Originally Posted by Mike-in-Orange
Washing a section at a time is perfect. Just pouring some dish soap onto a rag and wiping it on the paint (like doing the dishes!) is what scares me. Washing and drying - incorrectly - is how 90+% of swirls develop. Everybody wants to know how to remove them, but I also like to teach people how to prevent them in the first place. Your described wash method is just..... well..... not right. Sorry.
Pat, you crack me up. Not sure that our soap is any "smarter" than any other, it's just got more common sense maybe???
Franc, for those times when you've got something really nasty on the paint, you need something beyond a safe and gentle soap to fix it. There is no such thing as the "perfect solution" that will cure every ill without causing some negative effect - in this case, remove grease without stripping wax. We do make a product called Body Solvent in our pro detailer line, and it's pretty darn good stuff. But it will strip wax in the area applied. But if you need to use this product, you've got some more serious issues with the paint anyway!!
Oh, and a big "thank you" to all of you for the support and kind words about our products. We love hearing that kind of feedback!
I use a product line typically referred to a "Prep-Sol" by most body shops around here. It's essentially the body solvent referred to by
Mike-in-Orange. Haven't found anything that it couldn't remove. Just always polish & wax the area where I used it. Usually used by body shops right after sanding a car prior to painting, and between coats when dealing with "orange peel" or maybe a surface defect found later. Makes the surface totally clean so paint adhesion is best.
I've used Palmolive dish detergent for years without any harmful effects on car surface. I always make sure I'm buying the standard or normal version, as anything with a citric acid ingredient (lime, lemon, orange) will most assuredly attack the surface. Over the years, I've sorta deviated from my practice and now I just add a small amount of Palmolive to the car wash soap I'm using. Never have any issues.