Better LSP stripper? CG CW + gloss or CW clear

Which is better of the two Chemical Guys pre-paintwork washes?

 

The citrus wash (bright orange color) needs only 1oz. per gallon for LSP removal while the CWC and CWG need 2oz. per gallon.

Personally if im using 4 gallons of water I am not going to use 4oz. of shampoo per wash, that would eat up a 16oz bottle in, well, 4 washes. Not to mention that concentration is way to high to have a nice wash, you need equal amounts of lubricity and suds, not just super slippery soap sliding on paint, which is what exactly 4oz. worth of shampoo will do.

Better option would be to use 1-2oz of the citrus shampoo and then soak the car with a gentle APC like Opt. powerclean 5:1 to help really strip LSP. After which you will be claying (that eats away some LSP) and follow it all up with mutiple high dilutiion wipedows of IPA.

Or you could just use Dawn for the wash as its much more economical but not as easy to rinse clean as the CG.

People get too carried away with stripping every bit of LSP during the wash process, most of the time it doesnt work that easily. I do all I can during the wash process without getting carried away and then let the IPA wipedowns do the rest!

 

^ Well put and great advice.

 

Wow. Much better response than a simple, 'this over that' response.

I just wanted to see if it was worth the purchase.

 

good info indeed

 

Well put and to the point.

 

I use opt power clean or p21s. Or cg strong wash. Pretty much whatever I have on hand and all three work pretty well.

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I use CWC or CWG at LSP strip dilution and also add an ounce of Power Clean. I do an IPA wipedown after the wash and that does the trick. The only time this doesn't work that well is when I'm trying to strip collinite. It requires multiple APC soaks during the wash and several IPA wipedowns ...

 

I know that some Citrus Wash products from CG only say 1oz per gallon vs 2oz per gallon, but when I called CG, they said that for sure Citrus Wash & Gloss is the strongest LSP stripper.

Only problem is that if your LSP is even fairly strong, none of the CG Citrus Wash products are gonna do anything to them. And if you use CW&G, the Gloss Polymers in it are likely to provide their own water-beading protection so it may be difficult to judge if the surface has been stripped or not.

The best method during the wash is Opt Power Clean 3:1 or Adam's APC 3:1, just spray on, wash in with your normal car wash soap, rinse off and LSP is gone. I am also a big fan of the IPA wipe-down after the wash because I hate drying a car off when it has no protection !!! It may take several hits of IPA to fully strip LSP but it's easy to judge because the IPA will no longer bead up on the surface once the protection is all gone.

 

true that, especially on a car that is well maintained (washed weekly with gentle wash+QD booster) it takes an effort to strip LSP...I add citrus degreaser to CG citrus wash, and it takes at least 2-3 alcohol wipe downs to remove an LSP even if it's a few months old...and that's after claying...customer cars is a different story...

 

Surprised that nobody mentioned using a paint cleaner for final lsp removal. I know that topic started as which product strips the lsp better but it seems like we have gotten into " how do I prepare my ride for an lsp " just food for thought as the OP is looking to prep for LSP. as one poster said, people get carried away with trying to remove every bit of lsp before moving on to the prep stage.

 

I would still use ipa after a paint cleaner (if I ever used paint cleaners) because most of them have some form of oil or silicone for lubricity so if I am looking for the wax or sealant of my choice to bond as strong as possible I want the finish to be 100% bare and stripped of anything.

Also if your doing any sort of paint correction that will remove prior LSP in full. Most anyone doing paint correction knows this, however the reason we go to such lengths to strip everything beforehand is because if there are glaze fillers masking defects it may lead us to believe the finish needs less correction work than it really does.

 

I would agree with your statements of using an IPA after the paint cleaner for the most part. however IMO there are a few exceptions such as the JW line or Utima . their pre lsp cleaners are made to work with and bond better to the sealant. in those cases I would polish first , IPA wipedown, then Prime and AJ or AJT. since I use these two systems a lot my thoughts were geared towards them. if you are using a nuba or the new coating that are out then it would make perfect sense to want a bare surface prior to laying down lsp.

 

I love Powerclean Emile and agree with you that its great for removing LSP. On most cars the 3:1 dilution works great with no issues but if your dealing with delicate paint (that tends to marr easily) than 3:1 is actually a bit too strong and you may get a bit of etching in the clear, what I call "chemical runs". This has happened to me on 2 ocasions with non metallic black paint cars after APC or Powerclean being sprayed on 3:1. Not a huge issue as the chemical runs were removed with compounding but it did give me quite a scare so from now on I use 5:1 and its fine.

Also an important note for people working on a car with clear film, be very careful with spraying APC type products onto clear film as they can dry out the plastic... hence why I never use IPA on clear film either. When I spray a car down with APC or Powerclean and it has clear film I just avoid those filmed areas. :thumb:

Your absolutely correct. I love the Werkstat system and most always use Prime before AJT. In cases like that the pre-cleaner acts as a bonding agent so you are correct in that its beneficial, and of course not a good idea to do IPA wipes after applying Prime as that defeats the purpose, :doh: . For something like the Zaino system I have to say using Z-AIO to prep for the sealants (as Zaino recommends) has done nothing for me in terms of looks or durability. If the finish is properly polished and clean than you wont have an issue.

A lot of the pre-cleaners are meant for the DIY guy who is not doing paint correction. In this case one would be better off using a pre-wax cleaner to prep their car. In our cases with the exception of Ultima, Werkstat and maybe a few others, the pre-wax cleaners are wasted energy if claying and paint correction has already been done.

 

Good point Dave, thanks for the tip. I have noticed that Power Clean is really strong, even at 3:1 I just have to spray it on and it kills the LSP in a heartbeat.

I am also a big fan of pre-cleaner glazes/AIO type products because they clean the paint as well as provide a surface that ensures maximum bonding of the sealant (at least that's what the manufacturers usually claim). It also means that I don't have to deal with a paintwork cleansing wash and IPA wipe-downs which can be hard on the paintwork for those of us who like to start fresh every couple of months without polishing.

 

Some good advice you gave there on the clear films and using apc on soft paint. as always your posts give good advice and sometimes remind us that there are no hard set rules but through trial and error we can determine what methods give us great results without compromising the paint.

 

IPA isnt harsh on paint at all. Just use the right dilutions for certain types of finishes, for example more distilled water than alcohol is ideal for soft clear coats.