Dr. Beasley's Total Decon

[Setec Astronomy]

Hi Mike, I know you are probably still resting up from a long week at SEMA, but I saw your short video on Dr. Beasley's Total Decon product, and had a few questions.

Nowhere does this mention any color changing, and I see the SDS has all trade secret ingredients and doesn't show a pH, and says it has no odor, so it would seem this works differently than the thioglycolate products (which smell like hair perm), or the old-school acid-based decon products (ABC, etc.)

Can you tell us a little more about this product and how it works? Obviously Dr. Beasley's thinks this approach is better than what's on the market already, so I'd like to understand why. I'd love to use a decon product that I won't still be smelling on everything 2 weeks later. Also, is this a good product for wheels? Oh, now I see there is Intensive Brake Dust Remover which seems to be a similar product for wheels. These products don't seem to be getting much buzz so I wanted to hear some more about them.

 

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike,

I have not used this product much, maybe one time. I need to spend more time with it plus a lot of other products in the Dr. Beasley's lineup.

One thing for sure, Jim does not simply like to bring out me-too products. Thus we don't have a specific Iron Removers that use thioglycolate ingredients that change color and provide that unique scent.

I kind of quit using chemical decontaminant products AFTER a really BIG NAME product stained all the anodized aluminum trim on a VW Passat a few years ago.

I took pictures and sent them to a Rep for the brand and never heard back from them. I was able to somehow remove the spots and cloudiness via polishing using a 1" microfiber pad on a RUPES Nano Long Neck in Rotary Mode with believe it or not, 3D Speed.

I've shared this fix multiple times over the years with people that have run into this same problem.

But after that really bad experience, I tend to practice and believe any iron contamination, or any other airborne pollution or industrial fallout will be removed when I compound and/or polish the paint.

Kind of makes sense. If I'm removing swirls and scratches, then I'm removing a portion of the paint, and this would include any chemical contamination.




Here's the link to the product and the information available via the website.

Total Decon

TOTAL DECON lifts out and removes contamination embedded within automotive paint. Removes iron from brake dust and fallout along with other common contaminants. Reduces need for claying to save time and avoid blemishing the surface.

REMOVES ARRAY OF CONTAMINANTS
Eliminates road film, iron and environmental contaminants to preserve clear coat health

SPEEDS UP DECONTAMINATION
Decontaminate in half the time with reduced need to clay

REDUCES NEED TO POLISH
Reduces clay scratching to minimize polish work and preserve paint

STRENGTHENS COATING BOND
Decontamination optimizes bond for more durable and long-lasting coating

Saves Time and Energy
Use Total Decon before you clay to pull out contaminants and leave less work for the clay. Less clay also means less scratches to remove after.


Pulls Out Deeply Embedded Iron
Total Decon breaks down and pulls out any iron particles it comes in contact with, whether it’s brake dust from the road or rail dust from trains.


Eliminates Industrial Fallout
Cars in urban areas are riddled with iron and other particles due to nearby industrial activity. With Total Decon, you can get them all out and start fresh.


Helps Prevent Paint Oxidation
Iron particles embedded in the finish rust (oxidate) over time, eating through it until holes appear. Total Decon stops this by removing iron before it oxidates.

Preps For Nanocoating
When applying nanocoatings like Nano-Resin Pro, deep contamination must be removed, or it will be locked in. Use Total Decon to get it all out first.

Fast-Acting
Total Decon rapidly removes contamination to keep the detail going at a steady pace. With the time you’re saving, you’ll be polishing in no time.



How Does It Work?
When sprayed on a panel, Total Decon penetrates deep to pull iron and other contamination to the surface so it can be easily removed.

Directions

• Wash and dry vehicle.
• Spray Total Decon onto a panel or small area.
• Using a clean microfiber towel, wipe in long linear strokes to ensure total coverage over the area or panel.
• Let product dwell for 2-3 minutes. Do not let dry.
• Using a new microfiber towel, carefully wipe away with a gentle buffing motion until product is removed. Do not apply excessive pressure.
• Repeat process panel by panel until vehicle is decontaminated.
• Rinse and dry vehicle thoroughly to ensure all product has been removed.
• Dr. Beasley's Suggests
• Multiple applications and longer dwell time may be necessary.
• Compatible with glass and headlights.
• Do not apply in direct sunlight.
• Always test in an inconspicuous area first to check for surface compatibility.

