Calling out all you detail junkies.

tbonesteak

"Hey guys",

i slightly scraped my front bumper on a painted cement pillar in a parking lot. The pillar was white and now i have some white paint thats rubbed onto my bumper. I've washed and waxed the car a few times but have not yet attempted to remove the white paint. What is my best bet in removing the paint without damaging my oem paint? Thanks in advance.

Tim

Boba

If you still need help, post a few pictures of the damage. I'm assuming it's no more than the usual scrape you see from under your front bumper when you go over a bump. Basically, just wash the area clean and polish it to clear the scrape.

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kenchan

claybar is your friend.

Boba

Claybar will NOT diminish the damage. The purpose of a clay bar is to remove contaminants on the surface of the paint that the wash mitt + soap could not remove.

Op, I just read your post again. #1: Your paint is already damaged. #2: You can further the damage by trying to remove the white paint by polishing the paint, but that's the only way to remove the paint. You could always fix it later by wetsanding + touching up, but that's a job for a professional detailer.

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kenchan

Boba - you need to learn how to detail if you're going to be a moderator in the detailing forum. OP mentioned he had what we detailers call 'paint transfer' and for that, we use claybar as initial step.

if that doesn't work, then we take it a step further and use a mild polish and go more coarse as required.

wetsanding is the very last resort and should not be done by a novice, apparently like yourself.

37Z

Post some pics..

step process to elimate the white paint (type of paint?)

1. Type of paint (household waterbase or?).
2. Paint inbedded in clear coat or deeper into the color paint?
3. Is paint lifted by fingernail ?
4. Wash surface area and clay bar. Paint still visable?
5. Polish by hand first with light polishing compound. Paint still visable?
6. Machine polish with a polisher (note: must be a machine polisher - ie Porter-Cable makes a good one).
7. If only the clear coat is scratch, machine polishing may remove some of the clear coat and the paint. Post pics prior to machine polishing for further help.

Junkman2008

Often, someone will show up with this type of damage and I'll just hit the spot with a scratch removing compound and the polisher for about a minute and the damage is totally gone. I say no charge and send them on their way. Karma usually pays me back.

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Soon

yup clay is step one

followed by polish or mild compound

u could get a random orbital polisher like the porter cable 7424 and experiment with different pad abrasions

after the polish/compound

follow with a good wax

ull be happy with results

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Boba

I guess I went into conclusion a little too fast and linked my prior experience with the OP's where a claybar had no effect on my issue and I just proceeded with polish, thus recommending the OP to skip what I thought was ineffective (in my case).

And I stay in the Socal forum, no intention on becoming a moderator here. Just a detailing junkie looking to learn and contribute to what I already know

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willie2323

I am thinkin the best solution is to keep the white scrape and paint the rest Pearl White!...just teasin

cheers,

Bill

tbonesteak

Finally finished the project. Claybar didn't do jack sqwat. I ended up using some turtle cleaner wax on the area, worked into it for a long time and finally came off without any added scratches. Then used touch up paint on the minor scratches underneath. You can't even tell it was ever there. Feels so goooood~~

Junkman2008

That's basically what I said I would do, only I wouldn't do that by hand for nothing. As you saw, it's a lot of work to do it by hand. With a machine, you would have been done in a couple of minutes.

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tbonesteak

Thanks junkman!