De-greaser stains! What to do? Help!

[jawsplace]

I've got areas on my 1972 truck where degreaser-type spray cleaner has seemingly stained the paint! (photo attached)

I'm in the process of claying, polishing and sealing the paint all around however after polishing (with M7 glaze) multiple times the stains remain. This is original, single-stage factory paint, no clear coat of course, metallic yellow. Unfortunately I know the cleaner was left on there for a long time. :-(

I don't understand what the spray cleaner has actually done to the paint. Can anyone give me some expert insight from looking at the photo?

When I look at the stains closely it appears as though the paint is lighter/brighter (especially the metallic appearance) compared to the non-stained areas... it might be more of an optical illusion. The stains are more noticeable when the light is hitting them from the right angle.

What the heck do I do at this point?

 

[jawsplace]

An update...

Tonight I thought I'd try a little Nu finish on a very small area - and it removed the stain! PLUS it came off totally black - oxidation from the metallic aluminum flake. That is a big surprise considering I've followed Mike's process of cleaning and polishing with the M7 glaze. I've gotta admit, the tiny Nu finish area looks better and brighter than the glaze-polished paint. Apparently there's still plenty of black oxidation the M7 isn't removing.

I've read so many detailers' negative reasons for not using Nu Finish. But seeing what it did to remove the staining and brighten my metallic paint I'm tempted to abandon the M7 and go with the Nu Finish. Is that a mistake on my old SS paint?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I've got areas on my 1972 truck where degreaser-type spray cleaner has seemingly stained the paint! (photo attached)

We call this a Streak Stain, here's your picture and in the future I'd like to use it for an article with your permission.

I'm in the process of claying, polishing and sealing the paint all around however after polishing (with M7 glaze) multiple times the stains remain. This is original, single-stage factory paint, no clear coat of course, metallic yellow. Unfortunately I know the cleaner was left on there for a long time. :-(

The #7 treatment as outlined in the below article isn't so much for removing defects as it is to remove oxidation without overly abrading the paint and the reason for this is because when single stage paint gets old it dries out and becomes more brittle and thus anything abrasive can easily chew paint off. That's not a bad thing if you have lots of paint to chew off but the article was primarily targeted at people trying to restore something important to them and also to preserve whatever's left and thus the idea is to remove the oxidation while removing as little of the precious remaining paint as possible.

The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints

I don't understand what the spray cleaner has actually done to the paint. Can anyone give me some expert insight from looking at the photo?

The chemicals in the degreaser basically attacked the pigments and discolored them, in this case bleaching them a lighter color.

If you were to spill brake fluid on your truck's single stage paint my guess is the brake fluid would stain the paint a bluish purple color. I think I include this in my e-book.

When I look at the stains closely it appears as though the paint is lighter/brighter (especially the metallic appearance) compared to the non-stained areas... it might be more of an optical illusion. The stains are more noticeable when the light is hitting them from the right angle.

What the heck do I do at this point?

Sorry I'm late to this thread, but it looks like in your above post you did the next step which is to use some type of paint cleaner. Nu Finish is a cleaner/wax and can be used like a paint cleaner. It's a pretty strong cleaner/wax too... it has to be considering the market they go after. I talk about cleanerwaxes in this article,

The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

An update...

Tonight I thought I'd try a little Nu finish on a very small area - and it removed the stain! PLUS it came off totally black - oxidation from the metallic aluminum flake. That is a big surprise considering I've followed Mike's process of cleaning and polishing with the M7 glaze.

From experience, when rubbing on an older single stage metallic finish you'll always pull out some type of blackish residue because the aluminum flake is alway in a process of oxidizing. You can rub the paint to the point where you have very little black coming off the paint but just wait a few weeks and try again and you'll see the effects of oxidation that's taken place.

For everyone else reading this that's never worked on a single stage metallic finish, here's a simple analogy as to what's happening from my article on restoring antique paints...

Single Stage Metallic Paint = Difficult to Restore
Single stage, non-metallic paints like the above paint on the Ranchero are actually very easy to fix because the problem is for the most part just topical, that is the problem is just on the surface. All you have to do is remove the dead paint off the surface and if there's enough paint left then it's just a matter of polishing what's left to a high gloss. The most difficult paints to restore are single stage metallic paints.

The reason single stage metallic paints are the most difficult to restore is because not only does the paint itself oxidize, that is the resin used as the binder, (generally some type of seed oil like Flaxseed oil or Cottonseed oil), but also the aluminum flakes embodied inside the paint oxidize. This is where the problem lies.

It's a problem because the entire exterior surface of each individual aluminum flake oxidizes over time but you and I can only work on the surface of the paint and thus we can only work on the portion of the flake that is exposed at the surface level. Any portion of each aluminum flake that is below the surface and is surrounded by paint cannot be cleaned or polished so there's no way to remove the oxidation on the portions of the flakes inside the paint.

