Washed my car again today...

[izackary]

The pearl-white is a hell of a pretty color....when it's clean! I'll admit that I'm a novice to properly washing/waxing/detailing cars. So until I learn more, I have some nanowax detergent stuff which works well to clean the car plus the wheels.

HOWEVER.... After my time on Cape Cod before driving out here to Arizona, it seems that these tiny brown spots are almost multiplying on my car. They look like dried up bug s*** and maybe that's what it is. I can scrape the majority of it off with a thumbnail or old credit card, but it still leaves a stain that still sucks to get off. It's like I need a damn brillo pad to get rid of these, and there has to be a couple hundred. They make the car look like it's covered in moles, like a bad Larry the Cable Guy joke! Any advice as to getting these off? My sponge has a bit of a coarse side to it, but it's little help, really. I'll try and get photos when I can get one up close to come in well. I just don't know my camera that well enough just yet (after having it nearly 3 years ).

I still need to go and get rock chips spot-painted (I hope that's all it needs) and hopefully get autobahn put on the thing. Any advice as to getting this crap off the car in the meantime?

 

[NCZ13]

The spots you see are industrial fallout, and need to be clayed out (not scratched out with your nail or a credit card, you probably severely scratched your car doing that)

You have several OTC options. Meguiars clay kit, Mothers Clay kit, and Clay Magic. You can get these at your local autozone or kragen...

All will work well, and suit your needs.

 

[izackary]

Hmm, I'll have to try that. I was going to clay bar it after this crap was smoothed out, but I guess not! I did do my best, though, to carefully try and get the surfaces of these things off without scratching in hopes that the rest would wash off easier. I've watched a buddy of mine, a detailing veteran, wash and clay bar his truck before, but I was under the impression that the clay bar would do better with these things gone, or at least smoothed somewhat.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[NCZ13]

nope. Clay is what removes them and makes the surface smooth.
Its more visually noticeable on white because of the color contrast. But all cars get it, and all cars need to be clayed at least 2x a year.

 

[BOOSTR]

Don't waste your time with clay. Get some cleaner wax, apply it and be done with it. Its total BS that all cars need to clayed twice a year. Wash your car with something better than a sponge and good car wash soap and most of the stains will come off and what doesn't the cleaner wax will get.

 

[izackary]

(bicker)

hahahaha....

 

[BOOSTR]

No bickering here. Just offering another suggestion for you and stating what I know to be true about clay and removing spots from finish. Use whatever method you like to resolve your issue.

 

[Killer]

Clayed 2x a year...rofl2)

 

[NCZ13]

a cleaner wax wont remove fallout... a cleaner wax really doesnt do any sort of cleaning except for removing old layers of wax, so that the new coat has a surface to cling to.

You asking the guy to scrub his paint? That will do some serious damage, when washing the car is meant to get the dirt and grime off with the least intrusive way.

Im asking the OP to try both. Do half his hood with clay, and the other half just using a cleaner wax... i guarantee the clayed side will be smoother, be easier to wash, dry, wax, and the cleanerwax side will still be rough, bumpy, and a pain to dry.

they arent stains either, they are embedded fallout (brake dust, exhaust, general industrial airborne particles) Read any article from a detailing website about clay and what it does, and nowhere does it mention that these are stains that can be removed with "something better than a sponge and car wash" (whatever these miracle products are, please tell me) and a cleaner wax.

 

[BOOSTR]

You assume way too much and that you actually know something about automotive finish. You have not seen his paint so you cannot say definitively what is on it. Yet atypical of you that does not stop your nonsense. Unlike you I do not have to read what autotopia or any other internet forum has to say about paint finish.

So you and any one else keep on using silly putty and water based solutions to prepare the finish for whatever products the internet tells you that you need to use. Make sure you fill those two wash buckets, use the proper wash media and by all means do not forget that lil DA polisher.

 

[1quickturbosix]

I use to work in a rather high end detail shop doing paintless dent repair. And yes. Claying a car is the only thing that will remove the orange spots. A cleaner wax will get rid of it. But it will be right back within a couple of weeks in all the same spots. Just remember when you clay... have a bucket of very soapy water and a running hose. Keep the surface very very wet. I cant emphasize this enough!!!! I watched a kid scratch the s*** out of a AMG s500 one day cause he just used rinsed the car down and started rubbing with the clay.

