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Q & A Questions and AnswersFAQ  

There are do’s and dont’s.

Preserving a finish requires different approach than restoring one.

The mentality of a person focused on preservation is quite the opposite of one who’s focus is to restore.
Preservationist understand the necessity of restoration products and their place.

They won’t care one way or the other that you wax your car, They understand some people need wax, Their paint is so bruised from past waxing, polishing and claying, it needs wax like a old woman needs makeup.

There is an understanding Preservationist have that makes it easy to determine when a product is designed to restore a finish and when one is designed to preserve one.

For example water will help preserve a finish polish will help restore a finish.

On the other hand people who use restoration products on everything don’t seem to have a clue.

They do not understand the concept of preserving the cars finish, They want to “fix it”, make it better.

This mentality allows no room for growth, they think the finish on a brand new car should be treated like the finish on a car 10 years old.

The fact is a car that is 10 years old can benefit from both, restoration and preservation depending on its condition. A factory new paint job cannot benefit from restoration, there is nothing to restore. Yet when a person’s focus is so single minded he somehow misses that point.

Preserving the factory finish on your new car is an art, It’s a discipline that some of us have down to a science. There are the basics that will serve you well if you stick to them.
To begin with friction is your enemy, no matter what guise it comes in. Friction is the kiss of death to acrylic paint.

You want to avoid any unnecessary friction on your finish. Its only so much rubbing anything can take before it begins to wear away, paint is no different. The first thing is looses is its factory gloss.

Friction comes in many ways and forms.

 Most of us are aware of the dangers of tight spaced parking lots, and shopping carts. Many of us will go to extremes to avoid the possibility of accidental friction. This includes parking across two parking spaces and parking at the end of the lot.

While these tactics help they are not fool proof. Fools will find you and park as close to you as they can, why? In short….they are fools. All the fool sees is a good parking spot next to your car.
The same fool will use your car as a stand to sit grocery bags while they fiddle around for their keys. It’s all ready understood that they will bang their door into the side of your car several times before they are finish.

The same fool will then let his cart roll into another parked car as they exit.
Next on the list of things to avoid are situations with friends, where parked cars stand in for benches, tables and walls. Usually there is always one individual who has keys or some other paint damaging or metal item attached to their clothes.

Most of purest know to avoid automatic carwashes. That could change over time with the newer brushless carwashes that have become more attractive because friction is reduced significantly.

As the car goes through the wash it passes through hanging felt like layers assisted with high pressure jet streams of water. Cleaning soaps and wax are applied as well. This process is followed up by detail men that will dry the car and dress the tires. Not as brutal as the carwashes of old but the stigma associated with those old hard roller brushes still stays on.

Hand washing is by far the best way to protect your finish. It involves the least amount of friction. It also allows for close surface inspections. This allows you the opportunity to catch any defects from aging or road wear early.
The most common destructive friction is intentionally applied for the purpose of improving external esthetics.

1. Dry wiping. Dusting a car that was washed the previous day with a damp towel is fine, dry wiping a car that has a couple of days layers of dirt on it is damaging.
2. Washing a car from the bottom up is damaging. Cleaning from the bottom up is damaging because most of the dirt and grit will collect at the bottom of the car, This grit will cut into the paint as it is pulled up toward the top of the car. You should always wash from the top down.
3. Using a bucket without a hose. Dirt and grit will collect in the bucket and will be spread across the paint. You need a hose to keep the water in the bucket clean and the soap from drying on the car.
4. Drying from the bottom up. Drying should also begin at the top and work to the bottom, this avoids pulling the inevitable dirt and grit you missed across the top of the car. Turning and folding the towel helps keep the application surface clean.
5. Dirty towels. Don’t just grab anything and go to wiping on your car. The towels you use for your car should be protected and kept clean, a dirty towel with either grit or harden wax can leave bruise marks on a paint job. These things all have a cumulative effect so you may not realize you are dulling your paint while doing any of the don’ts above. However it’s inevitable you will see the damage and when you do, you will know how it happened.
6. Don’t put anything on your paint that you will be forced to take off. In a word “WAX”. Applying and removing wax is a source of friction that over time becomes redundant and damaging.
These tips will help you keep your paint looking it’s best longer and make your car more enjoyable to drive.

