My dad swore by dish soap on car paint, and I finally tested it on my hood last weekend
My dad has been washing his truck with Dawn dish soap for like 20 years and always said wax is a scam. Last weekend I tried it on half my hood, just to see, and the next morning that side looked dull and hazy while the waxed side still beaded water fine. I spent 3 hours with a clay bar and polish trying to get the shine back. So yeah, I think he was wrong, or maybe it worked back when paint was single stage. Anyone else have a parent with detailing advice that did not hold up?
Did your dad ever mention what kind of soap he used back then? Because Dawn has degreasers in it that strip wax and oils right off, so even on old single stage paint he was probably just speeding up the fade. My mom used to tell me to use a bit of kerosene on bug splatter, which is fine if you enjoy bare metal showing up in a year. The one that got me was her saying to scrub bird poop off with a dry rag, and now I have little swirl marks shaped like regret.