I Fear I may have damaged my MINI's Paint! HELP!
 

The other night I was being stupid and mixed to car wash solutions together and a weird scum built up on my car where the soap suds were, almost like water spots.:mad: So tonight I washed it with dawn and did the Mr. Clean Autodry carwash after that. After drying I noticed the spots were still there!:mad:
I lightly rub my hands over them and there is no catching as if scratched or the clearcoat is gone, but I still fear that I have damaged my paint! Someone please help me and tell me what to do!
The solutions were the Mr. Clean and Turtle Wax 2001 Car Wash Concentrate.
I don't need lecturing, what I did was stupid, I just want my paint to be normal!

Please Help!
Mikey:sad:

When I was a kid I washed my father's Ferrari with what I thought was car soap. It ran green over the red paint and ended up looking as though someone painted the roots of a big tree over the back of the car. It had to be repainted, but looked good as new. This sort of stuff happens.

Your case doesn't seem as serious. So you might try a good brand of car wax. If that doesn't work then try a good brand of cleaner wax. Be VERY gentle with the application--better to take more time and use many passes over the same area than to apply pressure and velocity as though you were a human buffing machine.

It was odd though because the gum that built up in the bucket had an oily consistency to it. We have fairly hard water here and my dad washed it with a power washer and let it dry in the sun on sunday is that the culprit?

PLEASE HELP

Mikey

hard water is bad
 

if it was left to stand in the sun with hard water on it, that is the culprit. the minerals in the water actually etch the surface of the clear coat. take your car to a GOOD body shop an dhave the spots buffed with a foam pad by someone who KNOWS HOW to do it. you have a 50-50 chance of them buffing out. NEVER allowhard water to dry on your paint. good luck, its a crappy deal but it may come off.

I don't think washing a car with a home power washer is a good idea...:roll: . Was that before or after you washed with the custom concoction?

You might try using a claybar on the finish. If the spots are something deposited on the finish, the claybar should take care of it. There's lots of information about how to use the claybar on other NAM threads.

I'm kind of thinking you might have etched the clearcoat, however. I have a few bird *** etches. I have yet to find a solution for them.... :cry:

Good luck!

hm.. seems odd that something as simple as using two washes together would cause such a problem. maybe it would help to tell us the two washes you mixed? Also, I doubt it's something too drastic that can't be taken care of with a porter cable and some polish.

^

I agree with the person who said it is time to clay bar the car. Do that before spending any money. Also make a point of doing it in the shade.

I think the problem is water spots from the water that etched into your paint which was probably stripped of it's wax protection from the overly strong shampoo mix. The blast from the power washer doesn't do much for wax durability either. And never let the car air dry.

Take a clean, smooth sponge and soak it in vinegar. Try dabbing and soaking the spots. The vinegar will help neutralize any residual acids in the water spots and can help remove them.

If that doesn't totally remove the spots you will need to use a swirl removing compound to buff off the paint damage. It will take some time but is possible.

By hand use a pure foam applicator and rub in back and forth motions only. By buffer use a medium pad and work the area slowly.

I have fairly hard well water,and never use it to wash my MINI.Well once:roll:I got water spots even using my drying towel,in the shade.
Thats why I go to a coin wand-wash,the water is run through a water softener.I don't point the wand right at the car,and only use my wash mitt to wipe off the dirt.Then rince and dry with towel,laid on the car,not rubbed.
Costs me 2 bucks:smile:

Brad's advice would be my first thing to try:thumbsup:
:cool:

A stated above, clay the car. If that does no good - and it sounds like it wont as you might have damage to the clearcoat due to water spots - start with the least abrasive polish and work your way towards the heavier stuff. Once the spots are gone, work in reverse order back to the "finer" polishes. Wax the areas you polished and you should be good. If it were me, I'd tackle the whole car as not to leave swirls or shinier areas. If you have a porter cable random polisher, use that. As far as polishes go, I use the Griots 1, 2, and 3 polishes, meguires scratch-X for stubborn scratches and marks, Meguires cleaner wax for little issues (it has a little polish in it), and the 3M stuff for the really tough stuff. I finish with both Klasse products and a topper of Pinnacle Souveran. I use NXT on my driver but remember that no wax or glaze will remove problems in the paint. You'll need a polish or rubbing compound for that.

Matt

I'm going to my uncles tomorrow, and getting the spots and micro-scratches taken off of my car, then I will Zaino it tommorow night. Seems like it's all taken care of, the spots are from the hard water, because there are only a few on the back and sides all together, and my hood was the only thing in the sun. My uncle said it will be a cinch, he has been into restoring cars for almost 30 years, and just finished restoring a Shelby AC Cobra, and dropped a 454 cubic inch engine in it, vrrrrroooooooooooom.:lol::razz::thumbsup:

I'll get back to u tommorow night and tell you how the results are!

Mikey

I guess the main lesson is don't let your car sit in the sun with hard water on it!

I am amateur, but I would clay and Zaino, Never use anything with the word Turtle in the brand name. :wink:
But, then again, do what Brad said....:thumbsup: You can't go wrong!

Best of luck.

Mikey, take before and after pix and post them in this thread! :thumbsup:


Clover :cool: