Life after Sea Sponge

Accumulator said:
[Note: FWIW, Accumulator used Sea Sponges for years before switching to BHBs and mitts.]



Same 'ol same 'ol: you simply *gotta* CD-test any wash/dry media before you touch automotive paint with it or you may be in for unpleasant surprises. No, the test sure isn't perfect, but it beats experimenting on irreplaceable clearcoat.



detaildoc- Nice save, you did a great job of getting the finish looking good again.



One thing I noticed from the before pic- your marring is of considerable length, looks like some of the scratches are a few inches long. Since a short scratch doesn't show as badly as a longer one, I always recommend that people wash in short, interrupted "jiggling" motions. Not only will this ensure that any marring that *does* occur will be comprised of little scratches, but the interruptions will also provide a pause during which contamination can be flushed away so it doesn't mar in the first place. Just my $0.02...
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I should have done the CD test, but I guess I thought it would be alright, man did I learn my lesson. Good observation about the length of the scratches, that is exactly what I noticed, that many of them were very long. Your suggestion to wash in short interrupted motions is a good one, which I will definitely put into practice. Thanks
 
detaildoc said:
I should have done the CD test, but I guess I thought it would be alright, man did I learn my lesson. Good observation about the length of the scratches, that is exactly what I noticed, that many of them were very long. Your suggestion to wash in short interrupted motions is a good one, which I will definitely put into practice. Thanks
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I'm sure I'll get pounded for the newbie question but hey what the heck. How do you do the CD test?



Charlie
 
detaildoc said:
I should have done the CD test, but I guess I thought it would be alright, man did I learn my lesson. Good observation about the length of the scratches, that is exactly what I noticed, that many of them were very long. Your suggestion to wash in short interrupted motions is a good one, which I will definitely put into practice. Thanks
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I'm sure I'll get pounded (not from you) for the newbie question but what the heck...how do you do the CD test?



Charlie
 
charbro said:
I'm sure I'll get pounded (not from you) for the newbie question but what the heck...how do you do the CD test?



Charlie
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This is done to test your towels, sponges, or mitts to see if they are likely to cause swirl marks on your paint. You simply rub the data side of a blank CD with it and inspect it for scratches. If it scratches the CD, then you know not to use it on your car, if not, then it is probably safe to use.
 
detaildoc said:
This is done to test your towels, sponges, or mitts to see if they are likely to cause swirl marks on your paint. You simply rub the data side of a blank CD with it and inspect it for scratches. If it scratches the CD, then you know not to use it on your car, if not, then it is probably safe to use.
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As always thanks very much.



Charlie
 
sonyexec said:
Yikes there poster, your post is certainly one of sensitive nature, one may even think you invented the sea sponge - judging by the impassioned posts of yours...very defensive of the dead sea creature. And yes I did get the comedy in boar vs sponge, i didn't find it funny but got it. I think the chill pill bottle has to be passed the other way.:sign



Moderators :rules: please. let's highlight: (a) lack of class (b) lack of deccorum (c) infant (d) temper tantrum (e) stupidity (f) the dumber you sound (g) retarded. In the context in which these words/phrases were used I would say they qualify as personal attacks would you?
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Yes, I would. Enjoy your vacation.
 
charbro said:
I'm sure I'll get pounded (not from you) for the newbie question but what the heck...how do you do the CD test?
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NO, no, it's a good question! Let me expand, if I may, on detaildoc's explanation. (Some day I'll put up a thread about testing various things...maybe I already did :think: )



The general idea is to *TEST IT THE WAY YOU'LL USE IT*



When testing wash media, you want whatever you're testing to be thoroughly saturated with shampoo solution. Some wash media (e.g., sheepskin, Sea Sponges, BHBs) are very stiff when dry- they'd scratch up a *lot* of surfaces, not just the data side of CDs. But once they've soaked in water (or, even more realistically, shampoo mix), they soften up and behave very differently.



I even get the test CDs wet before I test the wash media. And I try to approximate the sort of pressure that I use when washing. Anything I can do to make the test better approaximate the actual conditions of use should help give me a more accurate gauge of how well the media will perform in real-world use.



I then inspect the CD under incandescent light in an otherwise dark shop (IME this is the most demanding lighting, *FAR* more likely to show *very* light marring than my halogens or anything else I've tried). I use a magnifying visor too. By the time I decide something is safe to use on my paint, I'm pretty confident that I won't be unpleasantly surprised.
 
Accumulator said:
NO, no, it's a good question! Let me expand, if I may, on detaildoc's explanation. (Some day I'll put up a thread about testing various things...maybe I already did :think: )



The general idea is to *TEST IT THE WAY YOU'LL USE IT*



When testing wash media, you want whatever you're testing to be thoroughly saturated with shampoo solution. Some wash media (e.g., sheepskin, Sea Sponges, BHBs) are very stiff when dry- they'd scratch up a *lot* of surfaces, not just the data side of CDs. But once they've soaked in water (or, even more realistically, shampoo mix), they soften up and behave very differently.



