Is the 'Dawn wash' as effective as we all think it is?

I

imported_Lightman

New member
Many folks seem to like to do a dawn wash before they do a full detail, because it's believed that the dawn soap strips all of the previous sealant/wax off the paint and better prepares it for the following polish/wax steps etc. Well I just decided to test it out in the driveway. I've been dying to try out my new bottle of Chemical Guys FS sealant, and even though my jetta doesn't really need a detail, I have the rest of the night free and decided to try out this new sealant. I went out to the driveway an hour ago or so and proceeded to mix a heavy dose of dawn soap in my bucket and wash the car. It was so incredibly sudsy and the mitt took forever to rinse out. The thing that surprised me is that after all was said and done, the car was still beading like crazy! KSG is some tough stuff apparently, or Dawn isn't..one of the two. In any case, I'm guessing a pass of AIO with a light polishing pad and the PC should clean off any remaining sealant.. What do you guys think? I was surprised about the dawn wash's inability to remove the sealant!
 
IMO the "Dawn" thing is grossly overrated. I don’t understand why some still consider it necessary because it doesn’t really strip the surface, as you witnessed first hand.



You hit the nail on the head with the AIO. That will strip anything left on the surface and prep it for the sealant.
 
Yup, I mean, if even a single wipe of IPA/H2O doesn't do it, then how can dishwashing detergent be even stronger than that?
 
I don't use Dawn expecting it will strip off wax/sealant, only any oil and grease on the surface. Beyond that, polishing will quickly strip away what needs to come off before reaching the clearcoat. Since I'm not in the habit of testing out new products all that often, that works for me.



That being said, I'm interested to try the FK 1119 product that was recently brought to my attn by brother Tom P; sounds like just the ticket to save some effort.
 
Lightman said:
Many folks seem to like to do a dawn wash before they do a full detail, because it's believed that the dawn soap strips all of the previous sealant/wax off the paint and better prepares it for the following polish/wax steps etc. Well I just decided to test it out in the driveway. I've been dying to try out my new bottle of Chemical Guys FS sealant, and even though my jetta doesn't really need a detail, I have the rest of the night free and decided to try out this new sealant. I went out to the driveway an hour ago or so and proceeded to mix a heavy dose of dawn soap in my bucket and wash the car. It was so incredibly sudsy and the mitt took forever to rinse out. The thing that surprised me is that after all was said and done, the car was still beading like crazy! KSG is some tough stuff apparently, or Dawn isn't..one of the two. In any case, I'm guessing a pass of AIO with a light polishing pad and the PC should clean off any remaining sealant.. What do you guys think? I was surprised about the dawn wash's inability to remove the sealant!
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Please DON'T try this on your dad's new car!!!:soscared: :soscared: :soscared:
 
I use the local "equivalent" of Dawn (alkaline dish soap), but not for stripping wax, etc (which it doesn't really do well), but for a more thorough general cleaning of the exterior on cars that haven't been washed for ages, or ones that have excessive amounts of bird droppings, pitch, sap etc.
 
Sometimes I use a TFR(trafic film remover-alkaline) after I have polished the car to get the paint realy clean before I seal. Mostly when it´s a lot of polish residues and etc.
 
You're right, there's nothing special about Dawn. Pull the MSDS as you'll see it's got the same ingredients in the same quantities as any generic "car wash".



But, knowledge doesn't fly here in autopia. The urban legend about Dawn rules supreme, and truth will always be squashed in favor of myths.
 
foxtrapper said:
You're right, there's nothing special about Dawn. Pull the MSDS as you'll see it's got the same ingredients in the same quantities as any generic "car wash".



But, knowledge doesn't fly here in autopia. The urban legend about Dawn rules supreme, and truth will always be squashed in favor of myths.
Click to expand...





And so does the myth of beading equals protection. How does the OP know that the beading he is seeing is that of the Klasse SG and not of the high tension surface of his particular paint...



Myths live on because for some reason they make sense to folks. Dawn doesn't neccesarily remove everytjhing, but it does a good job of removing all oils due to its high alkaline content. Heck I had been topping my protection with a bunch of Carnubas prior to my zaino and all I used was 1:1 mix of alcohal on areas that were not polished (i.e. roof, mirrors, ect). It bonded perfectly. Does that mean it will work all the time? No. But I from now on will trust that the mix will work, until otherwise noted. Then I will find another way, and will base my knowledge on experience and not speculation.
 
I haven't used Dawn for years. Instead, I now add APC (about 50:1 or so) to my wash bucket with whatever car wash I'm using and that seems to do a much better job at cleaning up neglected paint before a detail. I've still never tested whether it "completely" stips any previous LSP off the paint but it sure seems to. I just don't care either way since I'm going to be polishing the paint anyway which I KNOW will remove everything!



As for the myths that float around these boards, I think that is purely do the many discrepancies in personal opinion. For the same reason there isn't ONE best lsp or polish or car wash or even one best procedure. If someone sees many postings refering to a product/process they'll usually believe that it must be good (or vice versa). Even a professionally done, scientific test that proves without a shadow of a doubt that a product does what it says it does (or doesn't), there will still be people who believe the opposite simply because they haven't seen that information yet or just refuse to believe it. As with all advice, some info must simply be taken with a grain of salt until you've personally tested a product/process and are satisfied with the results "to your standards."
 
onemeanmachine said:
As for the myths that float around these boards, I think that is purely do the many discrepancies in personal opinion. For the same reason there isn't ONE best lsp or polish or car wash or even one best procedure. If someone sees many postings refering to a product/process they'll usually believe that it must be good (or vice versa). Even a professionally done, scientific test that proves without a shadow of a doubt that a product does what it says it does (or doesn't), there will still be people who believe the opposite simply because they haven't seen that information yet or just refuse to believe it. As with all advice, some info must simply be taken with a grain of salt until you've personally tested a product/process and are satisfied with the results "to your standards."
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:wow: :cry: :rofl :goodjob :thx
 
my father in law took his truck to a hole in the wall wash/wax down the road from me, i even told him the guy uses dish detergent to wash all his cars, i applied two coats of 845 to it a month and a half ago. when i looked at it the other day and felt it. very rough surface no beading no slickness whatsoever. i reapplied the 845 and asked him not to get his truck swirled up anymore than they already did.
 
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