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      10-10-2014, 12:09 PM   #1
solstice
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Cleaner and sealant?

I just got my car back from the euro delivery. I asked the dealer to not wash or detail the car.

It has some glue residue in several places from what I assume is from adhesive/tape used for protection during transport.

1. What do you recommend to use to remove the glue residue?
2. Once I've cleaned the car I'd like to put on a good sealant. Something durable and with a nice finish. Recomendations, pros and cons with different types?

I usually just go to the nearest auto part store and by one of the more expensive waxes and the results are usually good but I'm no frequent or expert detailer so I'm looking forward to some suggestions.
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      10-10-2014, 12:28 PM   #2
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1. 3M Adhesive Remover
2. Sonax Polymer Net Shield works well if you aren't into detailing often. I just bought the Auto Finesse Desire Carnauba Wax and have done my wife's Yukon and my mom's 5 Series and it's a phenomenal wax.
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      10-10-2014, 12:35 PM   #3
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Please take a moment and order a few products then You can get good results with local stores, but most of the best bang for the buck/ease of use products need to be ordered.

What color is your vehicle?

If by "glue" you mean yellow gunk inside the doors and such, that's cosmoline.

Wash your car thoroughly but don't grind the wash sponge into the paint. Anything left over can be wiped with a microfiber towel and quick detail spray to try and remove it. If it still isn't coming up, move to a clay bar (which is an excellent long term investment to have to remove stuff stuck in the paint like bugs, tar, etc.)

Once the car is completely clean and dry, I'm a big fan now of Sonax PolyNetShield. Use it very sparingly to do half a panel at a time - such as half the hood - then wipe off. Preferably do this in the shade or in a garage. Wipes off super simple, very good sealant.

Edit: Sonax PolyNetShield and other sealants are practically invisible when applied on white or silver cars and still hard to see on darker cars. Use a cross-hatch pattern in a small space to ensure you get good coverage in your area before wiping off. If your car is white or silver, even if you don't wipe it off you'll be hard pressed to see it's there until you spray it with water - then you'll know exactly where it is because the water will form ridiculous levels of beading
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      10-10-2014, 12:42 PM   #4
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I have a Black M4. I have used zaino on my previous black BMW with good results-deep shine and lasts long. How is the Sonax in comparison?
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      10-10-2014, 12:51 PM   #5
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Thanks, so two suggestions for Sonax PolyNetShield. Great I'll try that this time.

My car is AW and by glue I mean dark sticky residue on the paint. It makes outlines of shapes so it's definately looks like residue from removing protective plastics or similar. I'll look into 3M Adhesive remover, I have a 3M product to remove the chain lubricant from my rear wheel on my Ducati which sticks like high hell and it's efficient. I think that is overkill for adhesive though.

I have polished and waxed cars quite a few times but I've never used a clay bar. Is it easy to do it wrong and cause damage or rather straight forward? I'm not going to use my new M3 or our Cayenne to practice something that requires significant skill and experience...
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      10-10-2014, 01:31 PM   #6
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Clay bar: It's pretty impossible to do damage with it. You spray the surface of the paint where you want to remove something with a lubricant (i.e. quick detail spray is hte most common) and you rub the clay across the lubricated surface where the contaminant is. Lightly and repeatedly.

The clay glides over the paint and doesn't even touch it, but it's very sticky so it works to pull the raised contaminants (i.e. bird poop, tar, industrial fallout/rust) out of the paint as it's pulling at it gently each time you wipe the clay over the surface. A good clay bar job will involve rubbing the clay over a contaminant sometimes 5-10x in ~5 seconds in quick back and forth swipes to pull out.

On the glue: If it doesn't wash off, you can also use "goo be gone" to remove it. Just get any sort adhesive removers off the paint ASAP once the glue is off.

On the alpine white paint, I definitely recommend sonax polynetshield. This paint is extremely nice to clean and polish as it shows nothing And Sonax PolyNetShield leaves a very light residue if not removed - which you won't even see anyway. So it'll be very user friendly.

Just remember to use it sparingly - a little goes a long way - and once you are done applying it to a section remove it immediately with a clean and SOFT microfiber towel.

Also, this product is a spray-on sealant - the only of it's kind to my knowledge. It chemically activates when it hits air. You want to spray it onto an applicator pad or similar and then apply it where you want.
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      10-10-2014, 01:54 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeFromPA View Post
Clay bar: It's pretty impossible to do damage with it. You spray the surface of the paint where you want to remove something with a lubricant (i.e. quick detail spray is hte most common) and you rub the clay across the lubricated surface where the contaminant is. Lightly and repeatedly.

The clay glides over the paint and doesn't even touch it, but it's very sticky so it works to pull the raised contaminants (i.e. bird poop, tar, industrial fallout/rust) out of the paint as it's pulling at it gently each time you wipe the clay over the surface. A good clay bar job will involve rubbing the clay over a contaminant sometimes 5-10x in ~5 seconds in quick back and forth swipes to pull out.

On the glue: If it doesn't wash off, you can also use "goo be gone" to remove it. Just get any sort adhesive removers off the paint ASAP once the glue is off.

