Pre-treatment question for detailing

[kitt1987]

Hey all,

 

I cannot find the information but in the next 4-6 weeks I will be detailing my car which involves stripping off last year's product (all Adam's of course), claying, sealing, then gloss.  My question is, I know I can mix the all purpose cleaner in with a bucket of suds to strip off all wax, etc....is it true I can also mix in Dawn dish detergent with the car wash soap to strip?  The Mrs. bought plenty of Dawn a couple of weeks ago (more than I think we'll need) and I'm thinking of using that if it truly works.

 

Thanks in advance!

[sahls01gmc]

If you use Dawn, it will severely dry out your trim pieces.  I would stick with the All Purpose Cleaner personally.

[Dan@Adams]

Blue Dawn dishwashing soap will strip off wax and so on, but it can be difficult to rinse clean and it can be more harsh on weather stripping and dry it out, especially if it hasn't been treated in the past. If you're going to clay, polish, and seal afterward the more difficult rinsing may not matter as much to you, but 2oz of APC mixed in with my Adam's Car Shampoo works fine for me.

[chops1sc]

Yes you can. However, Dawn supposedly will harm rubber trim over time. take that for what it's worth. I have used it in the past without issue. I think as much as we treat our rubber it is not a problem IMO.

[kitt1987]

Thank you all, this helps.  I'll stick with the all purpose cleaner then.  I treat my rubber and vinyl pretty frequently (VRT is one of my favorite items in the Adam's arsenal) but still I'll work with what's best and forgo the Dawn treatment then.

[PacificNWBuckeye]

The Dawn will dry out rubber over time with no preventative treatment. I've seen it first hand years ago, a neighbor always said "Soap is soap" and would wash with anything he had handy. If you treat regularly with SVRT a once a year strip wash with some Dawn shouldn't do any harm. APC is the recommended way with Adams, but I've tried both and saw no negative effect from either method. As always your mileage may vary.