You can't teach a caveman new tricks

The internet is a virtual frontier, where everything is accessible and the” cavemen auto detailers” run wild. For a short time the caveman dominated the Internet detail forums. Banned together in their natural quest for survival, their sells tactic is to attack and overwhelm as a group.
Cavemen are physical individuals and prefer doing than learning. Leaning new things is a challenge for them, so once they learn a trick they stick with it. In this case the trick was “How to wax a car”. Allied with sponsors from wax companies who stood to gain new business, the cavemen viewed the sponsorship as an endorsement and immediately proclaimed themselves to be “Automotive Detail Experts”.
With “Locust like” precision they begin to infest the Internet detail forums and snare the unwitting, increasing the size of their Parrot command” (individuals who repeat what the caveman tells them) and bringing new business to their sponsors. New forum members believing that the information the cavemen had was valuable sought acceptance from the cavemen in the form of “Caveman Approval”.
Yes it appears that “Caveman Approval was a sought after social status at one time.
If the cavemen gave you a “clubs up” you were “In like flint”. You could join them in meaningful banter about the tools of the trade. Things like:
” How do you get swirl marks off your car”? What is the best way to get rid of water spots? Why is one part of the paint shiny and the other dull? What do you use to strip off wax? Should I use clay? How do I use clay? How to repair clay damage. Which buffer should I buy? What’s your favorite wax? What’s your favorite polish? What grit do you start with? Which cleaner wax? Does your wax smudge too? What do you use to get wax off of vinyl trim?
In addition you could join in attacks on members who got the “clubs down”.

If someone entered the forum and voiced a different opinion from what was accepted at “Cavern College”, you would now have the ability to call on the “Forum Parrots” for a immediate and brutal verbal lashing of the offender.
Caveman approval comes with privileges, it allows for the comfort and security of the pack. Assurance that no matter what difficulties you face while using caveman technology you won’t be suffering alone.
Lately the clout that comes with “Caveman approval” has been less desirable. People just want their cars to look good. Very few people who live “productive lives” have the time, or energy to spend performing the old school ritual of spending hours waxing a car or the futility of defending the virtues of wax online.
More and more people are saying, “Not on my new car!” when it comes to wax.
This has caused the caveman world to begin to fold in on itself as he finds more and more of his restoration tools showing up on “Picker” shelves and museums. The caveman’s response is typical, he’s angry.
He sees his importance fading into nostalgia as new technology and products flood today’s market.
We live in a fast food world, time is of the essence, while the caveman is walking around dragging his knuckles on the ground refusing to accept reality, the rest of us are moving along at “warp drive”.
Yes the caveman’s day in the sun has come and gone, but don’t pity the caveman. Cavemen are a hearty breed and there will be some specimens left………..maybe. Certainly there will be some old cans of carnauba wax left…..in the Smithsonian.
At any rate the USDA (Unorganized Subterranean Detailers Association) aka “Caves R US” are not expected to go away without a fight.
You will find them appearing out of nowhere, reciting from their ancient text of detailing, cursing the light of day that illuminated a world of technology the caveman could no longer understand.
If you find yourself in a conversation with someone who turns out to be a caveman (usually the drag marks on their knuckles will give them away), remember this.
To a caveman an orbital buffer is the holy grail of detail technology. He believes you should clay and polish a new factory paint job. He believes you should use sandpaper to remove headlight oxidation. He won’t understand anything that does not involve brute force, friction or abrasives. He does not understand that technology changes with time. He will not understand why you don’t use wax.
Cavemen are known to attack things they do not understand.

