Strange residue on car, any and all help appreciated!

C

cmistry

New member
Hi all,



Long time reader, amateur poster here. I will preface this saying I searched the forums but could not find a "residue" similar to the one on my car, hence the new post.



The roof of my SUV has a very thin, hard residue that appears to have hardened on the paint. It is a tan color, very thin, but I can feel it with my fingernail. I wash my car about monthly, and it was not there last month. I have tried the following with no avail:



-Scrubbing with soap/water - did nothing

-Rubbing compound - did nothing

-Claybar - did not even put a dent in it

-Magic eraser :nervous2: - I'm ashamed to say I used it. At the rate it was working it would take me 100 hours to remove all the residue; but thanks to it I now have to compound and polish that part of my roof (DOH!)



Any other ideas I could try? I plan to try WD40 in the morning but I'm not sure how much that will help given what I've used so far.



Thank you for any help in advance!

-Cyrus
 
cmistry said:
Hi all,



Long time reader, amateur poster here. I will preface this saying I searched the forums but could not find a "residue" similar to the one on my car, hence the new post.



The roof of my SUV has a very thin, hard residue that appears to have hardened on the paint. It is a tan color, very thin, but I can feel it with my fingernail. I wash my car about monthly, and it was not there last month. I have tried the following with no avail:



-Scrubbing with soap/water - did nothing

-Rubbing compound - did nothing

-Claybar - did not even put a dent in it

-Magic eraser :nervous2: - I'm ashamed to say I used it. At the rate it was working it would take me 100 hours to remove all the residue; but thanks to it I now have to compound and polish that part of my roof (DOH!)



Any other ideas I could try? I plan to try WD40 in the morning but I'm not sure how much that will help given what I've used so far.



Thank you for any help in advance!

-Cyrus
Click to expand...



I would try ice cubes. I had something simliar (I think its tree sap). I rubbed ice on it and it and slowly came off. However, it took some of the clear coat off. Let me know if it works!
 
raester said:
I would try ice cubes. I had something simliar (I think its tree sap). I rubbed ice on it and it and slowly came off. However, it took some of the clear coat off. Let me know if it works!
Click to expand...



I tried ice cubes, but again no worky. Thank you for the advice! I should mention it is very hard, not soft at all.

-Cyrus
 
Cyrus,



Try placing a hot wet towel on one spot and see if it softens the residue. If it's tree sap then this will soften making it easier to remove.

Generic paint thinner will also remove sap so give this a try as well. regular paint thinner is not strong enough to harm paint.

Dupont produces a product called Prep-Sol. It's a wash used by body shops to clean and completely remove surface contaminates prior to painting.
 
BobbyG said:
Cyrus,



Try placing a hot wet towel on one spot and see if it softens the residue. If it's tree sap then this will soften making it easier to remove.

Generic paint thinner will also remove sap so give this a try as well. regular paint thinner is not strong enough to harm paint.

Dupont produces a product called Prep-Sol. It's a wash used by body shops to clean and completely remove surface contaminates prior to painting.
Click to expand...



I tried a hot rag, again it did not do anything. Right now I am letting it soak in bug and tar cleaner, but I will definitely try paint thinner afterwards (now that know it is not too harmful). I live in an urban environment, so it's more likely pain than sap.



Thanks Bobby,

-Cyrus
 
cmistry said:
I tried a hot rag, again it did not do anything. Right now I am letting it soak in bug and tar cleaner, but I will definitely try paint thinner afterwards (now that know it is not too harmful). I live in an urban environment, so it's more likely pain than sap.



Thanks Bobby,

-Cyrus
Click to expand...



Cyrus,



I was going to ask if you've recently parked anywhere near someone spraying paint because it sounds as if it's hard.
 
To my knowledge I have not. I'm mainly in a parking garage and I can't imagine somebody spraying a car in there. However the residue is very hard, I would have guessed paint myself but being that it is a splatter on the roof I don't know how paint would get like that.
 
Could it be concrete residue? At this point I'd say that is a possibility, since no typical overspray/sap remedies have worked. I've worked on a few cars with a thin, very hard layer of concrete dust on them that got wet then hardened. I used Hi Temps Concrete remover (sold at tol); but in almost every case there were pretty decent etchings under the residue. I can't say for sure if that's the culprit, but given what you've tried so far it's not a bad guess I think.
 
So Picus I'm guessing that's exactly what it was. I removed the residue with 100% acetone... hooray? But there is bad etching underneath. :( Any thoughts on what I can use to blend it in? I'm using rubbing compound by hand and it has helped but is not working anymore.

Thanks,

-Cyrus
 
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