white clouds in the paint?

[Alex7938]

hi guys,

a member on the UK forum is have this problem
and doesnt know what to do, can anyone help?

http://shop.meguiars.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1845

[Ranger72]

is the cloudy effect there constantly or does it dry up after washing/ waxing with some time?

[Cebberfeld]

It's there constantly. If anything it appears to become a little worse after washing, and then even worse after waxing.

This is how it looks (the bottom left corner of the photo shows a cloud on the boot lid):



and closer up on the same cloud as above:

[roushstage2]

That kinda looks like a big water spot

[rusty bumper]

That looks to be a big water spot/stain of some sort to me.

I ran into something similar earlier this year that was on red paint too.

I managed to make them less noticable by machine buffing with #80, followed by a hand application of #7, and finally a coat of NXT.

The spots came back a little later, but I repeated the process to make them disappear again.

The last time I checked, the spots had not come back......The car I was working on had single stage paint FWIW.

[Mike Phillips]

First a question, (always know what your working -->on<--)

Is this a clear coat finish or a single stage finish?


Second a comment, from the picture below, it's apparent that some type of liquid has pooled on the finish, sat on the finish for some period of time, and moved as a body of liquid in a direction on the surface.



The defect you're looking at is a stain in the paint, whether or not it can be removed will be determined by the film-build, or working thickness of the top layer you have to work with, be it a clear layer or a colored layer of paint, (single stage).

There are two issues here,

1. Fixing the problem
2 Determining why it happened and if it can be prevented in the future


If the stain in the paint was caused by pooling water, this is kind of an indicator of the quality of the paint, or the severity of some type of chemical in the water.

What's in the air and thus in the rain where this car is located?


A quick test for the potential to fix this problem would be to take some ScratchX and rub just a section of the major portion of the white stain in the picture above. See if you remove, or affect the paint in a positive way in just a portion of that stain.

If you can, then you can probably fix the entire finish, if you cannot make one small area look good with focused attention and a dedicated paint cleaner, chances are good you will not be able to fix the problem.

Again, the limiting factors are going to be the thickness of the paint, or the working film-build, and the depth that the stain penetrates into this working film-build.

Perform what I call a "Test Spot" to a small area and report back here your findings as well as the answers to the above questions.

Best of luck...

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
If the stain in the paint was caused by pooling water, this is kind of an indicator of the quality of the paint, or the severity of some type of chemical in the water.

I agree.

The vehicle that I detailed earlier this year had poor quality SS paint from what the owner told me.

Hopefully, that's (Poor quality paint) not the case with Cebberfeld's paint.

[Alex7938]

ceberfield said on one of the posts that he had some paint transfer onto a pad he was using, if that helps

[Murr1525]

That means the car has single stage paint then, or at least in that area.

[rusty bumper]

Quick Question,

Does water spot damage/etching look different on single stage paint, than it does on clear coated paint?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
Quick Question,

Does water spot damage/etching look different on single stage paint, than it does on clear coated paint?

Single stage paints, especially older paint, (age wise), are less dense and are more porous or more permeable than modern clear coats, for this reason they are more susceptible to staining as liquids/chemicals can more easily penetrate -->into<-- them.

Clear coats, especially when they are brand new, either off the assembly line, or out of the paint booth are very dense and impermeable


We're still back to trying what I suggested earlier in this thread and that's to do a test spot on just a part of the major portion of the white area in the picture above. The owner needs to check and test to see if he can improve a portion of this one area. This will tell him if he can fix the rest of the finish while at the same time minimizing his test area.

"What can and cannot be done is all dependent upon the film-build"

[Djmigs]

Can you Still Detail a single stage paint if the paint is 2year old and if the clear/tint paint mixed ....hopefully thats how you say it...

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Djmigs
Can you Still Detail a single stage paint if the paint is 2year old and if the clear/tint paint mixed ....hopefully thats how you say it...

Yes.

Some cars come with tinted clear coats, (Some Honda's have this), so if you this car has this, it could be the reason you're seeing paint transfer when working on it.

The problem as it looks to me is that the paint itself is susceptible to staining.

[Djmigs]

Mike if you see paint transfered to the pad then it ok ?(single stage paint) my freind has a honda and had his car repainted...he told me is suppose to have a clear coat...thanks

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Djmigs
Mike if you see paint transfered to the pad then it ok ?(single stage paint) my Friend has a Honda and had his car repainted...he told me is suppose to have a clear coat...thanks

If you see paint color transfer to your applicator pad and you have a single stage paint, then this is okay. If you have a clear coated car and you see paint color, or pigment transfer to your applicator pad then this is usually a bad thing.