is dawn dish soap bad for your car?

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xnevergiveinx

New member
ok, today, i washed my car wish dawn dish soap, why? because i had waxed it a month ago with turtlewax ultra gloss, then several weeks later i put klasse aio on it. i wanted to strip it down to clearcoat so i could start fresh. a month ago, i didn't know much about detailing, and thanks to this awesome site and the sweet dudes on it, i'm in the right direction now.



ok anyways, i bought dawn dish soap, the blue original scent one. i washed the car with it. i was amazed how it held it's suds so well, i normally use meguiars deep crystal car wash. this was way suddsier. so, i clayed the car with the suds on it still, it is so much easier that way. i washed the suds off. (i probably should have washed the cart with regular car soap to get it back some "nutrients" on the paint surface.) - truth or myth?

i was amazed how my car no longer beaded water on the surface, dawn really cuts out the wax.

then i followed it with klasse aio. i will wax with s100 or p21s when i get around to ordering it, soon.



how bad is this for the car? i figure i would like to do it once a year or so to get down the the bare surface. also, i've read that klasse aio will do the saem as dawn does by getting rid of the old stuff.
 
You should do a search on this.



It isn't bad, so to say, but it cuts to the C.C, like you said. Excessive washing with it may eat at the C.C., but useing it once very seldom doens't really hurt. Just be sure to fallow with some sort of sealant EVERY time.
 
Dawn and other dish washing detergents are bad because they dry out your car's paint. If you want to remove old wax you should use a regular car wash solution and some detailing clay. This is safe on your clearcoat and much less harsh than a dawn wash.
 
We put products that are 45% percent solvents on cars w/o a thought, but we are afraid of a grease cutting PH soap? Use it all you want it will not hurt your paint. It really strips nicely and probably gives a great base that will maximize durabilty of your sealant. The only problem I have with it is lubricty, so I add my favorite car wash to help slick it up a bit.
 
I use DAWN in the spring for my first major cleanup after winter BECAUSE of its high-powered cleaning. Around here, they use a salt/sand/molasses (sp) substance mix on the roads. They have also started using a liquid de-icing solution on the roads .



For that first wash, I WANT to strip the car down completely, get everything off the surface of the car. Even if the protectant/wax is still there, I'm sure all the winter crud has attached to the finish (the amount of crud that comes off from claying, even after a DAWN wash is enough to convince me).



Dawn removes all but the heaviest tar deposits, so I think it's fair to say that it will effectively dissolve/strip the layer of winter crud off.



That being said, for the remainder of the year I use a dedicated carwash soap (Megs) saving the harsher cleaners for engine/undercarriage duties.



xnevergiveinx : I only live an hour or so from you, so if you need a hand sometime, give a shout
 
I vote for not using Dawn. Their website suggests not to use it either. The oils and dirt on pots and pans is different than environmental pollutants and brake dust on cars. Use dedicated cleaners for dedicated tasks.



As far as using it once a year, when would you do it? before clay/polish/AIO? These three will be enough to remove the existing protection.



Of course this is based on opinion. A lot of non Autopians would argue that they've been using dishwashing liquid for decades without ill effect.



It's your call.
 
Ay Ay Ay! This has been discussed so many times! Here:



A Dawn Battle



Another Dawn Battle



Listen, I have used the Finish Kare Decon system twice in the last 6 months on new cars. The first step has TSP in it. That's what they use for degreasing garage floors. The second step is sulfuric and phosphoric acids. This system is marketed to new car dealers, to use on new cars prior to delivery. And you're worried that using a dish soap that millions of people stick their hands in every day is too harsh?
 
"Dawn and other dish washing detergents are bad because they dry out your car's paint. If you want to remove old wax you should use a regular car wash solution and some detailing clay. This is safe on your clearcoat and much less harsh than a dawn wash." - travisdecpn



i've read that detaiuling clay won't remove old wax at all.
 
Liquid Acrylics were once thought to belong only on kitchen floors but a wonderful protectant was adopted to protect our vehicles - Klasse.



Many APC's have also found to be of great "periodic" cleaning tools for detailing vehicles.



Episodic use of non-intended agents for detailing purposes is not abnormal, wrong or even rare. :cool:





Detailing myth: Soap (Including Dawn) will dry out your paint.......NOT!!!! :rolleyes: Some soaps, like Dawn, will strip off oils on the painted surface and give the appearance that the surface is dry. This was especially true back in the day when we detailed single-stage paints (60's thru mid- 70's). :xyxthumbs
 
Dawn is perfectly fine to use on cars, but I don't use it anymore. I tried to remove NXTx2 last year with a Dawn wash (twice my typical car wash soap concentration) and it didn't strip off the wax.

I also don't like that Dawn dries out rubber around the car. Of course, 1Z Gummipflege restores the rubber, but that's an extra step.



I save Dawn for washing pads and applicators.
 
A car wash concentrate is formulated with surfactants for cleaning and oils as a lubricant, so that you can remove the dirt/oil/grime from the surface with a lubricant (cushion) between the surface and the wash mitt/brush.



That Dawn is formulated for â€Ëœotherâ€â„¢ types of soils is good enough for me, IMO why not use a product that has been specifically formulated for cleaning a cars paint surface as opposed to one that hasnâ€â„¢t. I (like others) take a â€Ëœfail-safeâ€â„¢ position in recommending products and if I recommend a product that its manufacturer has said is not suitable for this particular use and has openly published that information is asking for unnecessary criticism.



My supposition is that Sal Zanioâ€â„¢s recommendation to use Dawn to clean a paint surface for Zanio polishes was meant as a one time thing to prepare the surface; many have (wrongly I believe) taken this to mean that itâ€â„¢s ok to wash a car with dishwashing liquid.



I also find it interesting that the mention of Dawn will invariably be coupled with Zanio products (Iâ€â„¢m not suggesting in any way that Sal engineered this, but itâ€â„¢s great marketing)

JonM
 
buldog said:
Great tip Burlyq

Would a mix of roughly 75% Dawn to 25% work?
Click to expand...

I personally use a 50/50 of Dawn/Z7 and the surface is stripped nicely and I have great lubricity. I use about 2 oz combined and add 1/2 gallon of hot water. Again, I only do this when I want a stripped surface because this will remove wax effectively.
 
another qx4- I doubt that you'll ever get people here to agree about Dawn to *any* extent, but IMO, yeah, it would be perfectly safe to use under the hood. I'd probably use something else myself (P21S TAW, EFHI, wheel cleaner, etc.) but I sure can't imagine the Dawn actually *harming* anything that's made to withstand the underhood environment.



If anything, you'll probably find it too mild for the application.



Heh heh, FWIW (and that isn't much :D ), I've been using Dawn to clean the same plastic coffee stirring stick, virtually every day, since 1987. It hasn't damaged/dried out *that* piece of plastic at all. But of course, all plastic is not the same...
 
so your saying that eagle one a2z will work as an engine wash??



btw: ive never detail an engine before. scare that i might screw something up:o .
 
I would not normally use dawn to wash a car.



I wash a car with either Zaino Z7 or Meguiar's Gold Class wash (my two main go to washes), then remove the paint defects and polish to a high gloss, then if I use Zaino I wash the car with dawn.



Thats basically the only time I use Dawn, prior to appling Zaino to a "clean" finish.
 
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