Next time I have a contaminated car with a white basecoat/clearcoat paint job, I'll do a test with a known quality iron remover to one half of the hood. Then use the Dr. Beasley's Total Decon on the other side. After washing and rinsing the hood, I'll re-spray the Dr. Beasley's treated side with the other brand of iron remover. This should show whether or not the Dr. Beasley's Total Decon did the same thing without the odor.


Mike

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I was always nervous with the acid products, and I really dislike the smell of the thioglycolate products, and that certainly sounds like a bad experience you had with them. I understand what you are saying about not doing a chemical decon (which no one really did as a routine process until the "discovery" of hair perm for that...80 years after the compound was invented) and that polishing or compounding should remove any iron contamination.

But in my case, I hardly polish anymore (but it's about time I did; I'm going to order some NSP's now that the one you said a couple months ago you were testing didn't come out at SEMA), and once in a while I have a speck of something on my paint that seems embedded, so I spray some iron remover on there and am surprised at how many spots "bleed". So I have been thinking this is something I should do more often, which is why I was asking about this Dr. Beasley's decon product. I did try a bottle of another brand's odorless iron remover that came out last year at SEMA (with the subsequent YouTube drama), and I liked that a lot, although it did seem to work more slowly than the thioglycolate products.

 

[Mike Phillips]

I was always nervous with the acid products, and I really dislike the smell of the thioglycolate products, and that certainly sounds like a bad experience you had with them.

I wish I would have circled-back to the Rep, and even more, I wish he would have followed-up with what the chemists said, but I got nothing. Left the fear of God in me after drying the car and seeing the spotting/cloudiness.

I understand what you are saying about not doing a chemical decon (which no one really did as a routine process until the "discovery" of hair perm for that...80 years after the compound was invented) and that polishing or compounding should remove any iron contamination.

Kind of a simplistic view but I always say,

Don't turn something that should be super simple into Rocket Science

But in my case, I hardly polish anymore (but it's about time I did; I'm going to order some NSP's now that the one you said a couple months ago you were testing didn't come out at SEMA),

Still doing some testing.

and once in a while I have a speck of something on my paint that seems embedded, so I spray some iron remover on there and am surprised at how many spots "bleed".

Seeing this in your car's paint is always eye-opening. I do have to wonder, how much difference there would be in the volume of red or purple bleeding you would see coming off the paint if you just did a normal wash first to remove any loose dirt and/or anything that hasn't formed a bond yet? Of course, the way to test this would be on a known, iron-contaminated white colored vehicle.

So I have been thinking this is something I should do more often, which is why I was asking about this Dr. Beasley's decon product.

I'm already looking for a neglected white car.

I did try a bottle of another brand's odorless iron remover that came out last year at SEMA (with the subsequent YouTube drama),

What would YouTube be without a little drama?

and I liked that a lot, although it did seem to work more slowly than the thioglycolate products.

The thing about thioglycolate iron removers, is the odor never bothered me. Things like this simply don't register. I would use the product and move on to the next step. But I get it that some people abhor the odor.



Mike

 

[Setec Astronomy]

The thing about thioglycolate iron removers, is the odor never bothered me. Things like this simply don't register. I would use the product and move on to the next step. But I get it that some people abhor the odor.

I'm not sure the odor really bothers me per se, not that I like it, but, the place I mostly use these products is wheels, mostly when I'm doing tire rotations and have the wheel off the car, so I can do the barrels, back of the spokes, etc.. When I smell the iron-eater later (after I have the wheels back on the car), it makes me think I didn't rinse things off thoroughly enough. Of course I also have that worry with the (non-HF) acid-based wheel cleaner I use sometimes, but you can't smell that.