I hope it's ok to post this in this section, if not sorry and could someone put it in the right section. Anyway I had a guy tell me to use handywipes for removing wax on my car, he swore it worked great and wouldn't leave any scratch marks. So I was wondering if anyone had ever heard of this before or tried it themselves?
Thanks




MrBreez :)

Why chance scratching your paint? I'd try on it a junker first, but I'd use 100% cotton terrycloth or microfiber towels like the wax mfrs recommend.

If you want to remove old wax try a product called Prep-All. It's similar to Prep-sol but you can buy it at Wal-Mart or AutoZone.

If you want to remove old wax try a product called Prep-All. It's similar to Prep-sol but you can buy it at Wal-Mart or AutoZone.

Or, just wash the car using dishwashing soap. NOT the soap you'd use in a dishwasher, but the soap you use for washing dishes by hand in the sink. That soap will remove all the dirt gently and will also remove the old wax.

X2. I am told that Dawn (the brand) works best for that.

I use Dawn for everything...I am a professional window cleaner so we get it by the gallon and I'll just bring some home with me and use it to clean any and everything....except interior plastic dont use it because it will fade it

Do you use Dawn to clean windows?

Waxing-go buy a pack of microfiber towells from your local chain parts store.

Thanks everyone for the replies, I think I'll pass on trying the handywipes. The guy that told me that said he heard it from someone that supposedly does custom painting that's why I wanted to try to verify if it was true or not-you know how it goes " I heard it from a friend of a friend" kind of thing. I have used dishwashing liquid in the spring to wash off the old wax then gone through my detailing routine, I was more after seeing if anyone had used handywipes in particular to remove fresh wax but it doesn't sound like it's a proven method that I just hadn't heard about before so, I think I'll stick to what I've been doing for the past 12 yrs.
Thanks again for the input.



MrBreez :)

Thanks everyone for the replies, I think I'll pass on trying the handywipes. The guy that told me that said he heard it from someone that supposedly does custom painting that's why I wanted to try to verify if it was true or not-you know how it goes " I heard it from a friend of a friend" kind of thing. I have used dishwashing liquid in the spring to wash off the old wax then gone through my detailing routine, I was more after seeing if anyone had used handywipes in particular to remove fresh wax but it doesn't sound like it's a proven method that I just hadn't heard about before so, I think I'll stick to what I've been doing for the past 12 yrs.
Thanks again for the input.



MrBreez :)

You're better off using the right tools for the job.Liquid dish soap will take off the wax,prep solve is what auto body men use to take wax and impurities too,if doing repair work on a car.

You know, this is something I might try on my daily driver.. it sounds kind of absurd, but when you think of it, it may not be that far off base.

A babys bottom is probably one of the most things you would want something non-abrasive and very comfortable. As well I don't recall ever experiencing lint while using one.. Not to mention the chemicals used shouldn't be too harsh!

You know, this is something I might try on my daily driver.. it sounds kind of absurd, but when you think of it, it may not be that far off base.

A babys bottom is probably one of the most things you would want something non-abrasive and very comfortable. As well I don't recall ever experiencing lint while using one.. Not to mention the chemicals used shouldn't be too harsh!


I would at the very least use a towel over top of the wipes. The wipes are thin and with towels there is padding that draws up anything (dust, sand, speck of whatever) up into the towel, reducing pressure, keeping your wiping from driving it into the paint and causing scratching and marring. That would be my main concern (other than I dont see the need for it when the towels work fine) - those things may be soft but they are thin and anything that sticks to it will just glide acrossed your paint instead of pulling up ans away into a soft towel or into a waffle weave on a micro fibre.

Dawn - does some harsh stuff to plastics and rubber. I use it but be careful, I think prepsol on a cloth so you can target paint only is the best way to go, ultimately.

I heard dish soap will remove the "oil" from your paint. I used it for years on a van and the paint lost all shine. Now i use the Car wash only suds, Turtle wax, MaGuires etc.
Removing wax with the cotton towels or micro-fibre is the best.

I heard dish soap will remove the "oil" from your paint. I used it for years on a van and the paint lost all shine. Now i use the Car wash only suds, Turtle wax, MaGuires etc.
Removing wax with the cotton towels or micro-fibre is the best.

Because it removes all wax and the good majority of anything on the surface but for the roughest of impurities that might require a claybar (which is why you also generally wash a car with dawn prior to clay and then build up surface protection again after that). So your van had no paint protection unless you were polishing / waxing at every wash. Even if you were waxing every 2nd or third wash, on the 4th you were removing everything from the paint. Dishwashing soap, as a normal car wash, is a bad thing as you discovered.