I bought some magnetic stripes, cleaned the back real good, put them on the bonnet and drove around on Saturday looking as cool as can be. That evening I removed them to check for dust, and saw some clouding underneath! I waxed, but could not remove whatever it was. I thought I had ruined my paint job, but when I checked in the morning the clouding was gone!? This morning I applied the stripes again, and just removed them and . . . the clouding is there again. I like the magnetic stripes but am concerned that if I leave them on too long (and how long is that?) the clouding just might no go away next time. Does anyone have an idea what’s happening?

 

I know that when I run my magnetic numbers on our Mini, and then leave them on over night, the dew builds up underneath them. Sometimes they are kind of stuck to the car.

Sometimes when I remove them you can see where the dew had gotten underneath the numbers and left "clouds". But when I wash the car, they have always come right off without any effort what so ever.

But I've never left the numbers on for more than a couple of days, so I can't really say if there will be long term damage. Sorry.

I would be more worried about swirl marks caused by dust getting under the material and then the magnets moving around while your driving down the road. But that's just speculation on my part. I don't have any real experience.

 

When I applied them, bothe stripes and the car were totally dry. And whatever it is, I can't feel it on the surface of the paint. It looks kind of like adhesive residue, but I cleaned the stripes real well with acetone and waxed them afterwards - waited for an hour then applied them. Is it possible that the Turtlewax ICE was degassing or something? Saturday was 90 degrees, so there was no chance of any moisture in the air.

 

Just to be clear, when I apply the numbers, the surface is always totally dry.

I've used a variety of waxes on our cars over the years, and I've been putting magnetic numbers on the car for autocross use for about 17 years now. I've never had a problem caused by the wax underneth the numbers. And we race in some pretty intense heat (110+ degrees on the asphalt).

I've never put the numbers on as quickly as you did after waxing. There's a slim possibility that's the problem. By now the wax should have fully dried so maybe put them on again and see if the clouding re-occurs. Dunno....

 

I got this under my magnets until I started waxing the surface and the rear of the magnet (yes, both surfaces). Use a good synthetic wax like Gold Class, NXT or Detailers Paradise Epic, apply like 2-3 coats and that seems to seal them pretty well. Even still, I usually take them off after a few days just to "air out" to be safe.

FYI - wax will not remove anything in the surface of the paint, it will just seal in anything that is ON the paint. I'd hit the area (or even better, the whole car if ypu haven't clayed it yet) with a clay bar first, then try re-waxing as I indicated. I had magnets on my car pretty much all summer with no problems, but with very large ones like stripes or numbers I'd let them rest every few days.