Do You Wax ? Or Do You ICE ?

[transio]

I saw this product in the store the other day, but didn't get it. looks promising!

[Chopper]

If a shop sands that silicone treated car before a good strong detergent wash followed by a solvent wipedown, they're only grinding the stuff in... not off. Even a fresh coat of armorall on interior will be vaporizing the whole time, contaminating the exterior. The problem isn't one of adhesion as much as the fisheyes it causes. Then again, people didn't really rub silicone all over the outside of their cars...till now. It is the nemisis of a good shoot-we hate it. Leah, only a layer of good wax (Meguires High Tech Yellow #10) and quick removal of the water will prevent it, and once burned in, only a buffer and compound will remove it. Not something you can do many times and not usually a do it yourself job.

[psychos2]

Leah, only a layer of good wax (Meguires High Tech Yellow #10) and quick removal of the water will prevent it,

Chopper, I disagree. I do not use this wax and as long as I remove the water before it dries there are no spots. And before you ask, we do have hard water also. shawn

[Heraclid]

Leah, that Mr. Clean gadget worked so-so for me. Here I have hard water too and it used to leave a fine white powder on the VX when dry. Nothing a car duster and about 1 minute wouldn't fix though. I went back to drying with one of the synthetic absorber cloths though. Takes longer, but they really get you on those soap and cartridge refills.

[Moncha]

I've used the Mr. Clean deal as well. It works but I would only recommend it for the "in between" washes. Nothing beats a good 'ol scrubbin of the little guys armpits and a old fashoned towel dry for the good cleanings..

[Ldub]

After a year of use, I've found that the Mr. Clean system is best used as a rinse only. The soap is too expen$ive & kind of a hassle to use.
I'm thinking of getting an in-line filter to get out the minerals etc. & just going back to a good old sprayer type hose end. The Mr. C rinse works well, but is a little lacking in power imo.

[mbeach]

If a shop sands that silicone treated car before a good strong detergent wash followed by a solvent wipedown, they're only grinding the stuff in... not off. Even a fresh coat of armorall on interior will be vaporizing the whole time, contaminating the exterior. The problem isn't one of adhesion as much as the fisheyes it causes. Then again, people didn't really rub silicone all over the outside of their cars...till now.

This is what I was always told -I've seen the 'fisheye' effect before.
I think that I'll stick with the good ol hard wax and elbow grease on the paint.
I'll use it on the cladding for sure though, I've been rubbing silicone products on it since day 1.

[Leah]

Leah,
Try the Mr. Clean car wash system, even if you don't use the "wash" part of it, it has a filter built in that removes a lot of the minerals that cause spotting when rinseing.
Also, getting after it with an absorber or chamois works wonders.

Ldub

The day I posted that question, I couldn't think of the name Mr. Clean. I do own that system, but do you know, it never occurred to me to just use the rinse part? Isn't that silly? I didn't care for the wash part but the rinse filter always did a great job. I'll give that a try the next time I wash my car. Thanks! (I use a towel to dry with after washing but I'm never quick enough to get all the spots.)

[Leah]

Leah, I use a the Absorber to dry after washing .It only takes a few extra minutes .Well worth it to keep away the spots. You can get one at walmart for around $10 .Should be in the automotive dept near the waxes. shawn

Thanks, Shawn

[E-ZooZoo One]

After my no-so-thrilling experiences with Mothering the Cladding, I went out and bought some ICE, and intend to give it a shot later today – although, after reading this thread (particularly the part about silicone-based waxes hindering future repainting efforts), I have decided to use the ICE on the cladding ONLY…

The thing is, after using Mother's Back-to-Black, it seems like my cladding has become a dirt magnet, complete with a layer of grime that is so tenaciously adhered that even a thorough blasting from a high pressure car wash wand will barely budge the stuff - not even at VERY close range - especially not out of the ‘pores’.


With that in mind, does anyone have any advice or helpful tips that they’d like to share, and hopefully prevent the onset of Turrets Syndrome at Villa de Smiley later this afternoon?

TIA!

[Knigh7s]

Just finished ICEing about 30 min ago, I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. A good wash and alot of elbow grease on the cladding, thanks to "Mothers". Living in Las Vegas, Mothers is like a dust magnet. Like above said, even the high pressure wash wont budge the grime.

Well to continue, I put one coat on the paint and had to do a second coat on the cladding and hood insert to get rid of the swirls and a couple streaks. I have to say i like it better than the Meguires I've been using. Also my 15 min drive home from the car wash, i already had a layer of dust on the VX. My Cali Duster took everything right off with one round. Unlike before.

[E-ZooZoo One]

I’m sold !!!

This stuff was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier to apply than Mother’s Back-to-Black!
(It was like cheating by comparison! )


While I was at it today, I discovered a little trick that works wonders on the cladding…
Ignore the Instructions!

Instead, apply a decent coat of ICE (not so much that it runs, but still, a pretty heavy glaze), and then after you get it on there, use a number of long, repeated, sweeping strokes to even-out the coverage… Then as soon as it begins to show the very first signs of drying, start wiping with the micro-fiber cloth – DO NOT wait for it to dry to a dull haze.

Before I discovered this technique, I was getting a lot streaked areas where the grey showed through pretty badly… Afterward, the coverage was nice-and-even, and stayed quite dark - much like the Back-to-Black, only 10 BuhZillion times easier to apply (and nowhere near as sticky).


Many thanks to Psychos2 for starting this thread!

[innercore]

After hand washing my new used VX and hand drying it too, I applied the Turtle Wax Express Shine to the cladding. Then, I tried the Ice. Very easy to put on and very easy to buff. Seems to look very good so far. It rains often in Houston so I am interested to see how it lasts.

[Ebony1433]

OK...so I HAD to try the new polish on the block....first a hand wash, then I applied a coat of Meguiar's Swirl mark remover....buffed that off, then started the Ice.
Went on VERY easy... I did the metal, cladding, even on the rims...the wax came off the metal and the rims like it was magic.....however, the cladding was a different story.
I applied it, buffed it off, saw nothing but streaks, like it was put on with a paintbrush. Started to get a little panicky, applied again, buffed off, same result.
I ran to the PC, looked up this thread, saw E-Zoo Zoo One's comment about using long sweeping strokes just when the Ice first starts to try, tried that.
MUCH BETTER! Whew...Thanks E Z-Z 1.....
All in all, it was about a 4 hour job...but the results are fantastic. The Ice has covered every little scratch in the paint....my Ebony has a shine that is, well, obsidan....wow. I've used Zymol, Maguiar's Tech Wax, Turtle Wax Black....but nothing like this.
I deliberately did this today because it's supposed to rain tomorrow. I'm very interested to see how the Ice handles a St. Louis rainstorm....wish me luck.

[Y33TREKker]

Bought the ICE today, but haven't had a chance to apply any yet. A bit spendy, but maybe that was because the kit included the sponge applicator and the micro-fiber cloth.

Ebony 1433, I'll also be interested to know how the ICE stands up to these midwestern rains.