Yellow spots that don't completely come off

L

LordTakuban

New member
I tried searching for answers as to what these yellow spots are, but had no luck. So I took some before and after pictures to try to see what would be best for removing them. Unfortunately, my before pic is not in focus with my little Point-and-shoot Cannon camera. So hopefully, it will help enough to diagnose. Here are some details about my car:

1. It was Opti-Guarded as soon as possible. The car arrived at the dealership on a Friday morning. I picked it up that afternoon and drove it home. I took it to one place to meet up with some people that evening. It stayed in the garage until Monday when I drove to Tampa to have it detailed, decontaminated, 1 stage polished, and OptiGuarded by Garry Dean on Tuesday morning.

2. I park as much away from trees as I possibly can when at work. But there are a couple palm trees near the car.

3. On this wash that was done yesterday morning, I did a 2-bucket wash and pre-soaked with a foam cannon (foam cannon may have been overkill, but it's pretty cool shooting all the foam on the car. haha).



OK. So down to business here are some pics:



This stain may be tree sap or something like that. It washed off without a problem though. So this is NOT the pesky yellow stain. I'm including the pic here because it's actually in focus.

stain_01.jpg




This is the yellow stain that, unfortunately, I was not able to get a good pic of it in focus. This was taken on the read deck lid (trunk):

stain_02-OutOfFocus.jpg




Here is that same yellow stain after the wash. It is hard to see, but it is in the dead center of the pic. You can still kinda see the yellow:

stain_02-PostWash.jpg




Here is another pic of a stain that was after the wash. I don't think this spot got a lot of the foam and didn't have time to break it up:

stain_03-PostWash.jpg




I'm not sure what the stains are or what to use to get them off. Any info will be appreciated. These happen to the car almost daily, so I think they come from the parking lot at my work. Pollen, perhaps? not sure.



Thanks.
 
OG is very tough, but not completely invincible. I maintain about 4-6 cars which I've put OG and OC2 on a year ago and there is some minimal contamination that has accrued over time. I think it's too large to be pollen. Pollen makes a very small distinct dot and those look rather large (compared to the size of the flecking in the paint).

What are you using in your foam cannon? I would suggest using something a bit more aggressive (such as Chemical Guy's wash n gloss or even their wash n clear). Those contain stripping agents which normal wax would be removed by, but OG/OC2 laugh at. While washing the car, blast the spots with some degreaser (Chemical Guy's Grime Reaper @6:1) and see if that makes the staining lift. If the stain is still there, consider applying some polish (i would start with meguiars 205 or even 301) via a MF cloth and your finger. Just use a bit to see if the compound will cut the stain. The downside to that is you may remove the OG from that spot-did Gary give you any warranty or anything on the application? I'm honestly surprised you havent taken this up with him.
 
tssdetailing said:
OG is very tough, but not completely invincible.

...

did Gary give you any warranty or anything on the application? I'm honestly surprised you havent taken this up with him.
Click to expand...

I live about 4 hours south of Garry (I'm in the Ft. Lauderdale area). So I can't easily bring it to him to look at. I didn't think it was with the application of the OG, but more like your first point in that it doesn't stop everything. TOGWT's post in my welcome thread might be onto something with the bee pollen droppings thing might be what the substance is. The spots occur in different places all the time when they happen. So I don't think it's from something trapped under the OG.



I use the same PH-neutral car soap in the foam cannon as I do to do the actual wash. I am not a pro, but I like the pro gadgets. So, if there is a better liquid to use for the cannon, I am definitely open to using it. Maybe I should use more of a quick detail type solution? Anyway, you have given some good tips as well as TOGWT about what to do about the spots. I'll be sure to try them out this weekend.



I'll post my results in this thread (Hopefully, with better pics).
 
I know you are not going to believe this, but......they are one of two things. Bug turds or pollen. Yes, bug turds! Wash the area, use some type of cleaning polish or wax then leave it alone. They will fade away sooner as opposed to later. They don't last that long.



Best way to get around this is to keep your paint waxed or sealed. You will still get the stains, but they will fade much, much quicker.



I get these on all of my cars out here in Phoenix.
 
Looked at your photos again. I am also certain the first one is a bug turd. These fade within a week or so after sitting in the sun. You will not be able to polish them completely out with polish or wax before they fade away. Just go over them once and leave them alone. They will correct themselves.
 
Ahh. pesky bugs pooping all over my car. That does seem likely due to the hedges and plants all around the parking areas. I purposely don't park under trees to avoid the birds, sap and debris. But I won't be able to stop the bugs from carpet bombing my car. haha.



They are very hard to notice after they're washed and it's a couple days later. The stain in the first photo comes off very easily. The more yellowish ones don't come off as much.
 
Those are bug turds... I wiped your car down with alcohol twice after the polishing process, before I applied the Opti-Guard. It is not likely that that is something under the OG. I am assuming you are using my Suds O Bubbles Shampoo you ordered... That soap is PH Neutral, but still cleans well. If you need more power try Dawn... The OG will not be removed if you do a Dawn wash so dont worry about that.
 
