Detailed Designs

Old PPF can indeed be difficult to remove. If it shreds as it is removed, you can't do something that will make it not shred but you can help the pieces stay larger. Understand that there are two different sections of old PPF that you will have to manage:
1) The upper urethane "film"
2) The glue/adhesive

In older PPF, those two layers tend to separate. You get shreds of small pieces of film and then you have a layer of adhesive that remains on the paint. The key to making your job easier is making the surface warm. If you can find a way to make the body panel itself warm, it will allow you to work more quickly than just warming as you go with a steamer or heat gun. With modern PPF, that step isnt' as necessary as the layers are far more likely to remain a whole unit with minimal adhesive remaining.

While a steamer is more expensive to purchase, it's a better tool for this process as it provides moisture along with heat. A heat gun just provides heat and will evaporate moisture.....and what is ancient PPF lacking in most cases? -moisture

Sometimes you can peel everything off easier and sometimes it is truly a hot mess. In either case, for old PPF that is leaving adhesive behind, use a product called Rapid Remover. While 3M Specialty Adhesive Remover is fantastic for newer film that leaves only a small areas of adhesive, the Rapid Remover is better for older film for one main reason: Dwell Time.

Rapid Remover can be placed on the larger areas and it will not evaporate as fast as 3M SAR. Once applied and it has been allowed to dwell, you can use plastic razor blades to scrape away the adhesive in layers. Use some decent MF towels to remove the slurry of adhesive and cleaner. Repeat until the adhesive is gone. I will link some quality plastic razor blades once I can locate them on Amazon. The good ones worth purchasing aren't easy to find and when I buy them, I get 10+ packs(1,000 blades) at a time. I've tried the cheaper ones. They are a complete and utter waste of money. **edit: Found 'em right here

Here's a video I made explaining some of the processes I just described. Of course, this video was made for newer PPF but the plastic razor blade steps are very similar.

Hope this helps.

vodavoda

Jeane Claude --- How about inner surface of glass, windsheild, etc.? Method? Tools? Products? Also... Exterior of glass?
Seems like after a week or so, I see the streak marks from the cleaning and if I use a glass cleaner, then I see a residue. Drives me nuts.

Detailed Designs

You're likely using too much glass cleaner/one that is prone to streaking/wrong towels(or a combination of these). We like 2 different types of chemicals for cleaning:
1) A mixture of 90% distilled water and 10% isopropyl alcohol
2) SONAX glass cleaner

In short, use a fine mist of product on one side of one towel. Agitate the surface well and then flip and buff. Have a second towel on hand to do a refinement pass. The second towel is absolutely necessary or you will end up just pushing cleaner around and end up with smudges.

Also, use tightly woven microfiber towels like waffle weaves. Thick and plush MF towels aren't generally quite as good. All of my guys go straight for WW MF towels when cleaning glass. As a heads up, I am not a fan of "glass towels". They are just too tightly woven and are super grabby. Play with the combination to find what works best for you.

vodavoda

Thank you

vodavoda

How about wheels? ....heck, my Amazon cart is filling up with all the products you're recommending, so let's keep it going...

Dr. Ferdinand

Thanks Jeane Claude - super helpful! Will arm myself with the the proper gear per your recommendation and put this atop my spring priority list!

Detailed Designs

Check on page 1 of this thread. I left a how-to video with product links in this post: https://rennlist.com/forums/991-gt3-...l#post14760786

Have fun and you're welcome.

rxtrom

The one frustrating thing I am hoping you can shed some light on is water-less or even rinse-less car washes. Us New Englanders (and others in cold climates) who drive their cars year round unfortunately cannot use the hose during the winter months. I have tried Optimun rineless with the 2 bucket method as well as chemical guys waterless and the former just feels safer when the car has tons of crud on it from the roads, but I just don't know what the best process is.

Being from Atlanta and having the facility you have you may not have experience with this but I figured I would pop the question..

Thanks.

NVRANUF

Great thread, thanks to you JC!
Is there a list of your best recommended MF towels with their purposed use? Tired of Costco crappy MF. They leave more lint on my windows than the dirt taken off.

pissedpuppy

what about a dirty shift ****?

i assume soapy water and a q-tip is ok???

STG

Detailed Designs

A couple things first of all.

I am not personally a fan of using ONR or other rinseless washes unless absolutely necessary. By nature, they simple do not allow one to flush away loose debris and contaminates as good as hitting the surface with safe water pressure and treating with heavier cleaners and degreasers is more difficult. Is it a classic that is pretty much never truly "dirty"? Not a problem. Is it a vehicle that you're not quite so sensitive to surface defects? No problem. A car that you wish to keep as beautiful as possible? No thanks! As I previously noted in my comment about proper wash technique: surface scratches are caused by driving debris into and across paint. Anything that limits one from flushing those particles away first is hindering good car care.

