Will clay remove Zaino?

peterp

New member
I have a car that is always garaged and seldom driven. I put on many coats of Zaino on it last year and am doing the first clean-up after winter. I had planned to just add a couple coats of Z5, but the paint doesnt' feel as smooth as I'd like.



I'd like to smooth out the paint without removing any layers because it took forever and a day to do all those layers the first time. I'm sure the layers are still there because it's always garaged and seldom used or even washed.



Can I use clay on the paint to smooth it out without removing the Zaino layers (or does clay always remove layers)?
 
I'd just do a strong dose of Dawn and that should clear things up. It won't take care of the rough feeling you're experiencing though. That will require clay most likely, but watch out, claying can cause micromarring and will require a polishing.
 
Legacy99 said:
I disagree, it may take off some, but won't put a dent in Z. Z is a body shop worst nightmare.



Thanks for the feedback. I tried clay this morning and it makes a huge difference in smoothness. I can't tell if the Zaino was removed, but it seems not because the surface is still smooth and shiney. I'm not sure why it became rough since it's had a sheltered life -- I guess just dust settling in. Before I did the clay, I tried adding Z5 to section to see if it smoothed it out at all and (of course) it did not have any effect on smoothness, so I needed to clay and take whatever loss there is on the prior coats (it looks really good so far).



David Fermani said:
That will require clay most likely, but watch out, claying can cause micromarring and will require a polishing.



Thanks for pointing this out -- hadn't thought about that so it was good to keep in mind. I've tried a few different clays and have found Mothers to be pretty idiot proof, so I used that and so far I'm not seeing any ill effects on the polished area.





Thanks very much for the feedback!
 
Legacy99 said:
I disagree, it may take off some, but won't put a dent in Z. Z is a body shop worst nightmare.



What's your proof? I've always gotten the impression that Zaino shouldn't pose a problem for a competent bodyshop. I've heard that Sal formulates his products so that repainting isn't an issue.
 
wannafbody said:
What's your proof? I've always gotten the impression that Zaino shouldn't pose a problem for a competent bodyshop. I've heard that Sal formulates his products so that repainting isn't an issue.



I've had two friends that used Z and had two different body shops that had to use a solvent to remove the Z. That's my proof, what's yours besides your impression.
 
I have no idea whether Zaino is a body shop's worst nightmare, but it does seem to be pretty resistant to clay -- I've now put a couple coats of Z5 over the clayed surface and it looks really great. Followed it with Z8 and will do CS tomorrow.



I'm really glad I clayed it rather than starting over with ZAIO, etc.
 
Legacy99 said:
I've had two friends that used Z and had two different body shops that had to use a solvent to remove the Z. That's my proof, what's yours besides your impression.



Well, I'm of the impression that any worthwhile body shop will use prepsolve before painting. I recently read a post where someone told a body shop that they had Liquid Glass on their car and the body shop didn't use prepsolve and the paint ended up washing off the car.
 
dawn will absolutely remove zaino, it is what zaino actually recommended as a remover back in the days before z-pc and z-aio.



dawn then clay then final wash before z-1 (lok) was the procedure. dawn still removes zaino and when i do a strip-down, that is what i start off with (then clay then zpc or zaio).
 
Yeppers. I've used Zaino since 2001 and I distinctly remember those instructions for removing it as well. Thanks for confirming.
 
Are you guys sure as I remember Zaino recommended Dawn to remove other waxes, then clay before waxing. It did not say Dawn removes Zaino.
 
newf said:
Are you guys sure as I remember Zaino recommended Dawn to remove other waxes, then clay before waxing. It did not say Dawn removes Zaino.



Why not write Sal and ask if you doubt?
 
I could care less really, I have never needed to remove Zaino. I typically dawn and clay every spring but if Zaino isn't all gone...I don't care.



Curious that is all.
 
Back
Top