some forum members act like parrots

Internet Forum Parrots are annoying and ignorant.
Like flies they gather and distract.
Forum Parrots are individuals who behave like the fictional Star Trek charectors “The Borg”.
They have assimilated and they encourage you to do so too.
This behaviour is concentrated in the Internet detail forums.
Parrots in these forums tend to agree on the basics.
They believe it is best to stick with the old “tried and true”.
Forum Parrots agree with each other.
A new guy comes along and asks: How do I detail my car?
And out of the wood work come the Forum Parrots.
They all pass on the same bad advice:
clay it, polish it, wax it, strip it, clay it, polish it, wax it, strip it…..
And they all complain about problems with water spots, swirl marks and dull spots on their paint.
Oblivious to the fact that these things are in direct association with the wax they continue to put on their cars.
All will tell you you need a orbital buffer. They think this is some sort cure all for the problems they created waxing the car.
They are blind to the senselessness of the act, as one parrot after another chimes in support of the choir:
clay it, polish it, wax it, strip it, clay it, polish it, wax it, strip it…..
If you agree with the parrots they will accept you as one of them, but if you have opposing views, the parrots will attack.
It actually angers Internet forum parrots when people demonstate an ability to form their on opinions.
The small brained “Forum Parrots” have their favorite brands of car care products.
These are A, B, and C.
If you like A, B, or C, they will accept you as one of them.
But, If you like a brand D, You are likely to be acussed of spam and banned, this makes Internet forums less than trustworthy in the advice they give.
If you have ever visited a detail forum and been attacked by Internet Forum Parrots, take that as a sign of your superior intelligence and their common ignorance.

What is the current listing status for autopia.org?

Site is listed as suspicious – visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 4 time(s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?
Of the 725 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 375 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2010-09-03, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2010-09-03.
Malicious software includes 8 scripting exploit(s), 8 trojan(s), 6 exploit(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 3 new process(es) on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 8 domain(s), including plotecco.co.cc/, autourl.in/, browserservices.in/.

1 domain(s) appear to be functioning as intermediaries for distributing malware to visitors of this site, including plotecco.co.cc/.

This site was hosted on 2 network(s) including AS31815 (MEDIATEMPLE), AS26496 (PAH).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, autopia.org appeared to function as an intermediary for the infection of 1 site(s) including stumbleupon.com/.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?

In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

Next steps:

Return to the previous page.
If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google’s Webmaster Help Center.
Updated 2 hours ago

This does not surprise those of us who knew how that site is managed.
They must hold a world record for banning members.
We also advise you avoid using their questionable products and caveman detaiing techniques.
The autopia site is not safe for your computer, visit at your own risk.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucwo9c2Pr-I

Unlike videos of cars taken immediately after they have been waxed, This VaporWax video was made well over a month after the paint on this FX35 has been conditioned with VaporWax acrylic paint conditioner

New paint does not come with swirl marks, Swirl marks are owner induced.

In fact it is the beginning of the end of your factory shine.

Sadly enough misinformed people continue to pass on bad advice.

1. They say waxing won’t hurt your cars paint.

2. They will tell you that wax and polish are the same thing.

3. They will tell you:  Here is what I do………( ultimately claying, abrasive polishing and waxing are involved )

4. These people are stuck in the past They haven’t a clue as to what they are talking about and none of their advice serves to preserve your paint.

Some people just don’t realize that things change, if they didn’t we would still have bias ply tires on our cars, but someone realized that radial tires were better.

It’s the same with outdated wax, some people refuse to learn anything new while others keep cling to the past.

Just trust your own eyes.

Take the wax off a car that has endured years of waxing and answer yourself if the paint still looks new. It doesn’t, It can’t. Do you still believe waxing a car does not harm the paint?

REMEMBER WHEN YOU PUT WAX ON YOUR PAINT.

YOU ARE MAINTAINING A WAX SHINE.

NOT PRESERVING THE PAINT.

THE PAINT BECOMES A VIRTUAL CANVAS FOR THE WAX.

IT GETS COVERED AND NEGLECTED.

Wax is an outdated concept. A decaying organic cosmetic.
A plant by product, closely related to tree sap. Organic wax has been around since the dawn of time, The automotive industry has had the benefit of wax since it’s inception.

However no matter how brilliant the paint may be when the car rolls off the showroom floor. After just one waxing the paint is changed forever. Some extremest actually promote claying and polishing a brand new car!

These people have an agenda that involves their selling or performing a service that includes some form of automotive wax.

