Dawn dishwashing detergent?

R

ramp

New member
Do any of you pros ever use Dawn to wash your cars? Is it as good as something like Meguires Gold Class Car Wash?
 
Some people will use dawn, but only to remove existing wax or sealant. Use the Gold Class for your normal wash routines. Type dawn in the search feature and you'll get a lot of threads about this issue. :up
 
I'd wont recommend using Dawn Liquid Detergent...

The detergent helps remove old wax.



I've bought a bottle last year, and I've only used about 1/4 of the bottle....



Your better off buying a car wash..
 
People use Dawn to remove old wax from their car before starting a new exterior detail. There is really no point in it, since any polish or cleaner will remove the old wax just fine.

Dawn will harm the seals on your doors/sunroof/etc also, so don't use it on your car. There's no need to.



I haven't used Dawn on my car in over a year now. I still use it to clean my applicators and PC pads though.
 
I leave the Dawn in the kitchen. It does a great job on my dishes. ( the green apple scent smells great) Z7-claying-Z7-AIO always does the trick for me when I'm stripping my paint of previous layers of wax/sealants.
 
COBRyan said:
Dawn? Pretty soon we'll be pulling out the Crisco to use as a paste wax. Another reason why I can't stand the Zaino line :nervous:
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I have to say it seemed to me that people universally agreed that washing with Dawn was a bad idea until Zaino became popular. :hairpull I agree that a Dawn wash is probably a bad idea because it will dry out your exterior rubber & plastic. Also, it seems the point of using it is to strip wax. However, the next step in the detail will likely be to use some kind of paint cleaner/polish/compound anyway so what's the point? :confused:
 
Mikeyc said:
I have to say it seemed to me that people universally agreed that washing with Dawn was a bad idea until Zaino became popular. :hairpull I agree that a Dawn wash is probably a bad idea because it will dry out your exterior rubber & plastic. Also, it seems the point of using it is to strip wax. However, the next step in the detail will likely be to use some kind of paint cleaner/polish/compound anyway so what's the point? :confused:
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Why put that kind of strain on your plastic, rubber (especially your tires, they dry up easily), and even paint when you don't need to? You said it yourself, you will be using a cleaner/polish afterwards anyway, so why would we even need the Dawn? What can it do that a normal car wash and polish/cleaner can't? I just don't see the point in using a product that was chemically designed to remove grease off of plates and hands on perhaps a $40,000 vehicle. I am not trying to change anyones' mind here, it's your own cars! I just know it will stay under the sink in my household.



To the original poster, I am confused as to whether you intend to use Dawn regularly or only before a detail?
 
I have no intention of ever using Dawn--even on my dishes. I just read somewhere else--on another forum--that Dawn was being recommended by a number of "detailers." I couldn't believe it so I posted my question here on the ultimate detailer's forum to see what you guys would say.



Great comments!
 
ramp said:
I have no intention of ever using Dawn--even on my dishes. I just read somewhere else--on another forum--that Dawn was being recommended by a number of "detailers." I couldn't believe it so I posted my question here on the ultimate detailer's forum to see what you guys would say.



Great comments!
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A sigh of relief! :up



Glad to hear you won't be using it. I saw the pictures of your car, it's too nice to be using Dawn lol! I think you probably read that Dawn was being used prior to the Zaino treatment. It's rather common for that use, but I still don't recommend it. Their new ZPC should work just fine if you need to clean the paint.
 
ramp said:
Do any of you pros ever use Dawn to wash your cars? Is it as good as something like Meguires Gold Class Car Wash?
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Pull the MSDS on both products, and you'll discover they are chemically the same. Lots of fake hype about Dawn stripping wax and the like. It's all BS. Dawn is nothing interesting or particularly powerfull. It's just a generic run of the mill detergent.
 
Dawn is made for cleaning grease and oils off dishes etc. It will definitely take a toll on your paint. I tried it once before changing lsp's. I noticed it also let my black trim duller. It remove the protective oils on it. Good for washing applicators and foam pads.
 
A guy on another forum just got a new Mercedes and used Dawn on it because he said Zaino said to do it. Why would a quality detail product like that recommend using Dawn detergent?
 
ramp said:
A guy on another forum just got a new Mercedes and used Dawn on it because he said Zaino said to do it. Why would a quality detail product like that recommend using Dawn detergent?
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If you read what it says about Dawn at the Zaino site, you will see that they don't recommend it for regular use. As has been noted previously in this thread, they recommend it to remove any traces of old wax, sealant, oil, etc. to ensure proper adhesion of the Zaino.



I think the effect of Dawn on plastic and rubber is a little exaggerated, as well. There was an exhaustive thread about this, where it was noted that the pH of Dawn was not extreme, and comparable to many car washes (as foxtrapper alluded to above).
 
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