On the alpine white paint, I definitely recommend sonax polynetshield. This paint is extremely nice to clean and polish as it shows nothing And Sonax PolyNetShield leaves a very light residue if not removed - which you won't even see anyway. So it'll be very user friendly.

Just remember to use it sparingly - a little goes a long way - and once you are done applying it to a section remove it immediately with a clean and SOFT microfiber towel.

Also, this product is a spray-on sealant - the only of it's kind to my knowledge. It chemically activates when it hits air. You want to spray it onto an applicator pad or similar and then apply it where you want.
Thanks Joe, great info! Do I need to be very careful with not getting the Sonax on any black plastics or rubber? Some waxes are quick to bleech it, is this one of them?
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      10-10-2014, 02:58 PM   #8
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It won't bleach it nor leave a white residue but it may on some plastic look slightly different where it is. I put it on the shadowline trim, for example, but I kept it off the already-faded-looking strip of plastic on the a-pillar/windshield.
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      10-10-2014, 03:35 PM   #9
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Thanks, one last Q. If I clay the car, do I need to remove the quick detail spray residue before applying the Sonax? If so, how do I do that?
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      10-10-2014, 03:54 PM   #10
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Only clay the glue or any stuck on stuff you see, don't clay the whole car.

Wash the car, dry it, then clay it, then when done claying a section use a soft towel to wipe up the quick detail spray. It's meant to be a finishing layer, so no big deal there and it shouldn't leave any meaningful residue.

Then sonax.

If you want, after claying you can wax it again to get the spray off and then dry it again....so you could do a real quick wash, quick dry, clay, thorough wash, thorough dry, seal - if you wanted to be anal

Usually you only wash twice if there is a polishing step in between. Because this is a new car, you don't need to polish or clay the whole car in my opinion.
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      10-10-2014, 04:17 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeFromPA View Post
Only clay the glue or any stuck on stuff you see, don't clay the whole car.

Wash the car, dry it, then clay it, then when done claying a section use a soft towel to wipe up the quick detail spray. It's meant to be a finishing layer, so no big deal there and it shouldn't leave any meaningful residue.

Then sonax.

If you want, after claying you can wax it again to get the spray off and then dry it again....so you could do a real quick wash, quick dry, clay, thorough wash, thorough dry, seal - if you wanted to be anal

Usually you only wash twice if there is a polishing step in between. Because this is a new car, you don't need to polish or clay the whole car in my opinion.
Thanks, I killed a billion bugs or so during my euro delivery and many are still there and claying sound like a good way of getting all of their asses out of my paint. I thought that quick detailing spray will stick similar to sealant and not come of in a wash and that it might interfere with the Sonax but if not, great!
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      10-13-2014, 08:29 AM   #12
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Quick detail spray will absolutely come off in a wash. It has no real staying power and will come off in the rain alone.
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      10-20-2014, 12:09 PM   #13
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I got a chance to work on the car yesterday. Washed it with dish washing liquid ( Dawn ) to remove grease. Then I removed the adhesive with "Goo Gone" and clayed a few areas areas with stubborn spots. Washed again and dryed the car. Then I applied the recommended Sonax sealant that I had ordered online which was a pleasure to work with, no visible residue on rubber & plastics etc and easy to apply.

Today it's raining and the initial shield looks promising, water beads off the car nicely. Thanks for the tip. Now it remains to see how durable it is over the winter.
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      10-27-2014, 10:34 AM   #14
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Solstice,

Just so you know, I just washed my car 1 month after application of Sonax Polynetshield. Probably 2- 3washes during that time, a number of drives in the rain, etc.

The hood water beading was surreal. I'm super impressed by the longevity of this product so far given it's ease of application and removal.

I have a video I'll load up at some point. However, I'm hoping for a strong 3 months with this product.
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      10-29-2014, 09:42 AM   #15
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Sonax PNS is really awesome. It beads water than anything I've ever used. You'll easily get 6-8 months out it before need to reapply. The only thing it has a problem with is pollen. So you'll want to be sure to decontaminate and reapply PNS after the spring season.
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      10-29-2014, 10:23 AM   #16
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Sonax vs Zaino? Thoughts
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      10-29-2014, 01:24 PM   #17
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What's the cleanup/prep process for Sonax? Would something like claybar or IronX work?
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      10-29-2014, 02:09 PM   #18
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For claying, a fellow BMW owner recommended Nanoskin to me. I bought one (the medium grade) from Amazon and it is amazing. Works super well and none of the downside of clay (e.g. no worry about dropping it on the ground, anything it picks up from the car or from touching the ground can be washed off quickly). Give it a try.
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      10-29-2014, 04:21 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gstone View Post
Sonax vs Zaino? Thoughts
I've been using Zaino for year and although it always looks great, I've never had the type of durability that folks claim from PNS. I've just ordered some PNS and will be trying ti very soon.
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      10-30-2014, 07:51 AM   #20
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OK.
Remember to give your experience with durability.
Also, what about shine and depth between the two? And do you have a dark color car?
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      10-30-2014, 10:41 AM   #21
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Quick question, is Sonax safe on clear shields, such as 3M? Thanks.
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