They bank on your ignorance of the damage that excessive and redundant friction can to to a factory finish. They don’t care about your paint job.

They care about the money they can make with their organic wax and the temporary shine they can achieve with it.

The health and condition of your paint was never a consideration, its always about the wax.

In fact wax is a decaying organic protective covering that is used to create a water barrier on your cars paint. It can also be buffed to a shine.

Beyond those two pros every thing else about wax is a con.
1. Wax is wasteful

2. Wax is messy

3. Wax yellows

4, Wax hazes

5. Wax hardens

6. Wax requires buffing

7. Wax traps and holds particles against your paint

8. Wax promotes swirl marks in your paint

9. Maintaining a wax shine is time consuming

10. Wax cannot be applied in direct sunlight

11. Wax cannot be applied in freezing weather

12. Wax is a friction based application

13. Wax builds up

14, A wax shine naturally degrades and has to be removed

15. Wax is an organic, it will decay, break down and dull on your paint.

There are advancements in acrylic paint that make the use of an organic wax or polish ill-advised.

New automotive acrylic paint is a synthetic it does not need to be buffed, poished or waxed it needs to be preserved and the best way to preserve acrylic paint is with a non organic acrylic paint conditioner.

Unlike organic wax which decays, the acrylic conditioner is non organic and has none of the problems associated with wax.

In fact an Acrylic Paint Conditioner (APC) is the exact opposite of wax in every respect.

Basically the acrylic paint conditioner is not a covering, it makes the paint shine from within.

An acrylic paint conditioner is 100% pure liquid, non abrasive and non toxic, it will never dull, require buffing or have to be removed.

There is no waste with the non organic acrylic paint conditioner and it can be applied in all temperatures and direct sunlight. It applies in minutes, lasts for months and never has to be removed.

1. An acrylic paint conditioner is non organic, does not decay, therefore it never Dulls

2. Can be applied in direct hot sun

3. Can be applied in freezing temperature

4. Does not yellow

5. Does not have to be removed

6. Requires no buffing

7. Does not harden

8. Does not create swirl marks

9. 100% Pure liquid

10. Rust resistant

11. Easy one step application

12. Eliminates the need for Clay

13. Eliminates the need for polish

14. Creates a shine within the paint

15. Is absorbed into the paint

16. Creates no debris or waste

17. For “Scratch Shield paint”

18. Preserves factory finish

19. Does not trap and hold particles

20. Has built in cleaning agents

21. Eliminates the need for soap

22. Protects Chrome & wheel from road salt

23. Conditions and shines black vinyl trim

24. Conditions and preserves clear headlights

25. Deoxidizes and restores color to acrylic paint

26. Conditions & replaces essential elements in paint

27. Takes less than a half an hour to apply

28. Unique in the market

29. Non abrasive

30. Efficient, 95% goes in the paint 5% in the towel

Don’t be suckered in by the crowd. maintaining a organic wax shine on synthetic paint is a unnecessary headache.

Remember it is the wax that you are maintaining not the paint.

In the end you will have to remove and replace the wax several times.

Each application and removal taking its toll on the paint’s finish.

You got one shot to keep that factory finish. Put an organic wax on it and its all over.

If you use wax, you probably heard of clay. Both have a negative effect on acrylic paint

So you think using sandpaper to clean your lens is a good idea? Big mistake.

You cannot restore something by grinding it away, what works for one problem does not work for all.

Unless some shade tree mechanic or professional caveman has previously used abrasives or sandpaper cleaners on your headlight lens, it can be restored to like new in seconds with an acrylic lens deoxidizer.

Classic caveman statement:

It’s ok to sand your headlight because the UV layer is already damaged.

FACT: A damaged UV layer is better than no UV layer at all.

The normal wear on an exposed headlight will not create the clouding and damage that an abrasive cleaning will do. The chips and scratches you get from normal driving is not enough to cloud your lens and effect light projection.

People who suggest you sand your headlight to remove oxidation don’t have a clue as to the composition of modern headlights.

You will find these same people in forum telling  you to clay, polish and wax a new car.

Abrasives solid or in cream form will damage the factory UV coating applied to the lens surface.

