I've had some vinyl sponsor decals on our car for about a year now. I removed them last night and I noticed that you can tell where the decals were.

I remember applying Zaino before I installed the decals. Maybe it's because my car needs to be waxed? (the wax under the decals is still there, but the rest of the car needs to be waxed)

I plan to wash the entire car with Dawn with the hope that will fix the problem. If that doesn't work should I try a clay bar or polish (I have a good buffer) or both?

I'll try and take some photos tonight.

 

claybar first, then polish if clay doesn't work.

you might even want to try some googone or wd40 on a
soft cotton towel first.

wax afterwards.

 

Thanks for the advace.

It turned out that the discoloration was caused by left over adhesive from the decals. We first washed the car with Dawn which was really funny because as the water would run off the car, you could see the outlines of all the decals. It was like magic! (pretty funny)

Anyway a buddy of mine brought over some special 3M solvent that is designed to be used on automotive paint without harming the paint. (I don't remember the name/number) It worked great! We claybared the car and washed it one last time before waxing. There was no trace of the decal residue.

We applied one coat of Zaino Z2 and the car looks great! Well sort of. Now I need to figure out how to remove some minor swirl marks. I think I should have bought Z5 instead of Z2. :(

 

To get the swirlies off, before you wax again (in other words, when your current coat of wax is almost done), wash with Dawn, clay bar (to remove the last traces of the dirt imbedded in the clear coat) and then use a polish like Zaino's, Griot's or Meguiar's ColorX... the ultra-fine grit will buff the scratches out of the clearcoat. Re-wax the newly polished paint and you're good to go!

 

Thanks for the great advice!

I just noticed that Zaino has a new product on their site. Z-PC Fusion Dual Action Paint Cleaner Swirl Remover. Sounds like it does the same thing as the products you recommended.

I guess I'm being lazy, but I thought I'd try the Z5 first and if it doesn't hide the swirl marks (they are very faint) then I'll try polishing them out. The polishing process sounds like quite a bit more work than just waxing. I do have a Meguiar's cordless dual-action buffer. That might make it easier I guess.

 

Zaino says on their site that so much product is absorbed in the random orbital's bonnet that it might waste "as much product as a whole car would use", so you may want to start by hand with Zaino. I used Griot's on my car with a RO and it popped to an almost UNBELIEVABLE extent. If you do it by hand, just focus on one panel at a time, don't rush and work on a spot about as large as your two open hands at a time, max. It DOES take a bit of "spirited effort" to really activate the polishing compound, yes, but you'll see the results gradually as you work. be sure to have a bright light handy to check as you work and do a small test spot first before attacking the bonnet or something...

Good luck!

 

Interesting. I might have to give that a try. Thanks!