floridaowner

If you do a full wax every couple of months or so is it necessary to remove any previous wax put on? Since the waxes wear off after a few months, I was planning on just waxing again and not using a product to remove previous wax jobs.

biker

As long as buff out the wax job I see no need to remove anything.

floridaowner

some people recommend paint cleaners etc to stip all wax on car before doing a wax job. seems like a lot of work, and can't imagine it makes a huge difference. Also some recommend using a polish before waxing but again, not something i plan on doing.

ctsport

I recomend using Dawn dishwash to strip the old wax before applying the new. Its simple and easy and you have to wash/detail the car before waxing anyways.

Brooks

Yeah thats what I have used in the past. Most hand dishwashing soaps are degreasers. Works really well.

floridaowner

Why is this usually recommended? will the new wax not be as effective if you don't strip the old wax?

briny319

DO NOT USE DAWN ON YOUR CAR!!!!!!!!! All of the detailing forums I belong to say that is the dumbest thing you can do. I wash my car then I use meguiars paint cleaner and then nxt gen tech wax. Or I use meguiars paint cleaner , polish, and deep crystal wax.

bigwilliestyle

I know this has been discussed before, and there's different trains of thought, but why? For instance, the Zaino website specifically says that it is good to use before applying their product.

The way I understand it is, you only do it the first time to get the car as clean as possible. Once you get the first coat of wax on, then you don't want to use Dawn anymore, but a standard car wash soap.

Is that right?

floridaowner

If you wax with carnauba ever few months is it necessary to use a paint cleaner each time you wax? If you don't will this make the new wax less effective?
By the way, no possibility of me putting dishsoap on my tsx nighthawk black.

SaraWI

I was reading this wondering if the same idea would work to remove wax I accidentally got on the plastic trim on my car. I can't get it off!!

Mokos23

oh yeah i have that same problem too, i have white wax residue stuff left on the black mudguards, i even tried an eraser, its still there!

CDR

If you are putting on another coat of the same general type of wax, removing what remains of the previous wax is not necessary. However, if you are switching from a "wax" (like a carnauba based product) to a sealant (e.g. Zaino, Klasse), it is necessary to remove the wax so that the sealant bonds properly to the clean paint.

Most consumer-type waxes (like Meguiars Cleaner-Wax) actually have enough chemical and abrasive cleaners in them that they will remove the previous layers.

Reading between the lines of your post, you're probably waxing again with the same type you used before ... so no removal necessary.

CDR

While I haven't tried it, there are quite a few posts on Autopia about this. Surprisingly, some kind of peanut butter (!) treatment seems to be popular for removing old white wax residue. If I recall correctly, diluted isopropyl alchohol is also mentioned at times (50% alchohol solution/50% water). Tar remover also removes wax.

I'd suggest a search on www.autopia.org .

floridaowner

most say that after a few months virtually all of a wax job is gone, so it doesn't make much sense to try to remove wax after several months if it is not there anymore. If you want to do a perfect job then i guess a paint cleaner to remove the wax can be used. otherwise a whole lot easier to just use a wax, especially a liquid wax like pinnacle's new liquid wax.