Seeking "wax and finish" assistance: "Best" way to remove [hybrid ceramic (Maguiar's)] wax?

[BonzaiDuck]

First -- some tips or discoveries.

My old Trooper -- two-tone with Blue-Bronze-Pearl (main color) and Iron-Gray-Metallic (trim and lower doors) -- had a Hu-u-uge -- YUGE! -- square-yard's worth of gray and white paint oxidation on the roof -- the biggest single body panel. Of course -- nobody under 6'5" would really see it, but perfectionist OCD is a common trait -- which I have. The clear-coat was not yet peeling off.

I attempted to use rubbing compound on the splotch, but it didn't seem to change things much, and my efforts occurred before I purchased a Ryobi orbital buffer-polisher. My arms! My arms!

Then I discovered Oxide-Off. Forum-skinny shows a degree of skepticism from participants who haven't used it. You'd think there would be other alternatives springing up, for instance (and let me know of any). I bought a bottle six months ago to try against my specific problem. If I had before and after pictures, I'd post them, but the examples shown in the link are pretty accurate as to what one could expect.

The Oxide-Off people want to recommend it as a wax alternative, while confirming that regular wax can be used after the Oxide-Off application. I'd rather not count on Oxide-Off in its entirety -- it's too expensive at $25/6-oz-bottle. One bottle will treat two cars or one car twice. And I found that you can apply Maguiar's pre-wax finishing glaze between the Oxide-Off and wax. Apparently, Maguiar's "Hybrid Ceramic Wax" can also be used, with no problems or after-effects. Now, I often go to the garage to comb my hair and shave.

The first time I applied Oxide-Off, I watched it over six months. At some point, I soaped off the wax, or so I thought. No change.

So I'm planning a regular regimen. Every six months, remove the wax AND the Oxide-Off, re-apply both in the proper sequence, buff, shine and wait another six months.

Rather than use rubbing compound or polishing compound (with abrasives) to remove the wax and Oxide-Off at each successive cycle, I'd rather apply some mild chemical wax remover.

Somewhere, I had indications that you can remove wax with soap and water. But on my six-month cycle, I cannot leave any residue of either product.

Looking up "automotive wax remover" on Amazon, I find many products, which all show on the label or item-web-page promotion "great preparation for new paint". But I don't want to use something that will alter the paint in any way. Oxide-Off's oxidation reversal seems to be a permanent restoration of the original paint, and the product can then be removed, or you can leave on the thin film -- as I said, promoted as a wax alternative.

Tell me what you know. Soap and water? Wax and grease remover? Recommendations?

 

[BoomerD]

Ammonia is a good wax remover. Not sure about the hybrid stuff though.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Ammonia is a good wax remover. Not sure about the hybrid stuff though.

Does it do any damage to paint? It seems intuitive to me that a milder form of something like Ammonia -- NH3 -- would be Windex, or they have a variety of Windex "with Ammonia". I should go give the Ammonia bottle a sniff.

What do you think about that? But would it do anything to oxidize the paint or reverse the Oxide-Off result?

 

[Fenixgoon]

dish soap?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

dish soap?

That is also recommended for conventional "Carnauba Wax". And I suppose if one really loaded up the Ivory and water mixture with more of the stearate, and then rinse the heck out of the body-panel surfaces. I had asked someone at O'Reilly's how to remove this "hybrid ceramic" wax, and they just said "the same as other wax . . " By the puzzled look, I wasn't sure she knew what she was talking about. Sometimes you get a sense of that when others are trying their best to be helpful without adequate information.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well -- two posts in a row, but somebody may want to know about Maguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Wax.

Their support-rep -- Maguiar's -- got back to me via e-mail:


Thank you for contacting Meguiar’s!


In order to remove Hybrid Ceramic Wax you will need to use an abrasive. Any compound will help you remove this product, As per your Oxide I’m not sure what will remove it as I’m not familiar with that product. I’d suggest reaching out to that manufactuer to see what can be used to remove it. Please feel free to let us know if you have any other questions.


Best Regards,

So, the way I figure it, you could just keep washing the car periodically and applying the Hybrid Wax spray according to directions: spray on, just wash off, and polish with soft cotton.

For abrasives, we have either "rubbing compound" (more aggressive abrasive) or "polishing compound". I think I'd try the latter.

UPDATE: The customer service rep for Maguiar's replied again, promoting their "Ultimate Compound" product.

I've tried it, and I like the way it works. It has the initial feel of an aggressive abrasive, but continued rubbing makes it degrade to finer and finer particles. Even so, he mentioned some four different product codes for "Ultimate Compound", although I've only seen the bottle I currently have displayed in the auto-parts stores.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

If their hybrid ceramic actually stays, it'll either wear off eventually or you probably need to use a super light polishing compound.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

If their hybrid ceramic actually stays, it'll either wear off eventually or you probably need to use a super light polishing compound.

Maguiar's recommends their "Ultimate Compound", as I said. Turtle Wax has both a rubbing compound (aggressive abrasive) and a polishing compound (light abrasive). "Ultimate Compound" just "feels" more abrasive when you first begin to rub, and the product is described as having a degraded abrasive (less abrasive) effect as the rubbing continues.