The  creams are little more than diluted rubbing compounds designed for painted surfaces. Many are just rehashed auto body techniques designed for metal and paint. Some sellers sell toothpaste as a headlight cleaner.

Does toothpaste work safely?

On GLASS HEADLIGHTS YES, works as good as any GLASS polish

Toothpaste is excellent for cleaning glass headlight lens, The molecular structure of glass is very hard, dense and brittle. Glass can crack and shatter

ON ACRYLIC HEADLIGHTS NO, Toothpaste will remove oxidation but the abrasives in toothpaste causes damage to protective UV layer

Toothpaste will cloud the surface of the UV layer with fine scratches that will dull your headlight lens.

The molecular structure of Acrylic/Polycarbonate/Plastic is Not as hard as glass, the density varies greatly. It can be very hard to very soft. Acrylic/polycarbonate/plastic can crack, bend and break but it does not shatter.

Using  sandpaper will cost you hours of time and destroy the surface of your headlights along with your headlight’s factory applied UV coat. There is also the risk of paint damage.

A strip of tape is not going to stop sand paper on power tool from cutting into the paint.

Don’t chance on ruining your modern high tech projector headlight lens with obsolete low tech caveman technology.

One Step ALR does not use abrasives of any type.

THERE IS NO SOLID CLEANER, THAT IS NON ABRASIVE

If it comes in a can, tube, cream, paste, or powder it is not non abrasive. Non abrasives are pure liquid.

IF IT INVOLVES EXCESSIVE RUBBING OR BUFFING IT IS NOT A TRUE ACRYLIC DEOXIDIZER

A deoxidizer works on contact, products that require excessive rubbing or buffing contain abrasives.

Pittman’s Original ALR is the only Acrylic lens deoxidizer on the market and the only product that addresses the problem of automotive headlight lens oxidation based on the molecular structure of Acrylic Oxidation.

Todays Automotive lens are made of high impact Thermoplastic based Acrylic / Polycarbonate, commonly referred to as plastic. This allows for a variety of shapes and sizes, making the headlight configuration of today, one of the most diverse in design history.

They are all but perfect in their construction. The plastic / acrylic / polycarbonate material of which the headlight are comprised are versatile and beautiful but it has a limited life expectancy. Unlike Glass which would last virtually forever, climate and invironmental contamination creates negative changes in the appearance of exposed Acrylics.

Headlights rapidly oxidize (cloud up) when exposed to contaminantes, salt air and excessive sunlight.

The old fashion method is to buff or sand the lens until the oxidation is removed. This caveman’s approach has caused severe damage to millions of headlight lens.

The end result is a surface that consists of fine scratches in the finished product that begin to reveal themselves to you the first time you wash your car.

Another method which is a new concept is to clean with a wipe on product, dry and seal the lens with a polyurethane finish.

Kits have to use sealers because it is necessary to fill in the scratches caused by the abrasive compounds and sandpaper used in cleaning the lens. The damage to the lens surface is masked by wipe on or spray on sealers, Most offer no UV protection.

It looks good if done properly, when it’s fresh, however within months the exposure of the polyurethane to the sun and or cold along with the heat from the bulb, will turn it yellow and cause it to crack and peel. Once this happens only paint stripper or sanding can remove the sealer. Your lens is ruined.

A DE-OXIDIZER WILL ONLY REMOVE SURFACE OXIDATION LEAVING THE UV LAYER INTACT. NO SEALER IS NEEDED BECAUSE NO DAMAGE IS DONE

None will tell you that their product results will not last forever, they play on your ignorance of the problem.

DON’T FALL FOR THE LIFE TIME GUARANTEE, IF ANYONE HAD A SEALER THAT WOULD NOT YELLOW OR OXIDIZE THE AUTOMOTIVE COMPANIES WOULD BE USING IT. AND THERE WOULD BE NO MARKET FOR HEADLIGHT CLEANERS

The fact is that oxidation will eventually return and will have to be removed again. That is a job that never ends. Nor will they tell you that the abrasives in their products cause unrepairable damage to your UV layer and the surface of your lens. None bother to mention that their product is not recommended for use on thermoplastic based refractive lens or projector headlamp covers.

