Griot's Paint Prep

[XiDude]

I'm considering taking the wax off that came from the dealer and one of the customer service reps from Griot's has told me that using any dishwashing detergent is horrible for the paint. He recommended (of course) Griot's Paint Prep. Does this work well? Also, he said that I can clay the car without taking off the wax first. Is that right? It seems to me that if there is rail dust on the paint, then the dealer would have put the wax on over it...won't the wax create a barrier between the clay and the rail dust?

[alee]

Dish detergent is more than adequate. I would venture to say that the Paint Prep they sell is actually a more aggressive solvent than dish detergent (which is just a high alkaline which will break up the wax).

I would strip everything off and then clay.

[Jetfire]

Don't worry about dishwashing detergent. It will strip everything off your paint finish, so be sure to follow up with Zaino or something equivalent.

[GSR13]

When I Zaino'd my car the first time, I followed their directions exactly. Those directions involved using Dawn, or an equivalent. I then Clayed and applied the Zaino Polish. Worked great in my opinion.

Since then, I have Zaino'd two other vehicles and used Dawn on both. I also clayed and used the PC with Griots Machine Polish. I then followed up with Zaino. Both of these turned out great as well.

The dish washing detergent does nothing more than assist in breaking down the wax and helping to strip grease from the car. I would certainly not use this to wash your car every week, but for this application it should be fine.

That being said, I needed to remove some Zaino from my hood in order to Polish out some scratches with the PC. I purchased some Griots Paint Prep and it definately did the trick. It certainly cut through everything on the paint, without a doubt.

However, I would take some advice from Ripsnort and make the stuff yourself. It is nothing more than 50% Iso Alcohol and 50% distilled water.

[XiDude]

Thanks for the info...