lookin for a easy wipe of paint cleaner

johnboy

New member
all i got for a paint cleaner is blackfire and i dont care for it.goin to seal up a new car next week and just lookin for a cleaner prior to seal.
 
John, I think the two most common paint cleansers will be the Wolfgang and P21S products.



You can certainly find Meguiars variants at W*mart, AAP, AZ, Pimpboi, etc.
 
If it were me and all I was looking to do was clean up a new car before wax, I would simply wash, clay then apply your favorite LSP. I suppose you could also follow up the clay with a 50/50 IPO wipedown.
 
One should always polish after claying. John is following the right path.



fordf150 said:
If it were me and all I was looking to do was clean up a new car before wax, I would simply wash, clay then apply your favorite LSP. I suppose you could also follow up the clay with a 50/50 IPO wipedown.
 
I agree with Thomas. Check out how my pads look in my Speed review. I washed and clayed. The car is less than one year old, and the pads were BLACK!



IMO, the best paint cleaner there is, is KAIO. However if you are going with Optimum, Poliseal is a great product to use before Optiseal. Speed is great too, but there could possibly be bonding issues.
 
Dan said:
..IMO, the best paint cleaner there is, is KAIO...



That's what I was thinking too.



OTOH, if you do a decontamination with something like "ABC", you often can go directly to your LSP. No claying, no polishing (unless there's marring to correct), no paint cleaner, nothing for prep but the ABC. And I'd decontaminate *every* new car anyhow. Period.
 
tom p. said:
John, I think the two most common paint cleansers will be the Wolfgang and P21S products. You can certainly find Meguiars variants at W*mart, AAP, AZ, Pimpboi, etc.



Hey Tom, what's your opinion on KAIO as a cleanser?
 
I've been staying away from the KAIO because I thought it would leave behind some residue. So far have had good luck with the Wolfgang & P21s cleansers.
 
addysdaddy said:
I've been staying away from the KAIO because I thought it would leave behind some residue. So far have had good luck with the Wolfgang & P21s cleansers.



The stuff KAIO leaves behind is minimal, and doesn't interfere with any LSPs I've ever used. And/or it's easily removed with IPA/etc.



Note that the P21s cleaner (isn't it called...uhm...."Gloss Enhancing Paintwork Cleanser" or something like that?) also leaves stuff behind, and that stuff isn't as innocuous as the KAIO.
 
addysdaddy said:
Hey Tom, what's your opinion on KAIO as a cleanser?



It has some minimal cleaning/polishing ability. Typically enough for my needs. I use it as my base for preferred LSPs. Has always done well by me.
 
Have u tried using KAIO after u polished the car to see if it removed that last bit of grit from the paint? Just wondering if it could be used in place of the other traditional paint cleansers.
 
addysdaddy said:
Have u tried using KAIO after u polished the car to see if it removed that last bit of grit from the paint? Just wondering if it could be used in place of the other traditional paint cleansers.



I've never had anything like residual grit that needed removal after polishing. Abrasive polishing cleans paint quite effetively too, though there are potentially serious downsides to not cleaning the paint of "grit"-type contamination before you polish.



KAIO is good for a post-polish follow-up, but a) it can slightly diminish the gloss that some polishes (e.g. Menzerna PO85RD) leave, and b) it won't remove polishing oils like those in Meguiar's brand polishes.



SO overall...yeah, I'd say that KAIO is a perfectly good substitute for most "paint cleaners". Just note that it doesn't do any concealing, and many other Paint Cleaners do. FWIW, I can't remember ever wishing I'd used something else when I've chosen KAIO for this (not that I choose it all the time, however).
 
I use KAIO with my flex and a white LC and it cleans amazingly well. As far as a residual grit remover I couldn't tell you I foam cannon all my work after clay and polishing.
 
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