Dawn power dissolver: Not just for dishes anymore

[Sabz5150]

That power dissolver stuff ROCKS! I'm rebuilding my brakes and getting them cleaned up for painting. The rubber grommets were all nasty with grime and old lube so after engine degreaser didn't handle the job, I tried the power dissolver on it. Hey, removes grease and grime, right? After letting them sit for around 20 minutes, I was able to just wipe off the residue left over and they look like brand new! Helped break up a lot of the grime on the calipers and brackets too.

Gotta buy more of this stuff and keep a bottle in the toolbox.

[NXRacer]

dawn is some good sh*t

[Dibbs]

I like to use Cascade to wash my car with. It sheets most of the water off the car and leaves the car real shiney.

[2old_honda]

Originally posted by Dibbie
I like to use Cascade to wash my car with. It sheets most of the water off the car and leaves the car real shiney.

you should not use dish soap to wash a car with. it strips the wax off and dissolves oils in the paint.

[k-roy]

Originally posted by 2old_honda
you should not use dish soap to wash a car with. it strips the wax off and dissolves oils in the paint.

I can not agree more. Get some real car wash, it is not that expensive. I got a jug of Meguiars for $5 and that is the expensive stuff. it sounds like he needs to wax it fast.

[Dibbs]

Not being a jerk guys, but if it makes suds, It's got Laurel Sulfate in it. Yes laurel sulfate will strip wax and displace oil, that's it's purpose. Car soaps use the same chemical to loosen dirt, grease and oil. Yes, car soaps will strip wax too. As far as the actual amounts used in car soap compared to dish soap, I have no way of knowing. But if it were the case that dish soap had more than car soap, you could just use less dish soap in the same amount of water for the same effect. I've heard the same thing many times before though so maybe there's some merit to it but as long as both of the have the same active ingredients, I'm really not buyin' it.

To answer your question Kroy, I wash my car every week and wax almost every 2 weeks. To a lot of members of this board, it's not uncommon to wax a car in 40 deg f weather, but here in Texas, I'm considered insane.

[DBMaster]

I may be with Dibbie on this one. I read an article in Car & Driver years ago about a master detailer. His wash of choice was Ivory Liquid (dihwashing soap) and that is what I used for years. I wash about once a month and wax every three months. About three years ago I as admonished that the use of dishwashing liquid would strip wax. Intuitivy I knew that it probably wasn't stripping the wax any faster than car wash soap would. This is because my car still looked good after quite a few years. I did switch to Armor All wash concentrate. All I know is that about every three months the car still seems to want to be waxed and the car wash concentrate does not foam or clean as well as the dishwashing liquid.

My paint still looks really good after fourteen years, but it is white. I just use the cheap Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax.

[MrBen]

I use Armor All wash concentrate and it works just fine for me. I have no problems with it not cleaning well. It is my car wash concentrate of choice.

[AccordEpicenter]

I like carb cleaner and brake cleaner on almost anything. That stuff cuts thru grease like nobodys business, even without touching it! Great way to clean up your engine compartment (wait til its cool, that stuff is explosive)

[zero.counter]

Back to the power dissolver, does it work better that simple green? I have dissolved it up to 4 parts and it still cleaned the oil off the engine block after sitting 20 minutes. Just wondering...

[AccordEpicenter]

i like dawn better than simple green. Simple green is decent but overrated i think

[RobT5580]

I only use dish soap to strip the wax and car wash on the weekly washes. That seems to work the best and i only wax it about 2-3 times a year. When its repainted i will strip/wax it more but this is fine for now.

[accordlx]

I agree that all soaps that create suds have laurel sulfate in them but not all soaps are created equal. The ingredients in a bottle of Dawn vs. a bottle of Meguiars are very different. Dawn will strip all of the wax and the Meguiars will strip only a fraction of the wax. If you want to strip the wax off your car, take it to the local car wash/power washer or wash your car with liquid Tide. Both have harsh chemical makeups. I only use the local quarter power washer or Tide when it is waxing time.

[Dibbs]

Originally posted by accordlx
Dawn will strip all of the wax and the Meguiars will strip only a fraction of the wax.

Then use less Dawn. It's simple math. If dawn strips twice as much as meguiars, then use half as much dawn in the same amount of water. Think of it. What the hell did guys wash their cars with 30 years ago? I'm sure there wasn't 30 different brands of car wash to choose from like there is now. There may have been even a couple but I can all but guarentee that everyone used plain, run of the mill soap. They did then what we do with parts to our 3rd Gens. They had to be creative. They didn't have Armor all so they used brake fluid on their tires. Hell, the old men still use brake fluid b/c why, it's $1.00 a bottle. I'm not saying that you personally are like this but ppl believe the crap the label tells them too much. I've actually had morons tell me that brake fluid on the tires will eat the rubber. It doesn't seem to eat the rubber in the brake system. Anyway, I'm not trying to flame, I'm just ranting a bit. Sorry if I pissed anyone off.

[DBMaster]

Dibbie, I know what you mean about the brake fluid. It actually PRESERVES rubber. Look at the inside lining of your M/C cap. The piston seals in the brake system are all rubber, too.

My grandfather used to tell me to use brake fluid on the rubber weatherstripping. Now I used silicone spray periodically. I think paint jobs in general stay shinier longer now than in the past. Part of that is due to clearcoating, but they used to use actual metal flakes in metallic paints. That promoted oxidation more than the mylar they use now.