Decontamination Systems - Looking for some reviews and thoughts

I

imported_MCA

New member
My folks just recently bought a used silver Toyota RAV4 to get a better balance of fuel efficiency and utility (compared to their previous V8 4runner). I have only seen the vehicle in pictures – none of which have a proper light angle to see the true pain condition of the paint. With that said, I am preparing a list of products that I will need to bring with me when I visit them during the Thanksgiving holiday. For the most part, my correctional and protection products/steps are good-to-go. My open questions centers around the pre-polish, contaminant removal stage. I have always clayed and performed a tar/bug removal pre-soak before any in-depth correction but I am very interested in multi-step decontamination systems such Finish Kare’s 3-2-1 process.

- Can anyone chime in with their comment/review of this system (or others)? I’d like to know how effective are they when compared to clay/tar/bug removal/Iron-X products.

- Would I have to worry about any possible environmental issues with these systems?

- Once these steps are completed, I can go straight to polishing - Is this correct?



Thanks in advance.
 
Personally I've pretty much exclusively moved to IronX/TarX/Clay as my "three stage" decontamination process; if I got something so bad those wouldn't touch it, I would probably reach for VG ABC before I'd look at FK's system, simply based on what Ron Ketcham has said in a few threads about the two of them (considering he's intimately familiar with both).
 
I've used "ABC" with great results, but I've had to clay while the "B" is dwelling on a few occasions. The "C" is nothing special.



I've also used FK1119 with very good results, but I've never tried their acidic step (as as noted, based on what Ron Kecham has posted I'd be a little careful with that one).



FWIW, yeah, I'd decontaminate a newly acquired silver vehicle.



No issues I can think of, the products are pretty mild IMO; I actually wish the "B" were a bit stronger. I would wear gloves though, and maybe eye protection (not that I ever bothered with the latter).



But I oughta qualify that "no issues" by saying I've only used the stuff in a shop with a (properly plumbed) floor drain.
 
I've had no issues with the FK system other than it takes a long time. I consider myself a fast washer, about 30 minutes for a wash and dry. Decon takes me 2+ hours without claying. I only do it on cars I really care about.
 
Thanks guys for the responses - I appreciate it. Do these systems completely replace the need to clay and remove tar/bugs?



Dan said:
I've had no issues with the FK system other than it takes a long time. I consider myself a fast washer, about 30 minutes for a wash and dry. Decon takes me 2+ hours without claying. I only do it on cars I really care about.
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Wow! I didn't expect that type of time commitment. I am already planning at least a 6-8 hours for a full correction. An additional 2 hours would kick my arse...much love goes out to you guys that do this day-in, day-out for a living.
 
doing a full decon with either kit will be time consuming. i would clay during the decon "b" step. the other option is follow Shiny Lil Detlr suggestion above. i've used the fk kit with no issues other than the time. next time l'll buy the val int "abc" kit to see how they compare. not sure if the abc kit is any faster.
 
wascallyrabbit said:
doing a full decon with either kit will be time consuming. i would clay during the decon "b" step. the other option is follow Shiny Lil Detlr suggestion above. i've used the fk kit with no issues other than the time. next time l'll buy the val int "abc" kit to see how they compare. not sure if the abc kit is any faster.
Click to expand...



Have you tried using clay on step B? I'd be afraid of what would happen to the clay. Both A and B products are pretty harsh. The nice thing about ABC is claying afterwards is very quick. Still, its a serious time commitment.
 
Dan said:
Have you tried using clay on step B? I'd be afraid of what would happen to the clay. Both A and B products are pretty harsh. The nice thing about ABC is claying afterwards is very quick. Still, its a serious time commitment.
Click to expand...

In an earlier post, I laid out the "process" of cleaning a vehicle, including wheels, wheel wells, tires, engine, etc and doing the ABC.

It takes aprox 15 minutes extra to do so, when the process if followed.

Plus, doing so, saves up to an hour in the buffing/polishing of the paint.

Grumpy
 
Dan said:
Have you tried using clay on step B? I'd be afraid of what would happen to the clay. Both A and B products are pretty harsh. The nice thing about ABC is claying afterwards is very quick. Still, its a serious time commitment.
Click to expand...



Claying while the "B" is dwelling helps when I have really significant ferrous/etc. contamination, but yeah, it does trash the clay rather quickly.



Claying while "A" dwells pretty much simply dissolves the clay IME. Claying while FK1119 does the same, but I still did it with good results when using that (along with a plastic razor blade) to remove some lane-line paint that'd been on the '93 Audi for ages (back when it was still with its original owner).
 
Dan said:
Have you tried using clay on step B? I'd be afraid of what would happen to the clay. Both A and B products are pretty harsh. The nice thing about ABC is claying afterwards is very quick. Still, its a serious time commitment.
Click to expand...



yeah, it trashes the clay.
 
Ron Ketcham said:
In an earlier post, I laid out the "process" of cleaning a vehicle, including wheels, wheel wells, tires, engine, etc and doing the ABC.

It takes aprox 15 minutes extra to do so, when the process if followed.

Plus, doing so, saves up to an hour in the buffing/polishing of the paint.

Grumpy
Click to expand...



do you happen to have the link to the post? i can't seem to find it.
 
Only 6 to 8 hours? You are fast!!!!



MCA said:
Thanks guys for the responses - I appreciate it. Do these systems completely replace the need to clay and remove tar/bugs?







Wow! I didn't expect that type of time commitment. I am already planning at least a 6-8 hours for a full correction. An additional 2 hours would kick my arse...much love goes out to you guys that do this day-in, day-out for a living.
Click to expand...
 
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