So I was wondering what have others found is the best way to remove old wax from a car before waxing it again. I have used a bit of engine degreaser in the washing water and found that does a good amount. Does anyone know any specific car wash soap that will do the job?

 

The best stuff to use is Dawn dishwashing liquid. It'll strip any car wax or polish from the finish, and it's mild enough that it won't harm the finish at all.

Engine degreaser? Jesus.

 

LOL what can I say. I wanted all of the wax gone for a perfect reapplication.

 

I use a cleaner/polish designed to remove all contaminates before I wax. You can also clay your car. Which removes even overspray latex paint, fall out and tar.

 

Dawn works very well, I don't know what other dish soap brands work without causing damage but i once went to a high school charity car wash and they were using ajax dish soap, stripped the wax and more! [>:]

 

Dawn is easier and effective. Just wash.

A cleaner/polish will leave a residue. Clay is a PITA and time-consuming, but effective.

 

U all remove the old wax b4 u rewax? Well i never thought of that and my parents never mentioned it either. SO i should do that b4 i rewax this spring i guess?

 

No, not always. I usually just pile it on. Every once in awhile I start over and strip first. Wax gets old and yellow. I would also strip if I was going to switch products, or if the finish was really gunky for some reason and I wanted to get it squeaky clean. I'd probably follow that with claying before polishing/waxing.

 

I dont know what claying is either. I feel dumb i always keep my cars looking excellent and so does other people in my family but never heard of doing these things but i guess when we always got comments on how good even our older cars looked i guess we must have been doin something right. Hey lug look in my gallery at the pics and tell me if u think i should just pie it on again or strip the wax. I am going to strip it on the 560 cause i dont know how many layers are on it but what about the others?

 

Car paint always looks good in e-pics, even severely damaged paint can look really good.

A clay bar cleans the paint surface. It removes surface contaminants such as over spray, rail dust and other stubborn and trapped dirt.

Put your hand on your paint and slide it. If you can feel anything but nice smooth paint, then you should clay the surface.

Check out Clay Magic.