Cleaning advice

[DaveK]

I met up with some of our club members yesterday for breakfast prior to heading to the track. Came out from the diner and when I got near my car I see it's covered in some kind of fine white hmmmm crap. Turns out that right next to the car park they're insulating the building with spray foam insulation and it blew over everything in the car park. Everyone got hit and no one is sure how to tackle the problem.

The stuff is really stuck on, you can get it off if you rub hard but its difficult. I took my car to a DIY car wash place with a high pressure hose to see if that would take it off, it did some but there's still loads left.

My thoughts are that this stuff is essentially stuck to the wax. So if we dewax with something (the Adams cleaner stuff perhaps?) then the foam stuff would come off too? Kind of worried that in taking it off I'll ruin the paint.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[bobbyhi]

Dave,

I would first look into who did the spraying. It would appear that whoever did it would be liable. A similar thing happened to my boat when the refinery up river had a fire and soot got over all of the boats in the marina. The refinery had an adjuster out within a week and paid everyone in case for the damages.
When we use foam in our business, there really isn't any chemical that removes hardened foam. Although a lot depends on the density of the foam used. Good luck in your quest - sorry I don't have any answers.

[DaveK]

Hi Bob

We have all the details of the contractors and police report etc. so if needs be then we can get an insurance claim. Would be pretty expensive for these guys if it comes to a repaint - there were 10 very expensive cars in that parking lot!

Thanks for the info on the foam - doesn't sound promising - that's why I was hoping it might come off with a dewax.

[bobbyhi]

I'm not saying that a dewax won't work. I have never tried it. You have nothing to lose. The boats in our marina were in the millions of $$$.

[Dylan@Adams]

First thing to do would be start with a strip wash... that will 'dewax' and take some of the bonded contamination with it. Cheap and easy way to do this is a warm water and dish soap bath. The reason dish soap is "evil" in the world of detailing is that it strips your waxes off... in this scenario thats exactly what you would want!!

Follow that up with a claybar. Though most should come off with the wash, the remaining bonded contamination will need something stronger, yet safe for your paint. A claybar is the 100% safe and effective way to remove bonded contamination.

Rewash the car with a pH neutral soap (like adams car wash ) and dry with a paint safe drying method as your paint will be essentially "naked" and unprotected leaving it highly susceptible to swirling if you don't dry properly. Its extremely helpful to use detail spray while drying to maintain lubricity and limit water spots.

If after than you STILL have some spots remaining the next step would be to polish using a 2 stage process. If you want to do some light swirl correction and scratch removal use Adams Swirl and Haze remover... follow that with Revive polish for a deep paint cleaning.

Last, but not least, lay down your preferred paint protection... wax or sealant... like Adams Buttery Wax, Machine Superwax, or swing for the fences and get yourself some Adams Americana Paste Wax.

As always feel free to shoot me an email if you have more questions or need help figuring out what the best solution to a problem might be.

Dylan@Adamspolishes.com

I had this same problem with my red silverado SS a few years back, parked near a house that was being remodeled. When the contractor started spraying texture on the walls he put a fan at the front door to blow out of the house... well it blew all of his excess texture right out into the street and onto my freshly waxed truck!! This method did the trick... took some time, but when I was done you'd never had known it had happened.

[DaveK]

Thanks Dylan, nicely detailed (pun intentional) guidleines there. I think I have all of the products you list but i will check. Would you recommend buffing or just hand work? I have a PC buffer - any pad recommendations for this kind of job?

[Dylan@Adams]

Originally Posted by DaveK

Thanks Dylan, nicely detailed (pun intentional) guidleines there. I think I have all of the products you list but i will check. Would you recommend buffing or just hand work? I have a PC buffer - any pad recommendations for this kind of job?

Working by hand or machine is really fine, obviously there's less effort required and level of results will be better if you go with the machine.

As for pads use the orange pad with the SHR and use the white pad with the revive polish. As always wax with the gray pad or by hand.

Last step... take pictures so I may drool over them

[DaveK]

Thanks - I'll make sure I do!

[bobbyhi]

Dave, let me know if the dish soap works. Actually, let me know if any thing you try works............

[DaveK]

Will do Bob. Going to take some work that's for sure!

One of the other guys has seen a detailer here in town who reckons he can do it. 2 days of work, billed to the insulating company of course. I'm just not sure I trust anyone else to work on my car, especially around here.