A friend had a Chevette he and his wife bought new. One day he returned home to notice it was whiter than white! Wife had washed the car with an SOS pad... <grin>. She just didn't know that this was bad... They laughed it off and he waxed often. The car still looked good 5 years later surprisingly. Different type of paint I think.

Chris

I have a 90 Westy.  Silver with clear coat.  The previous owner takes
>it down to Mexico and a kid asks him if wants the van washed while he
>goes shopping.  Sure he says.
>
>On his return, he finds every inch of the clear coat has been
>scratched in a kind of swirling motion.  The kid was rinsing the soap
>off the van with sandy water and a rag.  So now the van looks like
>stainless steel.  Its quite cool looking.  The kid was stupid, but
>consistent.