Something is on my car paint, help removing it

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hijacka, Jan 8, 8:18pm
Looks like someone has been using a grinder near your car haha

rob_man, Jan 8, 8:20pm
Cleaner clay should do it. 3M available from automotive paint supplier.

hijacka, Jan 8, 8:21pm
Go get a good claybar like megiuars.do a search on utube on how to use claybar and you'll be sweet

racetoy, Jan 8, 9:17pm
has your car been around anyone with a grinder or welder lately !
clay bar should do thetrick.or go to a paint shop or panel beaters and they will buff it off $$$

dickp, Jan 8, 9:18pm
Looks like you parked in the wrong place.

It appears to be metal and the safest method is to use oxalic acid. Should be able to get it from the chemist.

Had the same thing when moving cars on rail. The brake block dust would settle on the car and this was the way to remove it. If you leave it it will eat into to everything.

brokebloke1, Jan 8, 9:21pm
looks like grinder sparks have gone over your car
repaint is the only fix check insurance cover.

rob_man, Jan 8, 9:32pm
What utter horseshit. The advice regarding cleaner clay or cut & polishing is good, take it from a professional painter.

sd8888, Jan 8, 9:35pm
That may be why he is broke lol

marcos1, Jan 8, 10:05pm
We occasionally get this at work,and one of the paint reps suggested using alloy wheel cleaner on the paint.
Works a treat.

steves73, Jan 9, 12:51am
oh good god. really. grinding would be it then . damn, those particles can travel, the car is like 15 metres from the shed.ohwell, thats a painful expensive lesson lol

best i get to it *sigh*
thanks

steves73, Jan 9, 12:55am
whats the meguiars Quick Clay Kit like!
seems im in luck with Super Chineese Autos, its 30% off

thejazzpianoma, Jan 9, 12:58am
Its not just grinding dust that will do that. Rail dust is also one of a few common causes. If its parked near a railway line or even if you regually wait for a train to pass you get the same effect.

At the end of the day its caused by small particles of steel/metal. Anything causing those particles to get airborne and land on your car can be a culpret.

That said, if you were angle grinding with the doors open and the sparks were flying at an angle up into the air, then sure its the likely cause. But be wary because even the dust from the angle grinder on the floor can get airborne when sweeping or exposed to the wind so closing the doors while grinding may not automatically save you.

thejazzpianoma, Jan 9, 1:00am
Also +1 to the clay bar, it will likely fix things up nicely. But do follow it with a good wax and clean/wax regually. The worse thing you can do is trap those metal particles under the wax. easily done if they have not rusted yet.

steves73, Jan 9, 2:07am
that could explain it aswell. sweeping up afterwards and sometimes using the airgun to blow out the shed floor and directly in front of shed.

ill be moving the car onto the road or covering it next time

usually i use amyway silcone glaze. but havent for a yr really due toissues. also just found some mothers cleaner carnuaba wax

this gona take fricken ages and some sweat to clean up in this heat/weather

thejazzpianoma, Jan 9, 2:11am
The clay bar isn't much effort to use. Its slow but does not require "elbow grease". Just make sure you buy a "proper" clay bar and not a rip off liquid one. Also keep kneeding it over so you don't scratch the paint with the steel you pick up.

If its really bad a two pack might be a good choice for economy. If it dosn't come with some liquid "detailer" in a squirty bottle you will need a squirty bottle with some dishwash liquid in it to make it work properly.

Have a look on youtube for some demo's if you have not used one before. Its all about folding over and "listening" for when the muck has been picked up.

No harm in doing a panel at a time over a few cool evenings.

Personally I am not a fan of silicone products. Your canuba wax should be an excellent choice for waxing afterwards (do immediately) though.

When you run out of cannuba I would suggest Farecla hand glaze which is not only a great price and easy/forgiving to use but its a VERY high quality professional product. You can get it from a paint wholsaler.

lookoutas, Jan 9, 2:15am
Sweeping ain't gunna cause it. It's the hot sparks that melt into the paint.
But that mightn't be your worst problem. Hows ya windows!!

thejazzpianoma, Jan 9, 2:27am
Yes it will. The sparks don't have to be hot, although if you were a meter away and they were no doubt they might embed themselves more!
Case and point on this one is "rail dust" which is a big and well known problem when cars are delivered by train. In countries where this is common practice and the cars are not covered dealers often have to clay bar whole batches or they start getting rust blotches on the dealer lot.

The steel flecks only have to sit on the paint, they embed themselves when they are exposed to moisture and start to corrode or are waxed to the surface when polishing.

