Cleaning your paint does not mean washing your car - it means removing oxidation
and contaminants, adding emollients or oils back into the paint, and smoothing out
the surface of the paint. There are several products on the market that will
accomplish one, two or all three of these functions. In fact, there are so many
products by so many names, that the correct choice may be confusing. Before we
start, let's define some broad categories of products.

CLEANER: A cleaning agent may be either friction or chemical. A friction cleaner is
usually either a silicate or a clay particulate. If you examine your paint through a
microscope, it would look like a mountain range with peaks and valleys. "The
friction or abrasive (don't get nervous at the word abrasive) type cleaner will clip
the tops of these mountains off and help fill in the valleys, to approach the
optimum smooth plane that offers the greatest depth of shine. Friction cleaners
are usually described as fine, medium, or heavy cut. When in doubt, use the least
aggressive product. A chemical cleaner will usually strip equal amounts of hill and
dale and thus not help smooth the paint. A cleaner should also remove old wax and
other contaminants in the paint. Chemical type cleaners are usually more effective
in removing the remains of 100 m.p.h. bugs, stains, tree sap, and tars. Avoid
silicone based products as they are not benefi- cial to paint and can cause
problems down the road. Ask any professional car painter their thoughts on silicone
products, and you will usually get a 30 minute tirade.

GLAZE: A glaze usually denotes a superfine friction type of cleaning agent, usually
with essential emollients and lubricating oils, and may even contain some mild
chemical cleaners. Glazes will usually remove mild swirl marks, scratches, refresh
the paint with oils, and smooth out the finish. POLISH: A polish is normally a
non-abrasive product based on a nutrient oil matrix and may or may not have a
chemical cleaner as part of the package. Most polishes use fillers to help cover
swirl marks.

COMPOUND: A compound is the "coarse sandpaper" of the paint cleaning world.
This should be used only if the paint is in serious trouble and all else has failed.
If you are one step away from 1-800-NEW-PAINT, then you may consider a
compound.

CLAY: Literally a clay/polymer mixture used to smooth new paint and remove
overspray. This type of product must be used with lots of lubricant. The technique
of using a clay is a learned skill. Use too little lubricant, or get contaminants in the
clay, and you have moved into scratch city. This is one product that is the fast
lane to trouble if not used with extreme care.

CLEANER/WAX: A combination, one-step chemical cleaner and a wax. I am not a
fan of these types of products, as they are required to perform two very diverse
functions simultaneously. A cleaner should remove old wax, so how does it
simultaneously apply a coat of new wax? You may wish to use this type of product
only in emergency situations or on your Yugo.

WAX: There are two broad categories of wax - organic and polymer based. The
organic waxes may be derived from plants such as camauba, or from varmints such
as bee's wax. Some oftheK-Mart specials contain paraffin refined from dead
dinosaurs. The polymer based waxes are usually collected from specially trained
robotic bees who gather the polymer nectar from plastic flowers (or it may be
made in chemical factories).

DEGREASERS/TAR/BUG REMOVERS: These types of products are normally solvents
designed to dissolve surface contaminants such as road tar or bugs. There are two
broad classifications of solvents - petroleum distillates and citrus based. Try to
avoid the petro- leum products if possible. The quality citrus products tend to be
more gentle on the paint. Any degreaser/tar/bug remover will remove wax. So after
you have rid your car of the remains of Billy Bee, you will have to rewax the area.

How often should you clean the paint? The correct answer is based upon several
factors. If your car is a "garage queen" and only sees the light of day once a week
or so, then once a year is usually often enough. If it is a daily driver, and sits out
in the elements day after day, then twice or maybe three times a year may be
required. Your paint will tell you when it needs to be cleaned. It may scream at
the top of its little lungs or it may be more subtle and simply lose its luster and
look dull (you know your paint better than I do). If the finish is subjected to acid
rain and the effects of highly acidic bird offerings, then you may have to clean
specific areas of the finish a little more often. If someone tells you to clean the
paint each time you wax, then they are either trying to sell you another paint job
or have an excess of cleaner they are trying to unload.

Power tools and fine finishes, in my humble opinion, do not mix. There is nothing
that a power buffer can do that you can not do by hand. The advantage of power
is speed. This also applies to getting yourself into trouble. The edges of your body
panels and raised/creased areas of the sheet metal have the thinnest layer of
paint. When the body is painted, the Hquid paint will tend to flow away from these
raised areas. A power buffer will concentrate its energy on the thin paint of these
high points. This is another way of saying hello to your primer or as the
professionals say, "burning an edge." If you must use a power buffer, use only
closed-cell foam pads and use one pad for each product. Do not use lamb's wool
type of pads as they are swirl marks waiting to happen. Most impor- tantly, use
only a cleaner/glaze/polish type product that is specifically formulated for use with
a power buffer. The frictional heat of a buffer will cause some product's abrasives
to flocculate or clump together and make your hood look like a newly plowed corn
field. Most people do not appreciate this look.

In Part 2, Cleaning Your Paint, I will cover the use and proper application of these
products. If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a call.
(Editor's Note - Larry Reynolds also operates Car Care Specialties Inc., Distributors
of Quality Porsche Care Products, Post Office Box 535, Saddle Brook, NJ
07663-0535. Phone 201-796-8300, Fax 201-791-9743, Email carcaresp@aol.com)
Click here for part II of Cleaning Your Paint!