What condition are your headlights in? which can be restored and which have to be resurfaced?

1. Do you see flakes peeling off your lens?

2. Does your lens appear to have a thin layer of plastic wearing off the lens?

3. Is the lens deeply pitted?

4. Are there scratches visible on the surface of the lens?

5. Does the lens appear to have thousands of tiny micro fractures in it? (more common with early Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth headlights)

These are conditions that go beyond the effect of natural oxidation.

These lens are damaged and cannot be restored. They can be resurfaced with a complex sanding and polishing system that include the use of power tools and sealers. The results may last 3 to 6  months before it begins to break down again but none of the hand sanding kits have what it takes to repair the damage described above.

On the other hand

1. If your lens surface is cloudy

2. If the surface of your lens are opaque

3. If the surface of your lens are white

4. If the surface of your lens are yellow

5. If the surface of your lens are brown

6. If oxidation is so thick on your lens that no light can come through

You can restore them to like new in seconds with a non abrasive deoxidizer.:

Remove yellow, brown, cloudy, hazy oxidized build up from acrylic lens on cars, boats, aircraft & household applications ON CONTACT.

Recommended for todays expensive high tech projector headlight lens covers.  PURE LIQUID formula that works at the molecular level.

100% Pure Liquid De-oxidizer designed for restoring acrylic/ polycarbonate/ plastic lens to clarity on contact.

Non abrasive

The concept behind the deoxidizer utilizes the same natural elements involved in creating plastic /acrylic / polycarbonate to create a formula that works like a magnet and absorbs oxidation from acrylic leaving the clear unaffected surface exposed.

Effortless application, results on contact, A one step deoxidizer reacts at the molecular level.

One 14.7cc vial averaging 100 drops can restore 50 to 100 headlights making it the most economical of any headlight cleaner on the market today.

One drop on a paper towel restores your lens to a like new condition without the removal and replacement of the lens. The ability to deoxidize acrylic surfaces where conventional methods aren’t applicable is another feature of the deoxidizer

Specifically designed ; tested to deoxidize, clean, and restore

****** ON CONTACT ******

the most heavily oxidized acrylic headlight lens, lamps, covers on, Ford, Lincoln, MGF, MGTF, Mercury, GM, Pontiac, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Gulf Stream, Beech Craft, Peterbilt, Mac, Kenworth, Chevrolet, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Porsche, Jeep, Jaguar, Nissan, Sterling, Subaru, Skoda, Smart, Ssangyong, TVR, Vauxhall, Lexus, Mercedes, Maserati, Toyota, Kia, Geo, Peugeot, Saturn, Suzuki, Hyundai, Volvo, Volkswagen, Audi, Acura, BMW, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Mini Cooper, Ferrari, Cooper, Soarer, Altezza, Infiniti, Saab, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Citroen, Daewoo, Daihatsu, Ferrari, Fiat, Hummer,  Isuzu, Lamborghini, Lancia, Land Rover, lada, Lotus, MX7,  MX5,  RX8, Perodua, Peugeot,  Proton, Range Rover, Reliant, Renault, Rolls Royce,  Bentley Rover, Opel,  Honda,  Maxima, Camry, versa, titan, frontier, xterra, murano, pathfinder, armada, z, quest, altima, tacoma, tundra, prius, matrix, yaris, corolla, four runner, highlander, RAV4, fj cruiser, sequoia, sienna, avalon, accord, civic, cr-v suv, odyssey, pilot, gx, ngv, sedan, honda, element, ridgeline, s2ooo, fit, si coupe, mazda3, mazda5, mazda6, mx-5 miata, tribute, b-series truck, clear vinyl, plastic, acrylic, polycarbonate, projector head lights,  taillights, headlights, lightbars, and convertible rear window and motorcycle wind screens.

ACRYLIC LENS RESTORER

Recommended for preservation of transparent refractive lens and hi-tech Projector headlight lens

You will save time and money. A deoxidized lens clarity lasts indefinitely.

A lens can be deoxidized again and again with no adverse affect to the lens.

Adverse affect to the lens.