Removal of dried on paint from bumper

[CVP]

All,

Quick appeal for help please. I have slowly driven over some wet paint on the road where some fool has dropped a tin of paint and despite going very slowly I have some small flecks of paint on the lower rear spolier just behind the rear wheels. By the time I finished my journey the paint has dried hard and I can't remove it easily.

I know I should have stopped and wiped it down earlier in the trip, but I am where I am now, with small flecks of white paint on a black car

Any tips as to the best way to remove this without scratching my paintwork?

Cheers

Chris

[autodetailer]

Hi,

What you need is a clay bar. This is basically a soft malleable clay which when wiped across the paint's surface with a lubricant (any quick detailer or weak shampoo and water solution) picks impurities off the paintwork without causing any damage to the paint underneath.
Even on a clean car, you'll be amazed how many cantaminents the clay picks off.

There are various grades of clay, depending on the amount of paint you may need a fairly aggressive one.

I tend to use Meguiars (they do a kit with quick detailer included) and Sonus, who different grades.

Hope this helps

[Mark V8]

autodetailer said:

Hi,

What you need is a clay bar. This is basically a soft malleable clay which when wiped across the paint's surface with a lubricant (any quick detailer or weak shampoo and water solution) picks impurities off the paintwork without causing any damage to the paint underneath.
Even on a clean car, you'll be amazed how many cantaminents the clay picks off.

There are various grades of clay, depending on the amount of paint you may need a fairly aggressive one.

I tend to use Meguiars (they do a kit with quick detailer included) and Sonus, who different grades.

Hope this helps

The above post is good advice, however you may find unfortunately that you will need to wet sand each spot depending on the type of paint that has found its way onto your bodywork.
Heres a brief (not definitive) 'How To' guide which the braver amongst you may find useful enough for you to attempt on your own. Remember your technique is best practised on a scrap panel first until you are comfortable and confident before moving onto your P&J (or contact a local Detailer specialising in Wet Sanding etc....)
This is what I had to do after an unsuccessful attempt to remove paint splashes with various grades of clay.
As a detailer specialising in scratch and stonechip repair as well as paint correction, I had the materials to hand, and although it was a laborious tedious job, the results were truly rewarding. This method can be applied to bird lime marks or to flat a stone chip repair as required....Good Luck.
You will need.....
1200 grit Wet and Dry....
3000 grit Wet and Dry.
Quick detailer lubricant.
A polish to restore the shine and remove the marks left by the wet sanding such as Menzernas intensive polish.
A less agressive polish to remove any marks left by the above.
Your favourite wax.
Method.....
1....soak 50mmx20mm pieces of paper overnight in water or the QD
2.......ensuring the area is clean and free of grit, CAREFULLY AND EXTREMELY GENTLY rub (in straight lines) across the paint spot with the 1200 until it is removed remembering to keep the area well lubricated
3.......switch to a small piece of 3000 and again applying very little pressure but plenty of lubrication, smooth out the fine sanding marks left by the 1200...........BE CAREFUL not to carry on through the clear coat (less is more and patience is required)
4....Dry the area and taking a clean microfibre cloth (a machine polisher such as the Porter Cable 7424 is best if you have access to one) apply the polish to remove the sanding marks
5.......then onto the less aggressive polish to remove the previous polishing marks.....when you are satisfied that the finish is flawless top off with a generous application of your favourite wax.
Feel free to drop me a PM if any other help is needed......Mark.

Edited by Mark V8 on Thursday 10th May 12:52

[CVP]

Great, many thanks for the advice

Chris

[Anatol]

Much of the above is good advice. Though I refinish cars for a living, and I'd add that I never put a paper coarser than 1500 onto lacquer unless I know I'm going to be repainting it.

Also, if you're going to use papers on the panel, be very sure to use them on a (small) rubber block. Otherwise the papers will bridge the paint spatter and cut into the panel far more. By using a block you will minimise the removal of good finish.

Also worth considering - particularly if the paintwork that has been affected is iso-cured or other 2k paint, is finding the appropriate solvent for the paint that has spattered the car. Many household wall-paints will actually dissolve in hot soapy water, with very gentle agitation and patience. Gloss or satin paints might need an alcohol (meths or white spirit) solvent, but this should be very unlikely to affect a modern automotive finish. As always, test on an unobtrusive area before applying any solvent to your paintwork.

If the finish on the car was good, particularly if recently waxed, the adhesion of the paint spots is likely to be poor. You may find that just an aggressive polishing removes them, in which case a flatting stage is unnecessary, and can only introduce problems.

Hope this is of some help, good luck, and let us know how you get on,

Tol