Thanks, Garry. I didn't think it was anything under the OG as they only appear every now and then and always in different locations. I was just thinking that the OG made EVERYTHING just fall right off with barely more than water. It appears the product is mortal after all. ;)



I am using the suds o bubbles. I also ordered your detail kit since it's on sale right now. Mainly for the products, bucket and MF towels. I'll at least look like a pro in my driveway now. haha. All that's left is one of those barrel brushes. They don't seem to sell those on Amazon.com where I do most of my shopping. Oh well, thanks again for the help.
 
LordTakuban said:
Thanks, Garry. I didn't think it was anything under the OG as they only appear every now and then and always in different locations. I was just thinking that the OG made EVERYTHING just fall right off with barely more than water. It appears the product is mortal after all. ;)



I am using the suds o bubbles. I also ordered your detail kit since it's on sale right now. Mainly for the products, bucket and MF towels. I'll at least look like a pro in my driveway now. haha. All that's left is one of those barrel brushes. They don't seem to sell those on Amazon.com where I do most of my shopping. Oh well, thanks again for the help.
Click to expand...



Sure they do:



Amazon.com: Griot's Garage 15704 Micro Fiber Wheel Wand, (Pack of 2): Automotive



Daytona Speed Master Wheel Cleaning Brush : Amazon.com : Automotive



(For the record, I prefer the "woolies" to the brush)
 
How did I miss these? I was maybe thrown off by the pics. I was looking for one of those long wheel brush things. The MF weel wand looks to be able to do the job well. Thanks for the links!
 
I had 2 similar spots on my Truck one on the grille, and one on the bumper, on 3M protection film that I had applied. Its a 2012 Tundra in Super White. Mine was caused by a bug hits. I spoke to the 3M installer, and he informed me that the sun would bleach it out. I applied Bleach white to the stains, I read the recommendation online somewhere, can't remember where though. The bleach white/sun totally removed the one from the bumper, the one on the grille is still slightly visible. I Opti-Coated over where the bumper stain was, I didn't O-C the grille yet, fearing that the UV inhibitors in the O-C will stop the bleaching process. I would try the bleach white and leave the car in the sun to see if that helps.
 
I would NOT recommend the use of bleach to remove stains.



Wesley’s Bleche-Wite® contains Butyl Cellosolve (2-butoxyethanol) Sodium Met silicate, which are acidic, none of which are particularly paint, rubber or urethane friendly. It will stain / etch as well as drying out the plastizers that keep the PPF flexible





FWIW- utra violet (UV) radiation causes photodegredation, which will lighten ('bleach') most pigmentation (colour) it also affects the materials structural integrity, causing it to fail if subject to prolonged exxposure
 
TOGWT, I did a bit more internet searching on the use of Bleche-Wite and found the following:



How to care for SpeedFilm Paint Protection Film for Your Car, Truck or SUV

Care & Maintenance

Use a small toothpick or detailing cloth to softly remove any wax build-up around the edges. Bird droppings and bug splats should be removed as quickly as possible by flushing the area with luke-warm water. Some bugs may leave stains that normally bleach out in the sun after a few weeks. Westley's Bleche-Wite (white-wall tire cleaner) used in small amounts has had favorable results on stubborn stains.





Paint Protection Film 101 | What you should know about Paint Protection Film

Film Yellowing - Update - 25th January 2011

...XPEL Flawless Film cleaner (excellent), Wesleys Bleche wite (A Shell product) and Duragloss White Wall Tyre cleaner.



If the XPEL product is not available, of the other two the most effective was the Brothers Duragloss. For the purpose of this demonstration we used the readily available Brother's Duragloss.



We installed a well known brand of film on the rear bumper of one of our courtesy/fleet cars and no aftercare other than washing was undertaken to induce neglect. (We recommend reading our film after care instructions, elsewhere on this site to prevent this).



After a while and when the “film had appeared to have turned yellow” we then proceeded to clean Half of the bumper and as you can see the results were instantaneous.
 
I hope that this doesn't come off as a 'know it all comment' ( I've still got 98% of the way to go yet) but my chemical /polymer research backround tells me its the wrong answer to this problem



But they are, after all product vendors for PPF and I'm guessing they will stand behind their methodology if it goes wrong



Choose carefully whose advice you listen to, and more importantly what advice you act upon.



The misinformation and myths that are so prevalent in the detail industry (and the Internet) is the reason that detailers need to do research on their own. Treat all marketing claims as being just biased marketing claims and if you're lucky they will be based on truth and the company will operate ethically.
 
Jon, I couldn't have said it better myself.

And, the "ingrediants" in the Wesley's are exactly the same that a synthethic spray on transit film had in their "remover" for Mazda , I think around 1994.

When the "remover" was used, the clear was highly compromised and they ended up paying a small fortune in warranty to repaint or buy back several thousands of 626's and MX-6's.

The Ford Probe came out of the same plant, same paint, but Ford refused to allow the coating to be appled to their cars and no out of the ordinary paint claims for them.

When I was at Finish Kare and later Automotive International, the first thing I did was get the butyl's out of all products. The sodium is not near as bad, but one has to be careful with the percentages in a product or it will eat up the resin system of the paint as well.

Grumpy
 
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