Dish-washing Soap, True or False
I like to take this opportunity and share some information regarding the usage of Dish-washing Soap- the usage of Dish washing soap within the detail industry seems to be accepted/endorsed and promote by many people including top notch professional detailers, at the same time for some reason it appears that is a dead debate and no end on site to it;
Is almost like if you don’t use it you don’t know anything about detailing, at least that is the general impression that some of us perceive.
First; lets analyze why is this product used by so many people within the automobile detailing industry, the “Main” objective to used dish detergent to remove any old waxes or sealants" prior to a new application of waxes/sealants.
With that we must learn that there’s a difference between Wax and Polish
Wax: A true wax contains carnauba, bees wax, or paraffin wax. The term wax is used two ways. You can use the word "wax" as a process upon where you apply a protective coating to a surface which could be a polymer (which is in our product) or use a product with a wax in it.
Polish: A true polish contains an abrasive that will remove scratches or oxidized paint. It also will bring a dull finish to a shine. More aggressive polishes can remove orange peel, deep scratches, and also oxidized paint.
If we look even a little further; we could ask;
Do we have a sealer or glaze?
Our car wax could also be termed a sealer somewhat, although the proper terminology for any product for an application like this would probably not be a sealer. The term itself says that you are sealing something up, painted surfaces need "to breathe" so to totally seal one off is not the best.
A glaze on the other hand is for all practical speaking "lipstick on a pig," meaning, you are probably hiding something. Think of it this way, most women wear makeup, with it on, they are hiding blemishes, etc, but just as soon as they wash their face, the defects are still there. We prefer to fix the problem rather than cover it up. If the customer is looking for a product that does what those other products profess to do, then I suggest they use our SRP, Spot Repair Polish, which is in the body shop line, performs the function of a glaze but is not a cover-up; it actually takes the imperfections from the surface rather than covering them.
Will we ever make a glaze, just to have one in name?
Probably not, we prefer function over form. Identifying right at the start what we are going to accomplish, then doing just that is most important to us, no matter what name you might have on the product. We do not want to have a product that washes off the car and reveals something that we should have done with a product earlier in the process.
What's the difference between a sealer and a glaze?
The general thinking is this; a sealer is to lock in a particular condition of the paint and keeps it looking that way. You can think of it as putting on a coat of clear. As I mentioned earlier, a glaze tells me right off that there is something that is being hidden. When you ask most people why they use a glaze, first of all, most don't know why they are using it and the others will tell you that it is to cover minor surface imperfections.
Why not fix the problem rather than covering it up? Going through the steps we suggest with the products we suggest will produce the results we advertise and will not wash off. Some glazes are even color keyed for the paints, i.e., light for light colors, dark for dark. Now think about that.
Back to the Dish washing Soap procedure - as mentioned before it is “Intended” to remove all of the above mentioned earlier in aims to prepare the surface.
From our research we have found two easy ways to obtain such results (but there’s other alternative as well not to mention car care products made especially for this task)
1- Via our oxidation block or Via Clay bar
2- Isotropy Alcohol (rubbing alcohol) a 50/50 mix of water and isotropy alcohol
This procedure must be done by an experienced person.
Those are just two examples, as we continue we can mention that dish washing detergents are designed to strip grease and grime. In the automobile world it seems that the brand “Dawn” is the one particular brand that everyone referees too, maybe that particular brand of dish washing soap is stronger or is just the branding, I suspect the second one.
With that we will concentrate on that brand.
We can write pages on this subject, what we post are things based on our experience but to make it fair, why don’t we ask the product manufacture? I'm not into the dish washing soap business so it only makes sense to ask them. So we did some research and our finding were;
This is posted on Dawn's site in their customer support section
Question
Can I wash my car with dish washing detergent?
Answer
your car surface and the dirt that gets on it are a lot different from the food soils and dishes that dish washing liquids clean effectively. We don't recommend them for cleaning your car.
"Can I use Dawn to clean things other than dishes?
Dawn is so effective in cutting grease on dishes that over the years, consumers have used Dawn on other greasy messes around their homes, from cleaning kitchen messes like grease build up on the stove range hood to oily spots in the garage. Dawn is not recommended for window cleaning, car washing, body wash or washing hair.
This is coming from the product manufacture not from us, just in case here is the source directly from them.
http://www.dawn-dish.com/en_US/questionsaboutdawn.doSo the main question reminds, WHY go against the product manufacture recommendations? At the end of the day we like to call this, nothing more than a Myth.
We hope some of you will find this information useful..
