Concrete on paint

[onnfire]

Yesterday I was driving by some construction where they were drilling in concrete and spraying water and my car was the unfortunate recipient of thousands of little splatters of concrete. Claying didnt touch it, however it can basically be scraped off using a dry towel. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this or any advice as to take all of the concrete off without destroying the paint.

[calbach]

The sooner the better but what id do is take my finger nail and pick it off carefully. The big question is has any of the paint been resprayed? Because if they didnt prep it correctly you may pull paint with. But yeah wash the car and carefully pick it off with your fingernail. May be a timely process but thats about the bestv I can think of.

[davey g-force]

Re: Concrete on paint

Unfortunately you're just going to have to pick it off with your fingernail, or your fingernail wrapped in a MF towel, or maybe even a plastic razor blade.

Then you'll probably have to correct all the damage done by all that "picking" lol

[Deaner5]

Re: Concrete on paint

Vinegar! Somehow it has the correct chemical to breakdown the bonds in cement. You probably don't want to use it at 100% so cut it with a little water to reduce the harshness.

I worked construction for a couple of summers and ended up getting concrete poisoning (nothing life threatening but too much accumulated on my skin and I sweated it in) and the recommendation was vinegar to clean and remove it. If you want something more specialized, specialty construction supply stores have a similar chemical that concrete finishers use to clean their tools, but regular household vinegar should work for you.

[davey g-force]

Re: Concrete on paint

I too have worked in construction as an engineeer for the past 15 years, and I've never heard of the vinegar theory. But hey, it's worth a try!

Bear in mind too, that by the OP's description, it sounds like we're not dealing with normal cement/concrete that has cured on the paint. It sounds like he's talking about the slurry you get from drilling or cutting already cured concrete. So it's probably not so bad...

[jfelbab]

Re: Concrete on paint

I have used vinegar on concrete splatter on more than one occasion with success. This method leaves no scratches. Lay a small towel(s) over the splattered area and saturate with white vinegar. Keep wet with added vinegar for 10 minutes then lift the towels off and spray with the hose and no more splatter. This will remove your wax or sealant however, so reapply.