striping before applying LSP

R

rustypixel

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Sorry if this is the wrong place for this. I'm sure mods will move if need be.
Is there a particular product, preferably a wash, that will strip the old sealant and get the paint ready for a new application?

Thanks.
 
CG makes a soap
citrus wash and gloss in the proper dilution it strips supposedly.

If that's all you're going to do.
 
It appears that the only way to remove old sealant is to polish the paint with an abrasive polish or chemical paint cleaner. The thoughts that Dawn or any other strong soap will strip a quality sealant seem to be "wife's tails." Take a read through this thread: LSP stripping - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum

I did my own little experiment to prove this to myself. In October of last year I gave my car a coat of DG 601/501 and then a coat of DG 601/105. Eight months later it was still beading fine, but it was time for my spring detail and the paint hadn't been polished in 2 years. I wouldn't do this all the time, but washed the car with a strong soap solution of 4 gallons water, 4 oz of CG Red (supposed to strip at this dilution) and 4 oz of 3D Orange Degreaser APC. Since I wash indoors I was able to get a good 3-5 minute dwell time before rinsing. Next decontaminated with Iron X then with a fine Nanoskin sponge. After a good rinse the paint was still beading as well as before the wash so I hit the hood with Griots Paint Prep which is also supposed to strip old LSPs. Sprayed on, worked it with a small piece of grout sponge, let it dwell 5 minutes and rinsed. Now there was no beading so I gave the hood an IPA wipe down to remove any sufactants that were in the Paint Prep and boom the beading was back. So I'm convinced. There may be soap products out there that strip sealants from paint, but I'm not aware of them and the traditional methods we've always used just don't work.

Forgot to mention I use UWW+ as my lube when using the Nanoskin sponge, but I saved a small portion of the clean strong soap solution and used that as my lube on the hood so as not to add any additonal protection to the paint for this little experiment.
 
Washing with ValuGard's "A" or the nastier FK1119 (think that's the number, but don't use it anyhow..) will strip any existing LSP.

BUT..[!!WARNING Autopian Heresy follows!!]..do you really need to strip it? I haven't stripped the "old, dead" LSP off my vehicles for ages, just reapplied. No paint-cleaners, not even clay. Even switched LSPs a few times. No problems at all.
 
Accumulator said:
Washing with ValuGard's "A" or the nastier FK1119 (think that's the number, but don't use it anyhow..) will strip any existing LSP.

BUT..[!!WARNING Autopian Heresy follows!!]..do you really need to strip it? I haven't stripped the "old, dead" LSP off my vehicles for ages, just reapplied. No paint-cleaners, not even clay. Even switched LSPs a few times. No problems at all.
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Blasphemy!! :redcard:
 
Never thought of stripping (or even striping) before applying my LSP.

It's raining men....

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Accumulator said:
BUT..[!!WARNING Autopian Heresy follows!!]..do you really need to strip it? I haven't stripped the "old, dead" LSP off my vehicles for ages, just reapplied. No paint-cleaners, not even clay. Even switched LSPs a few times. No problems at all.
Click to expand...

And apparently we have all been doing this for years as we all thought a Dawn wash was stripping the existing LSP when in fact is was not. So we've all been applying a new coat of the existing LSP or a new LSP on top of the old with no ill effects.
 
Chem Guys Citrus Wash and Gloss will clean fairly well at 1 oz per gallon if you just want to wash. You can use a dedicated pre-wax cleaner (aka paint cleaner) to do a more thorough job.
 
Thanks to everyone for their replies and suggestions (and for pointing out my poor spelling of "stripping"). Since I use one product and one only for my exterior protection (Prima Hydro MAX) and my purpose it to minimize the time I spend cleaning, I'll give Chemical Guys Citrus Wash Red a try and go from there.

Thanks again!
 
pwaug said:
And apparently we have all been doing this for years as we all thought a Dawn wash was stripping the existing LSP when in fact is was not. So we've all been applying a new coat of the existing LSP or a new LSP on top of the old with no ill effects.
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That's a good point, though Dawn can sometimes leave [whatever it is] behind, making the surface feel different...different enough that people mistook it for being stripped bare.

Bounty said:
..Blasphemy!..
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yeah, heh heh...while I'm generally all about overkilling this stuff, I'm also in favor of *not* doing things that don't need doing. To hear the conventional wisdom, you'd think my LSPs would only last a few weeks or the vehicles would look dull or something. I'm all for cleaning paint...when it needs cleaned; otherwise I have other stuff to do.
 
06vrss said:
I've used megs hyper wash at 1 oz per gallon and it seems to work well.
Click to expand...

I would suspect you are seeing the same results as a Dawn or CG Red wash. After the wash the beading is apparantly gone, but if you wipe down the surface with an IPA solution the beading will return. The soaps contain sufactants that cause the beading to stop, making it appear the LSP is gone--an IPA wipe down removes the sufactants to allow the LSP to perform again. Give it a try next time you use Hyper Wash at that dilution.
 
pwaug said:
...[some\...soaps contain sufactants that cause the beading to stop, making it appear the LSP is gone--an IPA wipe down removes the sufactants to allow the LSP to perform again. ..
Click to expand...


Which kinda raises some Qs about using IPA for other jobs...the idea here being that it cleans the LSP without removing same.

A currently-MIA member (I can almost remember his user-name...pipuk maybe?) once challenged me to drop some wax into IPA and see if it dissolved, his point being that IPA simply does not degrade LSPs. I never got around to trying it...
 
Yep, that was Pipuk who contributed significantly to the thread I listed in my first post in this thread-I believe he is an engineer who works for an unnamed detailing products company in Ireland. The IPA removes the sufactants left from soap, but doesn't remove the LSP. He's done allot of testing regarding this subject.
 
rustypixel said:
Would using a good APC, either full strength or slightly diluted, remove the LSP?
Click to expand...

Maybe a wax but I doubt a sealant. As I mentioned above I used 4 oz of CG Red and 4 oz of HD Orange Degreaser (APC) with 4 gallons of water with 3-5 minutes of dwell time to wash 8 month old DG105 and it didn't faze the 105. And, the Griots Paint Prep is made to strip LSPs and it didn't faze it either.

Give it a try but remember--if the beading is gone after you clean with APC give it a wipe with IPA to see if there were any sufactants left behind.
 
I'm a broken record here..but if somebody wants to use a highly alkaline product like APC to strip LSP, I'd recommend something like "A" that's tested safe and effective for jobs like that.
 
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