Do I have to remove wax before polishing?

[mfh6375]

I know this may be a stupid question, but I'm new to this stuff. Last weekend I used the 3 step Deep Crystal system on our black 2004 PT Cruiser GT. It looked awesome! Probably better than when we bought it new. On Wednesday, I took it to the dealer for scheduled maintenance. The boneheads washed it! They must have dried it with a wet rag, because there were new swirls and water marks all over.

That night, I washed it with Gold Class and added a little more DC wax. It looks great, but just not as beautiful as it did last weekend. I was thinking that polishing it again would help, but do I have to use the DC paint cleaner again to remove the wax first.

Any answers to my stupid questions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[the other pc]

Not a stupid question at all.

The answer is no, you don’t need to remove the old wax. Any paint cleaner (like Deep Crystal step 1) or cleaner/polish (#80, #9, #83, etc) will remove the old wax. You’ll have to wax again after using a cleaner.

Test the DC step 1 in a small area of the worst swirls first. It may not be strong enough to remove them. ScratchX is usually your best bet for working by hand.

You could also complain (loudly) to the dealer. Maybe you could convince them to spring for having it detailed by a professional (not the yo-yo’s who messed it up in the first place). They did the damage. They should pay to fix it.


PC.

[the other pc]

Oh, and to MOL!


PC.

[mfh6375]

Hey, thanks for the help! The swirls aren't really that bad. Other people, such as my wife, think it looks just fine. But, I'm a machinist and my eyes have become very good at finding imperfections. I don't think I'll complain to the dealer, though. I knew beforehand that they wash cars after servicing them. I should have told them, instead of just assuming they would notice it didn't need washing. So, it's partially my fault. But, you can bet I'll tell them next time.

One more question. Will the DC step #2 remove wax? Just curious. Thanks again.

[MikeGT]

Originally posted by mfh6375
Hey, thanks for the help! The swirls aren't really that bad. Other people, such as my wife, think it looks just fine. But, I'm a machinist and my eyes have become very good at finding imperfections. I don't think I'll complain to the dealer, though. I knew beforehand that they wash cars after servicing them. I should have told them, instead of just assuming they would notice it didn't need washing. So, it's partially my fault. But, you can bet I'll tell them next time.

One more question. Will the DC step #2 remove wax? Just curious. Thanks again.

No it wont remove wax.

[farmboy]

You will have to wax after either DC#1 or #2. The cleaner will remove all the previous wax. DC #2 will not hold up past the next wash so you will need to seal it in with #3.