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I took my C450 to a touchless car wash and noticed white specs stuck to my paint afterwards. I tried their "bug clean" option that is supposed to use a thicker foam cleansing agent. The white specs cannot be just wiped off and appear very strongly stuck. They are on the plastic housing of the side mirrors, windshield glass, front bumper and a few all over the body of the car. I tried to scratch off the white specs on the windshield with my fingernails (I know this is not a good thing to do) but could not remove the white specs! The picture below show the problem.
What do I do? Can I successfully lodge a complaint with the car wash management? Could these white specs be caused by the foam used by the car wash?
How do I remove these annoying white specs? Will claying be enough or do I have to have the car detailed? I have never done any claying before so I will need to read up on how it is done.
There are a number of solvents of various intensity that will pretty much get anything off of a catalyzed clear coat. Laquer Thinner would probably be a good place to start. I've used straight acetone to remove painted pinstripes over clear but it's aggressive.
Most auto supply stores should have it. I'd start with a test of one speck and just a little thinner on a cloth on the pad of one fingertip to see if it works. It should rapidly dissolve the spec and wipe away clean leaving the clear coat untouched.
Or visit an auto body shop and see what they'd want to clean it up (or what they recommend).
"Never clean your vehicle in a Touchless Automatic Car Wash as these use special cleaning agents. These cleaning agents can damage the paintwork or plastic parts."
Having said this, I've never had a problem with a Touchless Wash.
Many thanks for your comments. Are there any concerns with hand washing the car before removing the white specs? Is there a risk of scratching the paint if I hand wash the car before I deal with the specs?
Many thanks for your comments. Are there any concerns with hand washing the car before removing the white specs? Is there a risk of scratching the paint if I hand wash the car before I deal with the specs?
Can I suggest you spend some time on the autogeeks online site...
Anytime you touch the paint you can scratch it... So check out the tutorials and tips on how to avoid... And likely a solution to remove the dryer on product specs....
OP....in regards to this.. IF it does work.. ie remove the residue, then remember claying is an abrasive (thats how it works) and aside from using plenty of lubricant the car will require a polish (to add the gloss back to the clayed paint) and re waxing afterwards, as clay can.. potentially remove LSP... if not evenly...
If you cover a scratch with water and the water hide the scratch it is in the clear coat if it is still visible when you pour water over it its in the paint.
Easy trick to remember, no point in trying to polish a scratch if its to deep.
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I tried their "bug clean" option that is supposed to use a thicker foam cleansing agent. The white specs cannot be just wiped off and appear very strongly stuck. They are on the plastic housing of the side mirrors, windshield glass, front bumper and a few all over the body of the car. I tried to scratch off the white specs on the windshield with my fingernails (I know this is not a good thing to do) but could not remove the white specs! The picture below show the problem.
