paint and reverse
the action of those strong cleaners as well as make the bike look much
better, by polishing it with a quality product like Meguiars Hand
Glaze and then protecting it by topping it off with a good quality
caranuba/synthetic product such as Meguiars High Tech Yellow Wax.
Also, the next time you wash it the dirt will come off a lot easier.

I agree that wax is a good idea.

Jeff
.

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