wax, polish, nothing works

userbmx1315

userbmx1315

builds more then wheels
Joined
Feb 8, 2008
Location
Bessemer City, NC
i think one of the drive thru carwashes ruined my trucks paint. theres a white, dull substance on the trucks finish. ive tried all i know to get it off. its only visible up close, but it bothers me ALOT, since i'm paying aot for the truck.

ive tried Mothers wax, Nu-polish, buffing it, muguirs (sp).

i'm to the point of deluting purple power and trying it. i cant get this out.
i havent went to the detail places cause they will just wash it and charge me.
 
A lot of the soaps those places use don't rinse off to well. The same thing happened to my truck. I took it to my detail guy. He had to cut and buff the paint. I stay away from those places now.

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sounds like just near wet sanding. cut buffing removes oxidation or a Fine layer of clearcoat! I highly recomend an experienced pro do this only. Car nuts do this on multiple clears to get that deep black and dark colors you see on high dollar paint jobs. You could try to clay bar the finish first.
 
I'd try diluted purple power, just wax it soon. I've done it several time on stubborn junk.
 
Try using a clay bar kit. Mothers and megquires ?sp both make them and I've used them to bring dead/dull paint back to life.
 
It sounds like his clear coating is delaminating. Once the hazing starts peeling may not be far behind. I've seen tons of cars with this issue. You may be in for a paint job.
 
That usually happens to smaller areas doesnt it? Mine is all over the truck. Looks like it was washed with a rag. Im confident its not under the clear coat.
 
NOT Recommending this, but at work, on the older Big Rigs, we use an aluminum cleaner, on the wheels, fuel tanks, racks, ect. Commercial Grade, not your "safe 4 car wheels" stuff. Usually dilute it 3-5 parts water/to cleaner.We sometimes even spray it on painted areas, that are stained. Somehow it eats the stain off our "WHITE" [paint] trucks. Big rigs are not clear coated, but thing the pickups are. This stuff can "burn" glass, if your not careful or fast, to wash off. Need to wash off aluminum, in proper time, too, or will tarnish black.
 
I sometimes use GoJo or other handcleaner & scrub it out then wax back over it after a wash & dry. I also had a black Chevy once that did this when it was 7 years old and it turned out to be something wrong with the paint under the clear coat. It took calling Chevy headquarters in Detroit & raising all manner of ruckess but they repainted it for free.
 
i took it to a body shop. they did a spot on the hood thats 1' diameter circle. its gone. they used 3m cuttin compound. something like 3000 grit or something like that. its a purple bottle. then used some wax. i went to pep boys and they had some. they guy who did my hood was trying to hide it from me like its a secret.. but i'm pretty good at reading upside down hahaha.
 
Yeah, I use 3m products on all my cars. Pep boys has everything you need 3m wise. Word of caution, be careful if you plan to use a buffer you can burn the paint. I would suggest just doing it by hand if you never used a buffer before. Use the cutting compound followed by the swirl remover and then follow that up wit a good carbnabu wax.
 
Ok first off, there is allot of mis-information in this thread. I own a high-end detail shop in Raleigh, and can give you some advice.

First, you simply have oxidation. Some white paint on modern cars still are just single stage (no clear) and oxidize quick. You need some sort of oxidation remover such as an abrasive polish (not a compound) or a chemical polish. For light oxidation I like Duraglos #101. Its a chemical polish, meaning that it will only remove oxidation and not polish out any defects such as scratches or swirls. 3M products would be in the abrasive polish category.

The problem with using an abrasive polish is that you need to use a buffer to break down the diminishing abrasives correctly and level the paint as it should be (or you could be left with micro-marring). The problem with using a buffer is A) You have to own the correct one, and B) You have to know how to use it. If you dont do either of these, you could ruin the paint.

Simple, do a wash (with normal soap, NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT with purple power or any degreaser) and (if your doing this by hand) use Duragloss #101 to remove the oxidation. Seal with a sealant such as Duragloss #105 to protect the paint.

BTW - A clay bar only removes embedded contaminates on the paint, and will do nothing for oxidation. They work well to make the paint glass smooth, but will do nothing to change the appearance of the paint.
 
ShowroomShine.....Not to hijack the thread, but since you are a professional, I have what looks like water spots on the clearcoat of the wife and daughters cars. Maybe acid rain?? All I know is that they will not come off. Hell they are even on the windows. How do you recommend you remove these? I would appreciate any advise you could provide. Thanks in advance
 
Water spots are removable. Water etching isnt. You want to start with the least aggressive method first. I'd start with a simple polish like Duragloss #101 and go from there. If that does not work, something aggressive such as Meguiars Ultimate Compound needs to be used. If that does not work, an water spot remover cream needs to be used.

You will know if its etching or not fairly quickly. If you use any sort of wax/polish/compound etc and dont see *any* difference...then its etched.
 
thanks for the quick reply and still sorry about the hijack, but hopefully this is good info for all. One last question, what causes etching? The wife car is kept inside when not driving and only has 65,000 miles on it (it is 5 years old though). I will say that the regular wax did not cut it. I will move up to the next step. Again, thank you for the info! hijack done
 
Etching is caused when the minerals in rain or hose water sits on the surface and etches into the surface.
 
I have first-hand experience with Brandon and he knows his stuff. I've stalked him on more detailing forums than I can count just to get him to handle a paint issue that no less than four "professional" detailers couldn't fix, and he cleared it up in one session. He takes care of all of my vehicles now.
 
^Thanks for the kind words sir! I'll be seeing you soon for another detail run.
 
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