[Tag]

So I've got what seems to be crusted on salt and I took my car through an automated touchless car wash and that didn't remove it. This morning I took it to a hand car wash place and it wouldn't come off with soap and water. It feels like a thin crust of salt over the paint.

I cannot wash my car myself being it's winter out here. Anyone have and recommendations on what to try? I'm getting scared this may eat past the clear coat and into the paint!

[E90SLAM]

Rinse with warm water....and dry off with Microfiber towel immediately...

[gary88]

How long has the salt been on the car? It should be pretty hard to actually cake on unless its been there ridiculously long.

[DASHOCKER]

Use paint thinner from Home Depot to get the grime off..

[Masheen]

Bring your car to the closest detailers shop.

Order the full package of rinse and wash, and ask them to treat your car with Ditec.

Search for previous post of " detailed E93 " and then you'll see what I mean..

Best of luck for your car

[Tag]

Originally Posted by gary88

How long has the salt been on the car? It should be pretty hard to actually cake on unless its been there ridiculously long.

At least a week... my car was so dirty I couldn't see what was underneath. I tried to take my car in to get washed last week when I had time but the car wash was closed. So I took it for a rinse until I had time this morning when they still couldn't get this crap off.

Originally Posted by DASHOCKER

Use paint thinner from Home Depot to get the grime off..

Isn't that going to mess up my clear coat?

[Haywire]

I've never even heard of salt stickin to the paint, you sure its not something else?

[Kiemyster]

this

[Tag]

Well if it's not salt I have no idea what it is. It's white and all over my trunk lid. My car is down in the parking garage right now at work. I'm going to try to sneak out for a minute and take some pics that I'll post up soon so you know what I'm dealing with.

[Haywire]

Yeah, do that I parked mine for the winter and had some salt on it, just washed it off with no issues. Sounds like something else might be going on here....

Im sure whatever it is, there will be a remedy for it

[Kiemyster]

Originally Posted by tag824

Well if it's not salt I have no idea what it is. It's white and all over my trunk lid. My car is down in the parking garage right now at work. I'm going to try to sneak out for a minute and take some pics that I'll post up soon so you know what I'm dealing with.

use the mr clean magic eraser, if that wont work then you know you have a serious problem on your hands. i use it to remove scuff marks all the time.

good luck

[Tag]

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser actually sounds like a good idea. Here are the pics, sorry I didn't get better ones my stupid camera's battery died after taking these three...

[niebyl2002]

Actually that's what the clay bar is for, and no it won't scratch your paint.

1. Wash your car with dish detergent.
2. Use clay bar (read instruction)
3. Seal it with carnuba wax.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by DASHOCKER

Use paint thinner from Home Depot to get the grime off..

No dont do this....

If you cant wash your car with a hose at your place, you might want to look into Optimum no rinse. www.detailedimage.com sells it.

Use a WARM bucket of water for the ONR, and a Warm bucket of water to rinse.


Use the warm soap (ONR) bucket, to wash one panel... Rinse the mit in the other bucket. Dry panel with microfiber. Repeat.

****

As far as whats on your car now, try some cleaner wax first on a clean car and see what that does. you want to start with the least aggressive method.

[Kiemyster]

Originally Posted by tag824

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser actually sounds like a good idea. Here are the pics, sorry I didn't get better ones my stupid camera's battery died after taking these three...

i would say its the safest thing to do for now. give the clay bar a shot like he said after if that fails....

my point is even if it works or not, its great to keep them in your car to quickly clean up the footwell and scuffs on the interior/exterior. it even cleans up the headliner!!!!! this shit should be standard issue with the car. If you can get the medium strength one that would be ideal. they even have one with a scrubbing side, thats just awesome but i wouldnt put it on my paint.

good luck, hope theres no damage done.

[Haywire]

do you have your car parked for the winter and you put it away like that, or youre currently driving the car. Ive parked my car before over the winter with salt on it and never had issues....

as far as a fix dude, just a bucket of really warm water...i think someone else mentioned that. if that doesnt work, a minor detail wouldnt set ya back too much to fix it

[SV Concepts II]

try the clay bar and if that doesn't work get some mildly abrasive polishing compound with an orbital buffer.

[MalM3]

Originally Posted by DASHOCKER

Use paint thinner from Home Depot to get the grime off..

are u mad?

[SV Concepts II]

Originally Posted by Mallard

are u mad?

+2 worst advice ever.

[jopa489]

That doesn't look like salt - looks more like water spots to me, but it's tough to tell. Maybe saltwater spots? Could also be that pretreatment crap they spray on the roads, or some combination of the three.

Cleaner wax is a good suggestion, you could also try an AIO. Keeping salt on your car for a week doesn't cause that.

And don't use paint thinner like someone above suggested. That's obviously a poor choice. And I wouldn't try the Magic Eraser on paint either.

[Tag]

PROBLEM SOLVED!

When I got home I tried using hot water and some car soap but that stuff just wouldn't come off. So I did some reading to figure out if this was salt or not and turns out that the salt that is used is typically calcium chloride pellets. So I Google'd how to remove "calcium chloride" form car paint. Every article I found said to use vinegar and then rise off with water. I figured vinegar is an acid but it's a mild one and it can't be worse than bird crap sitting on your car for days. Besides I would just be applying it for a few minutes and then rinsing it all off. So I said the heck with it...

So I got my micro fiber towel and dipped it into the vinegar and started wiping only the stained areas. To my surprise the stuff literally wiped off with very little effort and there were no stains left behind on the paint. I then rinsed the car thoroughly and wiped it down. I ran some wax over it really quick just to be safe until it warms up and I can do it properly.

I'm so relived I was able to get that crap off. I was so worried the paint might have been damaged. Thanks to all that replied, I really appreciate the help.

[Belarus]

Originally Posted by Mallard

are u mad?

+1 LMAO...

Originally Posted by tag824

PROBLEM SOLVED!

When I got home I tried using hot water and some car soap but that stuff just wouldn't come off. So I did some reading to figure out if this was salt or not and turns out that the salt that is used is typically calcium chloride pellets. So I Google'd how to remove "calcium chloride" form car paint. Every article I found said to use vinegar and then rise off with water. I figured vinegar is an acid but it's a mild one and it can't be worse than bird crap sitting on your car for days. Besides I would just be applying it for a few minutes and then rinsing it all off. So I said the heck with it...

So I got my micro fiber towel and dipped it into the vinegar and started wiping only the stained areas. To my surprise the stuff literally wiped off with very little effort and there were no stains left behind on the paint. I then rinsed the car thoroughly and wiped it down. I ran some wax over it really quick just to be safe until it warms up and I can do it properly.

I'm so relived I was able to get that crap off. I was so worried the paint might have been damaged. Thanks to all that replied, I really appreciate the help.

Learned something new for the future. Happy to hear you found the solution and thank you for sharing.