 

[NCZ13]

You assume way too much and that you actually know something about automotive finish. You have not seen his paint so you cannot say definitively what is on it. Yet atypical of you that does not stop your nonsense. Unlike you I do not have to read what autotopia or any other internet forum has to say about paint finish.

So you and any one else keep on using silly putty and water based solutions to prepare the finish for whatever products the internet tells you that you need to use. Make sure you fill those two wash buckets, use the proper wash media and by all means do not forget that lil DA polisher.

Being that ive spent countless hours on my paint and countless more hours on clients cars, I know a thing or two about paint, clearcoat, and what goes into keeping it perfect.

Its not even reading whats on the internet. Talk to a real professional detailer, someone who puts 12+ hours into getting a car done. Or the countless number of people who use clay to remove fallout from their paint.

Im not really sure where your coming from with all this. Please, provide some fact for your reasoning, on how proper washing media, techniques and products are the wrong way to do things. And by all means explain how clay is a bad thing...



Because so far you've only chastised the way thousands of detailing enthusiast do things.

Rereading the OPs post, he says he has dark brown spots that seem to be multiplying on his car. Being that he has a white car (and ive had 2 white cars) I know that its easy to see the tiny rust spots because of the color contrast, therefore safely assuming its probably containimants that need to be clayed out. Now if they arent what im thinking, and they are in bigger than what im assuming they are probably just bug s*** they can be removed with a quality citrus car wash or detergent.

 

[lil_red_wagon]

i stand by clay bar systems for deep cleaning. you wouldn't believe the kind of s*** that will come out of the paint with one.

my expertise comes from where?? i have a 1987 mazda rx7 with the original paint and i get asked non-stop where i got it painted. no one will believe me that it is the original paint.

 

[1quickturbosix]

Clay bars also work miracles on removing overspray.

 

[izackary]

(fight)

Here's the deal. Yes there are tiny orange-tinged spots on the back end of the car. Thanks for the advice regarding those. However the impurities I'm speaking of are these tiny brown wads that literally look like tiny moles. They're not just paint impurities; they're like blackheads on a car...

Sorry i didn't get a chance today to get a photo yet...

 

[Astral]

google rail dust or search autopia.org for it. you may need to do a decontamination wash to neutralize the rail dust, if the clay bar isn't doing it (and the rust spots are coming back).

 

[AWDTerror]

look like this?

It's either one of two things, either "fallout" or what I call, and old schoolers call "raildust". My money would be on "raildust". It seems to multiply because everytime you wash your car, you are causing these little slivers of iron that is imbedded in your paint to rust. One solution will cure both problems, the clay bar.

I usually claybar once a year, as the claybar is abrasive you can damage your paint if you overuse it, or use it improperly. Last year I claybar'd my car twice due to some inept moron in my neigborhood wanting to spray paint a bunch of stuff outside on a windy day and get overspray all over my car.

Just offering another suggestion for you and stating what I know to be true about clay and removing spots from finish.

I have a problem with your statement.
What YOU know to be truth, and the actual truth, in this case is vastly different.
It's the mis-information spread by statments like yours that have no basis in knowledge or experience that cause damage to people's cars. Your response to the statments above only goes to show how completely ignorant you are when it comes to automotive finishes, and that your car completely and utterly hates you because it's automotive finish has probably the look of an orange peel, with the texture of sandpaper.

It is unsure of who actually stated this, but most believe it to be Mark Twain, but it fits with the current topic:
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

 

[izackary]

look like this?

It's either one of two things, either "fallout" or what I call, and old schoolers call "raildust". My money would be on "raildust". It seems to multiply because everytime you wash your car, you are causing these little slivers of iron that is imbedded in your paint to rust. One solution will cure both problems, the clay bar.

I usually claybar once a year, as the claybar is abrasive you can damage your paint if you overuse it, or use it improperly. Last year I claybar'd my car twice due to some inept moron in my neigborhood wanting to spray paint a bunch of stuff outside on a windy day and get overspray all over my car.

I don't think mine is the same, unless the brown spots are bumps on top of the paint. I doubt iron filings would cause a buildup of a dense brown-colored somethingorother...

 

[AWDTerror]

Yes the brown spots will feel like they are on top of the paint.

 

[izackary]

Thing is: they're solid. The brown color doesn't bleed out and fade, like in your photo. Not to the best of my recollection. Color borders are defined.