For many of us, Winter weather has been putting a major damper on our detailing routine. The cars are dirty. The roads are a mess. And our detailing itch has not been scratched. But Spring driving season is just around the corner! And if you are stuck at home warding off the Coronavirus, then this just might be the perfect time to thoroughly decontaminate the paint on your prized possession and relieve it from all the grime Winter has built up.
Decontaminating the paints finish is removing the built up dirt, grime, brake dust, etc that cannot be removed with normal washing. There are two main reasons we would decontaminate a paint system.
The first is that we want to remove built up dirt and grime from a coated or protected surface that is “clogging” the protection and inhibiting its ability to bead water and reject further contaminant. You’re bringing the protection back to life in a sense, after a heavy or prolonged run of contamination.
The second is that we are preparing to apply protection in the form of a wax, sealant, or coating and we want to ensure that we have a pure paint finish to work with. We don’t want any built up contaminant in the pores of the paint so that we have a direct bond between the protection being applied and the clear coat.
In the second instance, we would very likely include a clay bar process as well as some level of polishing. But for this article we will focus on the three core products that would be used to decontaminate a coated surface after prolonged exposure to contaminant. This usually happens over Winter, when it is too cold out to wash the car or the weather is bad for weeks leaving built up snow or rain delivered contaminant on the surface. Lets take a look at GYEON Q²M Foam, Q²M Iron, and Q²M Bathe.
The first step is a foam prewash using GYEON Q²M Foam. This product is designed to encapsulate and begin to break down as much loose dirt and contaminant as possible so that it can be removed from the paint surface before we physically touch it with a wash mitt. This will help reduce swirl marks and washed induced marring by allowing less loose dirt to be moved over the paint surface when washing.
Next, wash the car using the two bucket wash method with GYEON Q²M Bathe. Q²M Bathe is a highly lubricated wash soap with a capable detergent. The strength of this product shows up in how well it lubricates the interaction between your wash mitt and the paint. A highly lubricated wash soap and a high quality wash mitt like Q²M Smoothie will reduce the possibility of swirl marks.
The last step is chemically decontaminating the paints surface using GYEON Q²M Iron. Q²M Iron is a fast acting and very powerful iron remover that will chemically break down the contaminants build up in the paint. You can also use Q²M Iron on your wheels for the same purpose. As Q²M Iron begins to work, it will turn purple. This shows you exactly where the product is removing built up iron and contaminant deposits. Q²M Iron can also be used as a clay lubricant. If you are moving on to polishing then rinse thoroughly and move to the next detailing step. If your decon wash is complete, then you can wash again with Q²M Bathe.
That is it! Your paint is properly decontaminated and ready for the next round of protection, or it is back in action after a winter clogging.