Oxidized Aluminum Turns Black
With metallic single stage paints, oxidation can show up as a darkening effect on medium to light colored paints because the aluminum metal flakes embodied inside the paint will stain or discolor the paint with a grayish black color.


If you’ve ever polished uncoated aluminum then you’ve seen this grayish black color coming off the aluminum and onto your polishing cloth as you work a metal polish over it. This same type of oxidation is taking place to the aluminum flake inside the paint.

Polishing Uncoated Aluminum

Oxidized Aluminum Comes Off Black

Wolfgang MetallWerk™ Aluminum Polishing System

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I've gotta admit, the tiny Nu finish area looks better and brighter than the glaze-polished paint. Apparently there's still plenty of black oxidation the M07 isn't removing.

If you read my article on restoring antique paint, after rubbing the paint down with #7 to revitalize it, I then abraded it using a very aggressive foam cutting pad on a rotary buffer using M80 Speed Glaze which is like #7 on steroids as it has the same polishing oils PLUS diminishing abrasives.

And in the pictures below you can also see that I'm still pulling black oxidation off by machine and it's accumulating in my cleaning solution in the Pad Washer.

Kompressor Pads
The first machine step I'm going to use on the 1973 Lincoln Continental is the 6" Purple Heavy Cutting Pad. This is a very aggressive cutting pad in and of itself but used carefully it can be used safely and successfully on vintage paints.

The reason I chose this pad is because the loops of foam fibers offer good cleaning and scrubbing action and the face of the pad is slotted or tabbed and this gives the pad the ability to flex and contort to the shape of the panel being buffed.

Another benefit to the slotted tabs is when you clean this pad on a Pad Washer the tabs separate and release any built-up polish residue and paint residue.

M80 Speed Glaze
M80 is like #7 on Steroids. #7 is non-abrasive. M80 Speed Glaze on the other hand contains diminishing abrasives and on a scale from 1 t 10 ranks a 4 as it relates to how aggressive it is. Compared to a true rubbing compound it's not very aggressive. The benefit to using this product on old single stage paints is that while the diminishing abrasives are cutting the paint, because it uses the same type of feeder-oils found in the #7 formula, you are at the same time gorging the paint with feeder-oils which acts to revive the full richness of color as well as hyper-lubricating the surface as you buff.


Flex 3403 Lightweight Rotary Buffer
The rotary buffer I'm using for this first machine polishing step is the Flex 3403 Lightweight Rotary Buffer. This rotary buffer weighs 5 pounds! The light weight and compact size makes it very easy to use and if you're new to using a rotary buffer this is a very easy rotary buffer to learn on as it's very easy to control. Most of learning how to use a rotary buffer is learning how to control it. When using the Flex 3403 Lightweight Rotary Buffer, it's a good idea to stick with smaller pads like you see me using for this project as larger pads, 7" and bigger, will cause excessive heat build-up.

Speed Setting: 1 on the variable speed dial which is 1100 RPM

Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer
The water in my Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer started out clear, but after cleaning my Purple Kompressor Pad multiple times after machine cleaning the entire car the water is now a soupy, grayish color.

Lid coming off the Pad Washer

Vortex Base and Water Pumps Removed from Pad Washer

Residue removed from pad sinks to the bottom of the bucket... if you don't wash this residue off your pad as you're buffing it accumulates on your buffing pad and can cause swirls as well as make buffing and wipe-off of polish more difficult.

Removed buffing residue in the pad washing solution - time to change the water...

Here's a video on using a Pad Washer
How to clean buffing pads using the Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I've read so many detailers' negative reasons for not using Nu Finish. But seeing what it did to remove the staining and brighten my metallic paint I'm tempted to abandon the M07 and go with the Nu Finish. Is that a mistake on my old SS paint?

Find something you like and use it often...


Personally I wouldn't use a strong cleaner/wax like Nu Finish on anything that was important to me. The cleaning strength comes from some type of solvents, usually Stoddard or Naphtha solvent and these types of solvents will easily penetrate into the paint and leach out any polishing oils thus drying out the paint and making it easier for the paint to oxidize.

Stoddard solvent is used in auto parts cleaning tanks to remove grease off old car parts. It works great for this type of work.

Instead, use a quality paint cleaner or a quality cleaner/wax.

But again, if it's working for you go for it!


:xyxthumbs:

 

[jawsplace]

We call this a Streak Stain, here's your picture and in the future I'd like to use it for an article with your permission.

Thanks Mike for your replies! I'll be taking the kinder-gentler approach (not Nu Finish) and will try your product recommendations. Yes feel free to use the photo. I'll watch for your article.