Decontaminating a New York City car

Local detailers do not use products like Iron-X. Is this a "must use" product for detailers these days for big city cars ? I find I need to clay every 2 months to remove surface contaminents after my annual trip to the detailer.

General process (done by detailer) is wash, clay, mild compound, polish, wax/sealant.

 

depends on who you ask.........

some cars need that extra decon. Honestly, Ive been claying cars for 15 years, and now all of a sudden IronX seems to be something a lot of people cannot get by without. I have some, and it does work. Its just one extra step to make the finish ready for polishing, or claying, or wax, whatever.

 

im thinking about getting a spray gun to apply the iron x. regular spray bottles waste way too much product. shit aint cheap.

 

I dont have any and have not decided if it is cost effective for my business; It costs more than claybars, it is an extra step, and I dont know what affect it will have on the environment as it goes down the drain, and I hear it smells toxic.

Yes, many use it and say its great and I am sure it is...

Dan F

 

I am sort of with Dan, once its gone I wont order it again. Ive been doing just fine clay baring and polishing. But I had to try it...... LOL

 

+1 i had to try it also. My wife ordered me a whole bunch of it a couple months ago. Im still going through it

 

Issue here is, its not completely effective against the tough stuff, AND more importantly people are on some kind of mislead idea that its a pre-wash, pre whatever type of product. This is completely incorrect and frankly pretty misleading IMO when it should be used for the leftover subsurface contamination, NOT as a pre treatment. Big deal it turns purple. There is NON bonded metallic stuff stuck on cars that would turn purple too, when a pressure rinse would simply remove it.

NO. It is a POST CLAY(when the rest of the ABOVE SURFACE stuff is removed), leaving the below surface stuff there. Reality is, there are people who complain about loading up their clay etc, concerned about wasting clay to contamination you aren't thinking in proper decon terms, and frankly do you de-tar before clay? YES you do, same idea with this - de-tar, clay, decon fluid.

Problem here is adding an additional step for the vendors who now sell this (I should know we sold it exclusively for a full year before the rest of the scene caught on) is that they want to sell it as a "time saver", but if true decon is your goal, truly clean paint requires time, and progression through the appropriately ordered steps. Using this in the correct order requires the appropriate pre-decon fluid steps.

aside from the fact the product sucks on the really tough contamination, thus costing more time and money.. but again I only speak from experience in a 6 month winter seasoned city(except this year woohoo).

 

On top of mikes point, if you follow the directions you are supposed to wipe with mitt/sponge while it is working. Spray, dwell, wipe dwell a bit longer and rinse. This does make a huge difference in the performance.

 

I have put up a thread in DW asking when I should use those deironizers, before or after claying. Those members were saying that Iron X takes care of ABOVE AND BELOW surface iron particles, and clay bars are for removing non-metalic contaminants. So deironizer first and then claybar. This way the life of claybars can be extended and the chance of swirling by claying minimized.

 

Ya exacty, preferably with something with some "grip" to the particles like a microfiber applicator or towel.

 

It is supposed to be a pre clay spray, but like Mike, I too used it post clay to tidy up the little bits, especially on white or light cars. You can't clay in the small crack by the windows, but you can iron x them. I did a White Q5 on tuesday, used iron x per directions and didn't need to clay afterwards. It was new, but still had a surprising amount of fallout that was not taken car of by the dealership.

 

Ask professional detailers in the rust belt why we clay before using decon fluid - before this relatively weak purple party liquid, there were real decon products meant for real, complete decon. The market capitalized on the OOOH AHHHH of the detailing crowd(who hopefully will never need serious decon) because everyone loves the buzz about pH neutral and everyone loves to see something working - same idea as sonax: does it treat relatively clean wheels - yes. Do you need something heavier in a neglect or severe situation - absolutely.

There is a reason the major decon system producers have TSBs from auto MFGs about their kits, they are proven when used and used in the correct order. IronX IronCut Wolfs etc etc have nothing.

Heres the issue, the common misconception and widely mis-educated point about it. When you clay, there is always the chance to marr - always, does it happen, not usually in warm weather.


To get you thinking about this correctly: does not metallic contamination select where it deposits itself? NO. Is it reasonable to think a severely contaminated car has alot of subsurface stuff covered up by ABOVE surface contaminates? YES of course, they are above surface contaminates. Eliminate them or you are simply wasting your time and your purple drink spraying over a car that needs to be clayed first to expose all the subsurface stuff for max contact.

This is exactly what I meant when I said if youre concerned about wasting clay you are deconning in the incorrect order for the incorrect reasons.


This point drives me nuts because its perpetuated by vendors and manufactuers who would rather sell an ease of use process versus "ITS BETTER FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS" type of process involved with a product.

 

I'm from NYC and I detail 3 family vehicles everytime they visit us in VA. I use Iron X all the time on them. Is it absolutely necessary? no. Is it a time saver? no ... but I doesn't add a lot of time to the decon process even with agitation. I use it to make sure rail dust is complety gone, but it won't take care of anything else.

NYC fallout is somewhat weird to me. I haven't noticed excessive rail dust issues (even though trains are everywhere). The biggest fallout I encounter are yellow/brown particles that look like faint rust particles, but they don't react with Iron X/ Wolf's decon.


I live in VA and I barely have to clay my vehicles. IMO, I can get away with not claying for a year. I clay in the Spring time only. Iron X is really not necessary where I live. Places closer to DC might be a different story.