Beyond the lack of ability to thoroughly flush away debris, I do not like how the polymers in products like ONR give a false sense of protection on a surface. They cause a surface to behave more hydrophobic and it leaves many believing everything is hunky dory while they really only have a very thin layer of polymers that are giving a temporary and greatly limited form of protection.

Lesser of two evils

There are scenarios where using a rinseless wash is necessary as the drawbacks are not as harmful as what's being cleaned. An example would be someone traveling to Florida during love-bug season, getting a horrible mess of bug guts on the front end and then the car enduring days in sweltering hot Florida weather. YES GET IT OFF STAT! The same could be said of what our northern car enthusiasts face and the situation you describe. There may be some possible solutions for those who can make it work:
To wash outside while reasonably cold(0 degree Fahrenheit days need not apply...) try this:
Ensure the car is not overly cold by leaving it in a garage and then pulling it outside for the following steps.
Draw your water from your water heater or mop sink(if in the garage) if outdoor taps are winterized. Fill your wash buckets with warm water from your bath tub or noted water taps indoors. Wear elbow length rubber gloves(without these, cold washing is unbearable) and then pull the car outside and wash. You may need to do this in stages such as wheels/wheel wells and tires first and then pull back in to warm the body up. Then you pull back outside for the body. The main thing is to make sure the glass does not get cold. If it gets cold and you hit it with warm water you're far more likely to cause them to crack.

If someone has a large enough garage to move around in, they can set up berms to capture water or for squeegeeing it outside or pumping away.

Try making a U-shaped berm with the open end facing outside your garage. You can do this with pool cover water bags like these(I am unsure of the quality of these specific water bags. I looked on Amazon for ones with a nice average rating and linked them). While washing, use a floor squeegee similar to this to move the pooling water outside but obviously, that water will ice up while outside, so plan for that in whatever way you need to.

One can also purchase a full-on wash pad like this one here (contact manufacturer to confirm clearance with your model and specific use) or create their own containment pad with rubber pond liner. Dodge the car wash pad specific wash mats as they are generally very cheaply made and will not last. A 12'x16" wash pad could be used to easily wash half a car at a time with a lot of excess space to the sides and either the front or back(then turn the car around for the other side), or one could attempt to fit the car directly over the whole thing if it fits your car.

Use an electric water pump to move the water out of the containment pad. Something similar to this would do.

Oh...and about the outright waterless washes. DO NOT USE THEM. At least rinseless washes have a healthy measure of water for flushing away the slurry as you go. Waterless will rely on oils for lubrication and masking the marring and scratches left behind.

These are my general ideas on the matter. Obviously, everyone has nuances that dictate what's practical and what is not. And as much as I don't care for rinseless washes, for some I am sure they are what's practical. Hopefully, some of this can be of help to you.

Over the counter microfiber towels are mostly terrible. They're made from the ground up to be cheap and appeal to the most common denominator....someone seeking the lowest cost product possible. This leads to poor QA and low quality materials.
What task are you needing towels for? Different towels are good for different things and sometimes a ratty towel is the perfect fit. For example, no one needs a plush and awesome MF towel for wiping an engine bay down.

Tell me what you need and I will work up a list of appropriate towels.

What is the material of the shifter? Soft brushes like a Raggtopp Horse Hair Brush tend to be the best for textured surfaces. Use a MF towel to wipe away the slurry.


LOL!

rxtrom

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I figured the traditional 2bucket rinse/soap and water was going to prevail. I will need to take a look at a containment area for one of the bays. Thanks again.

STG

Never got the point of these rinseless washes, other than no access to water.

Whole point of running water over the paint is to wash off any particles that will scratch the clear coat if wiped around. If the car is coated, 98% of anything on the paint will come off with just a spray down. A lot to be said there.

Same goes for using a power washer. I see if you want to use one of those soap cannons, but to use really high pressure on your PPF, ceramic coating, etc is overkill. If anything, will strip any wax right off and give you less longevity on a ceramic coating.

Save power washers for concrete and stripping stain off of decks.

At the end, I like to use a Master Blaster to blow almost all the water off the car. Once again, less touching of the paint. Gets all the water out of all those trim pieces, mirrors, etc too. You will only need a few micro fibers and quick detailer spray to finish off. The door jambs, hood, etc will need proper wiping down.

NVRANUF

Cool! the only thing I've found Costco MF is suited for is brake dust removal and inside door jams...

Here's a list if you might recommend what you would use and like for these tasks.

• Window cleaning for spotless results.
• Wax off and buffing
• Detailing spray off
• Interior detailing

Thanks JC!