I even get the test CDs wet before I test the wash media. And I try to approximate the sort of pressure that I use when washing. Anything I can do to make the test better approaximate the actual conditions of use should help give me a more accurate gauge of how well the media will perform in real-world use.



I then inspect the CD under incandescent light in an otherwise dark shop (IME this is the most demanding lighting, *FAR* more likely to show *very* light marring than my halogens or anything else I've tried). I use a magnifying visor too. By the time I decide something is safe to use on my paint, I'm pretty confident that I won't be unpleasantly surprised.
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Great clarification and expansion of the CD test. Thanks!
 
Accumulator said:
NO, no, it's a good question! Let me expand, if I may, on detaildoc's explanation. (Some day I'll put up a thread about testing various things...maybe I already did :think: )



The general idea is to *TEST IT THE WAY YOU'LL USE IT*



When testing wash media, you want whatever you're testing to be thoroughly saturated with shampoo solution. Some wash media (e.g., sheepskin, Sea Sponges, BHBs) are very stiff when dry- they'd scratch up a *lot* of surfaces, not just the data side of CDs. But once they've soaked in water (or, even more realistically, shampoo mix), they soften up and behave very differently.



I even get the test CDs wet before I test the wash media. And I try to approximate the sort of pressure that I use when washing. Anything I can do to make the test better approaximate the actual conditions of use should help give me a more accurate gauge of how well the media will perform in real-world use.



I then inspect the CD under incandescent light in an otherwise dark shop (IME this is the most demanding lighting, *FAR* more likely to show *very* light marring than my halogens or anything else I've tried). I use a magnifying visor too. By the time I decide something is safe to use on my paint, I'm pretty confident that I won't be unpleasantly surprised.
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Hi Accumulator:



Thanks so much for elaborating. Huge help. I'm now off to do some testing.



Have a great weekend.



Charlie
 
charbro said:
I'm now off to do some testing...
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If you get the chance, let us know what you find out.



And remember to retest your wash/dry media from time to time. I failed to do that and my seemingly-fine (actually, I thought it was my *safest*!) BHB marred up the S8 before I figured out that it was past its prime.
 
Accumulator said:
If you get the chance, let us know what you find out.



And remember to retest your wash/dry media from time to time. I failed to do that and my seemingly-fine (actually, I thought it was my *safest*!) BHB marred up the S8 before I figured out that it was past its prime.
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Excellent advise. I never thought about retesting my wash media (and detailing media) from time to time.
 
such great weather in Riverside... it's pouring up here in the Bay Area. I never trust sponges in the first place, it just never seemed to me that they can hold in the dirt as well as wool or even MF mitts.
 
artikxscout said:
.. it just never seemed to me that [sponges] can hold in the dirt as well as wool or even MF mitts.
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Well, note that some of us don't *want* the media to retain dirt. Noting that I do things a bit differently from many here ("dislodge and flush"), when I get my wash right my rinse water ends up having *very* little dirt in it.



I worry that when wash media retains/holds dirt that dirt ends up getting dragged across the paint; I never found that dirt *really* moves up into the media away from the paint, at least not enough to render marring a truly remote possibility.



One of the reasons I'd like to hear Spilchy's Sea Sponge technique is to know if he's doing things in a dislodge/flush manner :think: I can imagine, *used with a foamgun*, the Sea Sponge offering the best of both approaches, not that I'm gonna experiment on *my* paint to find out ;)
 
Accumulator said:
Well, note that some of us don't *want* the media to retain dirt. Noting that I do things a bit differently from many here ("dislodge and flush"), when I get my wash right my rinse water ends up having *very* little dirt in it.
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You're right. I think I just phrased it wrong. I meant to say that a MF mit would be softer than a sea sponge and would have more area in which the dirt can be held until it is rinsed out into the bucket. I've never used a sea sponge so correct me if I'm wrong.
 
artikxscout- OK, thanks for clarifying.



I dunno...between the two it'd be hard to say. I can't help but think/say that this is why I try to dislodge-and-flush so the dirt never gets stuck to the media in the first place, but I realize that such stuff isn't 100% possible by a long shot.



Sometimes it's pretty amazing how clean my rinse buckets' water is at the end of a wash..there simply isn't much dirt in it at all. Nothing at all like things were before I got my foamgun technique sorted out.
 
Yea I tried the sea=sponge deal and once was enough, I hated the feel of it and how it washed the car--back to the mitt for me:)



Guess they will go for some other duty..lol
 
Booyah said:
Yea I tried the sea=sponge deal and once was enough, I hated the feel of it and how it washed the car--back to the mitt for me:)



Guess they will go for some other duty..lol
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It was a horrifying experience for me. Nothing like the feel of the wool mitt. Have you ever tried the Home Depot GS? Though it does not give the same tactile feeling as a mitt, it is good stuff.
 
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