Pressure Washer washing out wax and glaze?

[camp316]

So i have a black Ram, just spent 9 hours on my first full detail - strip wash, clay, polish, paint seal, glaze, sealant wax in that order (all Adams products except LPS). Looked great when it was done, no more swirls and most of the scratches looked very light, you had to look for them to see it. 

 

Week goes by, and I wanna give it a quick wash. Take to to the local car wash that has those pressure washer bays. I take some Adams shampoo, i spray down the truck, wash with shampoo and then rinse with the pressure washers. Now, all those light scratches are again very visible and it feels like all that work detailing is gone. 

 

As i am using them i notice that they use heated water, not sure that has any effect but wanted to mention it. I also didnt have the nozzle up close to the paint, maybe at least a foot away at the most. 

 

Is it possible that i washed away the glaze and wax, and what about the paint seal?

 

Think my best option is to just start all over?

 

I was planning on breaking out the polisher during the fall and trying to get a better correction and possible ceramic coat for the winter but was also hoping to have a great looking truck for more then a week. 

[Dan@Adams]

Hi Shaun,

 

A pressure washer should not remove a sealant, or a wax in one wash; however, if the glaze was on the vehicle as the top layer, it most likely removed it. If it was spraying very hot water, it's possible but unlikely that it was higher than the melting point of the wax.

 

When you say you polished the vehicle after claying, what type of polish did you use, and did you polish by hand or machine? If you polished by hand, it's very difficult to remove swirls and scratches by hand, so the sealant, wax, and glaze most likely filled them in, to a degree, rather than corrected them.

 

What type of wash pad/mitt did you use, and did you clean it against a grit guard regularly when washing at the car wash? It's possible to re-introduce swirls and light scratches very easily if you do not clean your wash pad out every few passes over the vehicle. Lastly, how did you dry the truck? Washing and drying account for probably 95% or more of swirl marks and scratches, and on a black vehicle you have to take even more care since it will show everything more easily.

[camp316]

Thanks for the reply Dan. 

 

I had polished it using the Swirl Killer with orange pad - orange polish, and then with white pad- white finishing polish. The glaze was put on over paint seal but under wax. 

 

For the wash i used one bucket with grit guard and Adams wash mitt. Dried it with H2O gloss and guard and the corresponding micro fiber towels. 

 

It seems like a few of the old scratches had resurfaced, one around the driver door that i noticed everyday prior to attempting a correction. 

 

When i did the polish, i was very hesitant as it was my first time with a polisher, i barley put any pressure on it. So most likely the scratches were just filled in and not polished out. Could this make it way easier to wash out the product? 

 

I guess my next question is will strip wash remove the new paint seal so i can start over? 

[Nathan]

Thanks for the reply Dan.

 

I had polished it using the Swirl Killer with orange pad - orange polish, and then with white pad- white finishing polish. The glaze was put on over paint seal but under wax.

 

For the wash i used one bucket with grit guard and Adams wash mitt. Dried it with H2O gloss and guard and the corresponding micro fiber towels.

 

It seems like a few of the old scratches had resurfaced, one around the driver door that i noticed everyday prior to attempting a correction.

 

When i did the polish, i was very hesitant as it was my first time with a polisher, i barley put any pressure on it. So most likely the scratches were just filled in and not polished out. Could this make it way easier to wash out the product?

 

I guess my next question is will strip wash remove the new paint seal so i can start over?

 

When polishing the pad should not be spinning very fast. You really need to apply 3-5 pounds of pressure. Make a mark on the backing plate so you can tell how fast the pad is spinning. And if you are worried, just check the panel heat often.

 

Strip wash will remove any sealant, wax, or glaze you have on. Car shampoo with 1-2 oz of APC added will also remove the sealant, wax, or glaze.

 

Also, the 2 bucket method is the safest for reducing swirls and scratches. If you have the grit guard, you might want to check out the washboard too, it works great with the mitt! If you want washing to be even safer, invest in one of Adams foam cannons, they make washing much safer by adding a layer of suds before you go over it with the wash mitt.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Nathan

[mc2hill]

First for the wash, I would recommend a 2nd bucket for the Rinse.  If you only have one Grit Guard, place it in the Rinse bucket.  This keeps the stuff you removed from the paint in one bucket, and the clean wash water in the other.

 

Also, if you are polishing again, tape off a 2 ft. x 2 ft. test area and polish that section.  Compare with the adjacent area to determine if meets your expectations.  If not, go over the section again and compare.  If you are still not pleased, move to a more aggressive polish/pad combo.  Now you have an idea of what is needed to remove the defects....wish I knew this before my first attempt!

[jessewsmith]

Some people will argue with this but I always just use the weight of the polisher when correcting. I have a Rupes mark 2 and not the swirl killer so it could be different but that's what I do.

[Nathan]

Some people will argue with this but I always just use the weight of the polisher when correcting. I have a Rupes mark 2 and not the swirl killer so it could be different but that's what I do.

What about on the side pannels like the doors?

[blcksilv08]

I'm also wondering if maybe the scratches and/or swirls weren't seen after polishing due to a lighting issue. I know I've had vehicles that looks great in the garage or the shade with a light then I pull them in the sun and find some more damage to correct. Perhaps the car was polished and then sealed before it was brought into the sun?

[mc2hill]

Some people will argue with this but I always just use the weight of the polisher when correcting. I have a Rupes mark 2 and not the swirl killer so it could be different but that's what I do.

 

 

What about on the side pannels like the doors?

 

Just hold the polisher in place with a little forward pressure, no need to mash into the panel.

[Nathan]

Just hold the polisher in place with a little forward pressure, no need to mash into the panel.

Well yeah I wouldn't want to damage the panel!

[Drive XR7]

The sad answer is that you have a black truck and you will always see some kind of imperfection. Any time you touch your truck you will create some kind of imperfection. 2-bucket wash, grit guards, waterless wash, etc all will minimize scratching but there is no way to prevent it completely. Black is maddening. Have lots of Glaze on hand. It's easier to apply a quick coat of glaze to really make the truck pop versus a full polish.

[jp2015]

One thing to consider is that if you're not doing an IPA wipe after polishing, the fillers / polishing oils in whatever polish you're using are masking defects that you haven't actually removed. Depending on what polish you used, it could actually be acting as a glaze itself, because glazes very often contain everything a polish contains, except abrasives. It just depends on the glaze in question.

 

On top of that, Brilliant Glaze isn't durable. Even water alone will remove it. (Nothing wrong with that - it's a wonderful product and I just ordered another bottle). So I would say that you're missing defects when you polish, as well as using a glaze that isn't known to be durable even among glazes. It's the most temporary of temporary gloss enhancers - very much like a detail spray with more gloss enhancers.

 

Also, if you're not using a foam gun or cannon on a black car, you're going to be installing visible swirl marks every time you wash it. Even a few days after you just spent 72 hours (or whatever) detailing it. Those pressure wash bays are great, but there's no shortcut or way to avoid having to foam the car if you want to avoid scratches.

 

If you absolutely must use a wash bay, I would buy a pressurized foamer, fill it with a generous amount of Adams shampoo and water, and foam the car by hand before washing it. Let it dwell for a few minutes to allow the suds to lift the non-bonded contaminants, hose it with the wash bay's wand and continue your wash process as usual. That will help you avoid swirl marks.

 

But before all that, I would guess that you need to use a more aggressive polish once to remove defects, follow up with a finishing polish, and if you wash the car correctly from here on out, you shouldn't ever have to touch anything more aggressive than a finishing polish again.