The proper way to wipe down a vehicle prior to paint

The other paint shop in town sells these for prep wipes: Trimaco one tough.

Quite a bit more expensive than the blue tork towels. Hands down, 100x better. Almost no lint, very tough. I recycle the used ones for paint gun cleaning and tool cleanup. They're even tough enough to use like a chamois to dry a car after washing.
 
I've written this a while ago but never posted it. Maybe this will help some folks and help to clear up any confusion someone may have over how to wipe something down.

The proper way to wipe down a vehicle prior to paint.

First before the wipe down stage.................

Would you use this same method if you were doing something done to bare metal and about to epoxy prime?
 
Would you use this same method if you were doing something done to bare metal and about to epoxy prime?

If it's media blasted I just blow it off and epoxy. If it's something sanded to metal I will do usually two rounds with SPI 700. If you are still getting dirt and discoloration on the towels it's not clean yet. So usually two rounds works well. Sometimes less, sometimes more, I go until towels/wipes aren't dirty or discolored after wiping..
 
Chris_Hamilton, maybe a stupid question but have you used gasoline as a degreaser? Are there additives that will affect the epoxy primer? I should have bought SPI's solvent W/G remover.
 
Chris_Hamilton, maybe a stupid question, but have you used gasoline as a degreaser? Are there additives that will affect the epoxy primer? I should have bought SPI's solvent W/G remover.
That is dangerous and just plain stupid.
All it takes is a static spark, and you will be history, or if not history, you will wish you were history.
Twenty years ago, I saw a flash fire while the painter was on a latter doing a Freightliner roof with acetone.
It hurt to watch.
 
@jelco Well I would like to add that beyond the extreme flammability of gasoline, it's just not suitable for refinish cleaning because it contains small amounts of things that aren't solvents. It has additives and even can contain small amounts of oil. Some of the components are very slow drying and may remain inside porous areas. Any wax & grease remover from a reputable source is a thousand times better than gasoline! Just find a local auto paint store and buy some.
 
Haha yeah it’s not smartest thing in the world but all/most of these degreasing solvents are flammable
 
More examples of solvent W&G removers. I’m guessing SPI 710 falls into category #2 similar to

Sherwin Williams R7K156, Martin Senour 6383, PPG DX440, DuPont 3919S, BASF 900.

 
710 is #3, closer to DX330, both designed for final wipe. DX 440 was very strong and great for pre cleaning and glue removal, not for final wipe.
 
The author of this article says DX330 is slower drying than DX30. Maybe he made a mistake because I didn’t see DX30 on a google search. And looks like DX330 is now SX330.
Either way thanks for the reply because it’s good to know the properties of 710 and how it compares to others.
And it makes sense to me to use a stronger degreaser, something stronger than 710, prior to sanding but I guess this is why the waterborne 700 is used.

DX330 composition with CAS numbers
--- ----------------------------------------
01 METHYLCYCLOHEXANE, 5% 108-87-2
02 TOLUENE, 1% 108-88-3
03 N-HEPTANE, 5% 142-82-5
04 NAPHTHA, 70% 64742-48-9
05 NAPHTHA, 5% 64742-89-8

Toluene is nasty stuff from what I remember from my chemistry days. I thought someone here said it is what caused lacquer thinner to leave a residue, The composition of kleanstrip lacquer thinner looks decent but I won’t use it since SPI doesn’t recommend it.
Anyway I’m getting carried away. I think I’ll use the 710 stuff if I can get it.
 
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With any solvent in a wax and grease remover, it's all about the balance with the other solvent.
Lacquer thinner is made on a ladder scale to mix with paint and not made for cleaning; it is a good cleaner but can leave a deposit or two on a panel that will show up as a bubble down the road.
 
I've been using Prep Sol forever, never experienced a problem with it in 40yrs and I don't second guess it. 710 works a little better for me in a lot of situations because it flashes off faster. So for me I like to have both and I've been using the 710 more, I only grab the prep sol now if I want to saturate a large area.
 
This is has been a good thread for me. Just to clarify since I'll be spraying spi epoxy to a panel this week.

Trunk lid has been taken down to bare metal and prepped using a 3/16" da with 80 grit. Panel has been blown off with compressed air.

Which final prep do I do, A or B?

(A).......... wash trunk lid down with Dawn Original dish washing soap, rinse with water and dry pane;l off Apply 700 waterborn W&G remover followed by 710 solvent based W&G remover.

or........

(B)........... Blow off sanded panel. Apply 700 waterborn W&G remover followed by 710 solvent based W&G remover.

Thank you,
Mike
 
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This is has been a good thread for me. Just to clarify since I'll be spraying spi epoxy to a panel this week.

Trunk lid has been taken down to bare metal and prepped using a 3/16" da with 80 grit. Panel has been blown off with compressed air.

Which final prep do I do, A or B?

(A).......... wash trunk lid down with Dawn Original dish washing soap, rinse with water and dry pane;l off Apply 700 waterborn W&G remover followed by 710 solvent based W&G remover.

or........

(B)........... Blow off sanded panel. Apply 700 waterborn W&G remover followed by 710 solvent based W&G remover.

Thank you,
Mike

B. :) Bare metal you are OK as well just using 700. I go two rounds with 700 on bare metal, just for peace of mind.
 
Wiped Clean. The last step before spraying paint is wiping the body clean. You need to do two things- wax and grease remover, and a tack wipe. Wax and grease remover is a solvent liquid that removes fingerprints and stuff like that.
 
Maybe when there’s a thread with high value info, it could go under a category that makes it easy to find. So it doesn’t get buried over time.

In other words, keep this remaining in “Cleaners” but also in a new category called for example;
“10 Popular Articles Written by Members”
 
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