Steel wool is another one that comes to mind that will cause the same thing without heat.

lookoutas, Jan 9, 6:03am
In that case Jass - anyones a BC for leaving crap on their car.
OP has already conceded that grinding is most likely the culprit.

steves73, Jan 9, 8:48am
funny, i suspected it was steel grindings. but thought nahhh car was far enough away and its on both sides, front and back.

on a test panel, thats wasnt the best to begin with, tried some deoxidine on a soft plastic scrubber. took alot of it off and left the surface smoothe but not perfect as it still left some here n there. so its the clay bar.

watched some youtube vids. though they didnt say anything about rolling over the clay bar when it became full of crap

so your saying jazz that i could buy a clay bar pack only and use detergent as a lubricant on the surface! might need a two pack, the bonnet and roof is covered in it

thejazzpianoma, Jan 9, 9:01am
Yes, absolutely. If you buy the clay bar from an automotive paint wholesaler you will usually just get a pack of two bars on their own and the standard practice is then to use a bit of hand dishwash soapy water in a water spray bottle which is perfectly fine.

All you are doing is using the soapy water as a lube as the clay bar will not work dry. Good on you for getting the proper thing as the clay bar is about the only thing that will actually "lift" out the dirt.

Its super important to fold over the bar when it starts getting a built up. Have a bit more look on youtube and you are bound to find someone demoing it properly.

But in a nutshell you are spraying the soapy water on, working the bar in small circles until you hear the gritty sound stop then moving on. Its pretty easy when you get into it, just don't rush it and don't feel you have to use elbow grease just let the bar do the work.

Usually a bar lasts several cars but I guess if it is super bad you could use more than one bar on a car (never had one that bad before). The key thing is to not let so much build up on it that it starts to scratch the paint. Oh and if you drop it on the ground cut off the part that made contact or throw the bar away. don't even think about putting it back on the paint if its bit the dust!

Hope that helps!

Oh and one more thing, usually if the bar is still in reasonable shape I demote it from paint to glass then glass to wheels (over the course of several detailing sessions). But use your discretion if the bar is really clogged with crap.

thejazzpianoma, Jan 9, 9:06am
Not sure on the definition of BC. The only crap you need to be concerned about in this instance is that of a metallic nature. If you don't believe me grab an old panel, do some work with some wire wool above it so the dust falls on to it.

Then stick it outside for a week or so with some rain, you will get exactly what the original poster is talking about. The big trap lots of people fall into is thinking they are far enough awaythat the sparks wont reach or will be cold and blow off the paint. Sadly it dosn't work that way and yes workshop sweepings are an absolute shocker if grinders are used in the shop.

You might get away with sweeping stuff out to the carpark for a few weeks but the day the wind is going the wrong way and some drizzle hits the paint before you drive home you will be a sorry camper indeed!

I would hazard a guess that its the sweepings causing the problem with steves car and its likely happened over days/weeks if the car is regually parked outside the workshop. That's why he has a nice even coat over both sides as the car in different positions and the wind works its magic to share the love right around the car!

hijacka, Jan 9, 9:26am
Well said jazz!
Perhaps you should upload a claybar demo of your own!
*you could call it ''multipla rubbing'' haha*

Honest thou thats a good helpful read there jazz. even if i did skip the last few posts;).

lookoutas, Jan 9, 7:26pm
Sorry jass - was a typo, meant to be DC, and I guess you know what that means.
I live in the central NI - what's wind!

I agree/concede - if the crap described is left and it rains/gets damp, it will rust onto the surface.

steves73, Jan 9, 10:28pm
yeah, well i left the metal grindings a few days to clean up. when i saw the stuff rusting on the concrete, thought i best clean it up before the rust stains the concrete.

didnt even think about the car lol
the back half of the car is hidden from direct view of shed opening/concrete pad, behind a wall, but it looks like it just got dusted with the stuff directly from above.

the horizontal surfaces are the worst areas, bonnet, roof, front guard tops. concerntrated as per the pic. sides of car are alot better.

what should i be paying for individual clay bars!

steves73, Jan 17, 5:51am
seems today was a near perfect day to do the car. only planned to do a side but did the whole thing excluding the roof. cant reach it, cant see it nor has it been cleaned in 8 yrs lol might get a mate to do it :-)

anyway, washed it, clay bared it (including windows) using dish was detergent in spray bottle. it took most of it off. then washed car again and followed with mothers cleaner wax. the clay bar was easy with lil effort on pressure and body felt super smooth when applying the wax

4 hours after starting.looks about the cleanest and white'st ive seen it in years. windows look freaking crystal clean, and car looks really good even from about a foot away with a nice shine for a cloudy day on further distance.

on closer looks, it still has grinding rust but it wouldnt come off, even with finger nail, so i guess paint is stained. ohwell, still gets me from A to B