my bonneville has tons and tons of caked on wax in every crease/hole/opening you can think of! whats the best way to get all that **** off and start from scratch now that its mine and not being abused by my retarded relatives. figured i'd ask before just going to town with the wrong tools for the job.
Wax remover. They sell it in spray cans. Are you trying to make the paint that's on it look good, or are you repainting?
honestherman- honestly i've looked a buncha places and find all kinds of wax but never see any wax remover...just thought i'd see what you guys do so i dont destroy my 45 year old original paint. oilslinger- trying to make the paint thats on it look as good as i can. plannin on repainting in the future but it'll pretty much be the last thing i do since the original paint is still real nice (garaged its whole life) just every hole/vent/etc looks like they've been filled with toothpaste there's that much built up old wax so figured a wax remover would be helpful nutajunka- thanks. i was thinking a soft toothbrush would be alright but again just wanted to check with yall before hand.
wax and grease remover they call it. They have it at the paint supply store, and some autopart stores, but I wouldn't use it unless i was repainting over the oem paint. Some water, towels, light polishing compound, stiff bristled toothbrush, paint sticks with cloth wrapped or glued around them, and another coat of fresh wax oughtta do the trick. It's time consuming and tedious, but it should work.
Try rubbing alcohol and water mixed 50/50 in a spray bottle. Works great for removing rubbing compound residue.
cool thanks...i dont mind time consuming just means it gets my mind off stuff for longer. thanks for the input much appreciated
What? Nobody's heard of a clay bar? That's exactly what they're for. Removing wax and contaminants from paint, that is. I like Zaino products, high dollar but worth it if you want to shine. ***Edited To Add*** Wash your car with Dawn liquid dishwashing detergent. Then do it again, but better this time. Then the clay bar. Then a quality wax, good wax is more than one step of wipe on/wipe off (see Zaino above). If you do it right, it'll take ALL day. ***Edited Again To Add*** Be careful with the claybar. Better to find someone that knows how to use one or you'll **** up your paint real quick as it picks up everything off the paint. You don't want to rub what you picked up from the paint back in the paint. You have to keep folding the clay bar back over on itself to keep the impurities (dirt, bird****, abrasives) OFF the paint. Find a local Zaino guy and he'll give you a demo. You may score some free product if you organize a group demo, just like Mary Kay or Tupperware.
Claybar was my first though, but I wasn't sure aoubt rubbing it in all them nooks and crannies. Seems to be where most of the ****ola is stuck
Wax and grease remover should not hurt original paint. You'll definitely need to rub it out/detail the paint surface again once you get all the wax off/out of the crevices. You'll need to be careful though with the compound, polish and wax. If it builds up in the corners/crevises and emblems it'll look like 45 years of wax build-up that had been lovingly applied for the past 45 years by your retarded relatives. If they are true to your description, I am fairly confident that the apple may not have fallen far from the tree. -Bigchief.
A tooth brush is pretty good for getting old wax out of tight spots. Again, be careful if there's nice shiny paint under all that old wax. Swirl marks **** ***.
no need to be a **** bigchief...the only stupid question is the one not asked. sorry i wanted to tap into people with more experience than me. sometimes there's little tricks etc you dont think of. maybe there was some great wax remover that you guys knew about that i've never seen. my bad for asking a question because i want to do a good job and have the best results i can from my labor.
Why would you feel the need to add this to the end of your post? It was uncalled for and added nothing. You don't know this guy from Adam, yet you are ready to slam someone who who only wanted some answers to a simple question............I guess I don't get it. Lotsa elbow grease with the dawn, possibly a third wash to get it good and wax free, plenty of tooth brushes at the dollar storeI'm sure you have the determination to get those nooks clean Frankie
One of the painters, where I used to work, detailing cars at a bodyshop, taught me a trick for getting paint out of grained plastic, which also may help you. Take an air nozzle, and while spraying the air at built up compound or wax, in those hard to access places, dribble a small amount of water from a hose, into the airstream. It seems to break up, and flush away, the offending build up without damaging anything (just don't get too close with the air ) The use of a strong solution of dish soap and "HOT" water will remove wax on the large surfaces. Cheap version of Q-tips work in crevices too.
Another thing to add is to be sure to use a good quality wax after the Dawn washing. The Dawn will dissolve all previous wax (protection of your paint from UV and protection of your paint from pollution contaminants that cause oxidation). Places like Griots will sell specialty detailing tools that are often way better than stuff like you find in your house (toothbrush for example). They're relatively inexpensive considering how long you'll keep them. Like I said, I like Zaino for shiny. You'll be surprised at what you can accomplish with the right products used the way they're supposed to be used. Abrasive polishing is a VERY LAST resort for soemthing like removing swirl or spider marks as it removes way too much paint material. I used to spend a LONG *** time polishing shiny cars I used to have. I haven't had anything shiny in quite a while. It's a lot of hard work, but when you get done, you get that "Wow!" feeling. Do it right and you'll never believe how good your paint can look. All you'll want to do is ride around looking for gl*** buildings just so you can see your reflection.
I do alot of pinstriping. I wash vehicles down with commet cleanser to remove wax. It is mild enough that it wont hurt the paint.
Amen to the ****head tag for Big Chief on this thread! My favorite method of getting wax build up out of corners crevices, and cracks is mineral spirits. It won't hurt the paint, and I use it after a thorough wash with something like Dawn dish detergent. Find a brush with natural bristles instead of the nylon in a toothbrush and use that in the seams, cracks, crevices, and corners. Then wash again thoroughly and then clay bar. It will be slick as a baby's ****! Dave
I'd try a soft tooth brush and some paint thinner (Mineral Spirits)Paint thinner is not that aggressive, but check it in an incon****uous spot to make sure it don't hurt your paint. The paint thinner removes the road grime, tar build up all that road **** that bight be mixed in with the waxes on your car. You could go over that, when you're done, with Prep-Sol or I like...windex, then re wax....good luck
Neutral shoe polish (basically shoe polish with no pigment) is a great was solvent too, and it's pretty gentile.
Wax and grease remover X2 I use it when lettering. You need to wipe it on wet and with a clean dry rag wipe it off. Do a little at a time, an area about 3X3. Change dry rags often so you don't just move the wax around. It won't hurt the paint. If there are several coats of wax on the car you might have to go over it a couple of times.
Has anyone on here ever used 1 cup of kerosene to 3 cups of water wash car down with it to remove wax and old paint residue then rewash car with a mild dish soap to remove any left over kerosene solution .It takes the wax off and leaves clear painted surface .Works very well on old original paint.
They make very cheap battery powered toothbrushes that would be perfect for getting rid of old wax in tight spaces, save a lot of elbow grease. I keep one around for tougher duties, too.
Coca-Cola cleans that **** off, too. And goes pretty damn well with any Rum you might have laying about.
I'm sorry. You just came off as a little ungrateful. It sounded like the "retarded relatives" were the ones who jambed all the wax in the nooks and crannies.....my thoughts would have been along the lines that atleast they cared about the car enough to wax it for 45 years.....***uming it had been in the family the whole time, of course. Yeah, once in a while I'm a ****head.
Clay bar is for removing fallout and sap, to remove the build up of wax you can use a dish detergent, I also make a product for this! shoot me a pm with your address, I will send you what we make for this! Works great and easy to use! John
Our Wipe Down product also works great for this purpose. http://www.wizardsproducts.com/store/product.php?productid=12&cat=0&page=1
The Jalopy Journal
