How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

[NXTbubble]

Couple summers ago i bought the NXT Tech Wax 2.0, NXT Tech Wax Spray, and Ultimate Quick Detailer, and had been alternating them after my weekly washes. Black car looked good during the summer, and I did not wash/wax it for the winter. The next summer, after heavy rains, the hood of the car started to bubble as the desert sun/dust poked holes on the extremely thick layer of wax from the previous summer. I have tried several washes with Dawn dish detergent, pure, diluted, etc, using microfiber towels and mitts, but the thick wax will not come off. After every rain, the hood of the car would bubble even more, so now the hood of the car is a mess of bubbles and patches of black(bare) and white(old wax). I have long given up on my car's looks, and wash it alternatively with Dawn or Meguiars Gold carwash, occasionally applying the Ultimate quick detailer to protect the bare black paint.

Searching with google, everybody recommends removing light wax with Dawn, but the mess on my hood is too thick for that. i've also tried Meguiars Cleaner Wax in the red bottle, but that looks just like regular car wax, so instead of removing the white mess, seems to be applying thicker coats of wax on top of it.

What else can I try to remove the thick old white wax mess on my black car hood? Looking at the hood, I'd say 20% is black (original paint after bubbles flaked off), and the rest is the white mess of thick old wax. I've already spent around $50 in meguiar's products, and do not want nor have the patience for clay bars. Appreciate any recommendation on how to remove the mess besides buying more meguiars products to layer on top? Thanks.

[Mark58]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

If it is wax? and not clear coat failure. Try a small spot with mineral spirits it should remove wax and any road tar with ease.It is cheap enough at any paint store, Lowes, Home Depot. Let us know how it's working for you.

[NXTbubble]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

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Here's a pic after trying the Meguiars Cleaner Wax, note the white swirrls on the old wax. Old black paint is still glossy. I've got isopropyl rubbing alcohol but never dared use it thinking it will also strip the original black paint, would it do instead of mineral spirit?

[Mark58]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

Sure looks like Clear coat is gone and what you see is base coat.Try Mineral spirits. If it does not work for you then it's defiantly clear coat gone.

[Mark58]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

try a small spot with rubbing alcohol. The way clear coat looks you cant harm it.

[NXTbubble]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

I thought the white mess is the remnants of the Tech Wax , as the bubbles will get larger after a rain, and they fall off when i touch them. Black paint is still glossy, just doesn't show well in the photo under garage fluorescent light. Is Isopropyl alcohol a good substitue for "mineral spirit", and would it affect black paint if the clearcoat is indeed gone?

[Mark58]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

It should not affect it.You have any tar remover? Charcoal starting fluid? Kerosine? all the same as mineral spirits.

[NXTbubble]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

Just tried a wet tissue with rubbing alcohol, did not affect the white mess nor the black paint. Tissue was clean. Whereas, when I used the Meguairs cleaner wax earlier, both the applicator pad and the microfiber cloth were black, could be roadtar accumulated on the old wax, or the cleaner wax stripped some of my black car paint.

So what exactly is the Meguiar's Cleaner Wax A1216, and would further use of this strip my black paint in the bare spots? I don't have any of those "mineral spirits" listed (the thought of kerosene on my car just makes me shudder!), I'll just leave it as is, and try again next week after another Dawn treatment. Thanks for the reply, I'll check back next week

[SVT Lightning]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

That is clear-coat failure......

[NXTbubble]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

This is new to me, so i've been searching for the wrong keywords "remove wax" and should now focus on "remove clearcoat"? would clear coat failure manifest as bubbles that flake off when touched? Re-reading this last sentence sounds like I'm criticizing, but i'm not, these are genuine questions. Did the NXT tech wax 2.0 bond with the clearcoat and bubble the whole thing up? Instead of spending on more cleaner products, should I be asking a body shop to get a quote to remove and remainder of the clearcoat from the hood and maybe re-coat the whole car? Approximately how much would such a treatment cost? again, these are genuine questions. Thanks for any info.

[NXTbubble]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

I'm asking too many questions, heres's a summary:
1. So what exactly is the Meguiar's Cleaner Wax A1216, and would further use of this strip my black paint in the bare spots?
2. Would clearcoat failure manifest as bubbles that flake off when touched?
3. Did the NXT tech wax 2.0 bond with the clearcoat and bubble the whole thing up?
4. should I be asking a body shop to get a quote to remove and remainder of the clearcoat from the hood and maybe re-coat the whole car? Approximately how much would such a treatment cost?
5. Going back to original post, If I decide to leave it as is, is there anything that would remove the white thick Tech Wax2, and not harm the paint? neither Dawn nor rubbing alcohol is doing much, and kerosene seem overkill that'll take the black paint with it.

[zbestwun2001]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

Your car looks like mine before it was painted. The ''flaking'' you're refereing to I think is your clear coming off.
It's like a bad sunburn, then you peel.
I don't think the wax had anything to do with it, that could be coincidental... BUT, I am no expert.

[Mark58]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

No kerosine will not take the paint off.back in old days with single stage paint people used Kerosine to give car extra shine. When you polished your car and aplicator was black that is your base coat. Clear coat is gone. Only way to correct that is sanding it down and repaint. Now one more question? Is that repaint car?

[SVT Lightning]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

1)It's a wax with chemical cleaners. Should not strip the old base-coat but it will come off on your pad.
2)Yes
3)no
4)Yes...only a re-paint is going to fix this. Seems odd that it happened on the hood and not the trunk. Has the hood been replaced or re-painted? The fenders look good!
5)see#4...

[NXTbubble]

Re: How to remove old thick bubbling NXT Tech Wax 2?

...
It's like a bad sunburn, then you peel.
...

That's the best description i've read for this.

camry is 10yrs old, bought it 5yrs ago and came with a replaced hood ( i missed that on inspection), but paintjob was superb and car still drives like new today. quiet as a cat. Up untill 2 yrs ago, i'd been using Optimum Car Wash regularly, and when it was shiny, during the oil change at a Toyota delaership, asked how much they'll buy it back for, they offered $2500. WTF? $2500 for a car that still drives/sounds/looks like new? So when my Optimum wax ran out I decided to give it some more wax and bought $50 worth of meguirs NXT TW2.0 . Bad Bad Bad choice

As you can see from the pic,it's the result of 1yr of NXT and 1yr of unattention, but 80% of the hood is still covered in white wax, and none of the 4 meguiars products I have listed will give it back the dark/wet/glossy look until it eventually bubbles and flakes off, which could take years. I'm too chicken to try kerosen on it. In the meantime, I'l just keep layering on more wax with each wash (alternating Dawn and carwash) in hopes of protecting the exposed black paint. From the quoted value of the car, it's not worth a new paint job, so I'll just drive it as is, and keep on layering wax/dawn/etc.

1. But just for my curiosity, how much am I looking at to apply a clearcoat and/or paint this 10yr camry?
2. Shoudl I refrain from using the meguiars cleaner wax on the hood to prevent further stripping the expose black base paint, or is that safe as well?