Weird question about sealant filling rock chips?

[GreatAvalon]

Hey guys,

Today was my first time using Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection, which is a sealant. It left the paint incredibly slick, wow! However, it also left all the rock chips and pits on my car white! Some of them aren't even full blown rock chips, just divots in the paint from rocks. How do I get it out?

Pictures are worth a thousand words:

^See the white specs? The big ones are rock chips, but do you see even the really, really small ones? They weren't white until the 4*UPP was applied!

As always, thank you guys for the help and for making AGO such a great community!

 

[281]

Wow never seen that before. I wonder if Eraser would clean it out. What's the cure time of 4*UPP?

 

[GreatAvalon]

Wow never seen that before. I wonder if Eraser would clean it out. What's the cure time of 4*UPP?

Cure time is 6 hours, it says to leave on paint for at least 15 mins. I thought I recalled some people (in a thread I found while searching from a while ago) saying leave sealants on for as long as possible, so I applied and left on for 4-5 hours. Wiped off and this is what I saw. The paint is stupid slick right now lol, but my front bumper and front part of my hood is speckled in white! After 3 days of work and nearly perfect paint, I won't accept the white specks all over the front!!!! :dblthumb2:

I have some Eraser. That will also remove the 4*UPP right?

 

[281]

Cure time is 6 hours, it says to leave on paint for at least 15 mins. I thought I recalled some people (in a thread I found while searching from a while ago) saying leave sealants on for as long as possible, so I applied and left on for 4-5 hours. Wiped off and this is what I saw. The paint is stupid slick right now lol, but my front bumper and front part of my hood is speckled in white! After 3 days of work and nearly perfect paint, I won't accept the white specks all over the front!!!! :dblthumb2:

I have some Eraser. That will also remove the 4*UPP right?

Did you try wiping it with a wet MF towel?

Try Eraser with q-tip.

Usually have to polish to remove a sealant. If I remember, you have M205, use a q-tip see what happens.

I feel your pain after all that work, don't worry I'm sure we'll get it fixed!

 

[GreatAvalon]

Did you try wiping it with a wet MF towel?

Try Eraser with q-tip.

Usually have to polish to remove a sealant. If I remember, you have M205, use a q-tip see what happens.

I feel your pain after all that work, don't worry I'm sure we'll get it fixed!

Thanks for the help!!!

No I didn't try a wet MF towel. I will definitely give that a go tomorrow morning! Ah, Eraser with a q-tip, very smart!!! I actually only have Ultimate Polish, not M205 (I need to get some though to have handy). I also have Ultimate Compound, M105, Menz pf2500 and Menz sf4500.

I like those fixes, I will try them tomorrow! Hopefully a wet MF towel does it so that it won't remove the sealant off the paint while not going through to every single pit and chip with a q-tip!

I wonder what caused it. Do you think I did anything wrong in my application? I have used Ultimate Liquid Wax, Ultimate Paste Wax, Meg's Gold Class Nauba and this has never happened. I also have never let those sit on the paint for 5 hours.

Needless to say, unless I messed up the application I will be looking for a new sealant since I'm not going to go white speck hunting every time I seal!

 

[spiralout462]

A Different color wax may help. You could try topping the sealant with a darker carnauba. High pressure or steam might get the residue out as well.

 

[281]

Thanks for the help!!!

No I didn't try a wet MF towel. I will definitely give that a go tomorrow morning! Ah, Eraser with a q-tip, very smart!!! I actually only have Ultimate Polish, not M205 (I need to get some though to have handy). I also have Ultimate Compound, M105, Menz pf2500 and Menz sf4500.

I like those fixes, I will try them tomorrow! Hopefully a wet MF towel does it so that it won't remove the sealant off the paint while not going through to every single pit and chip with a q-tip!

I wonder what caused it. Do you think I did anything wrong in my application? I have used Ultimate Liquid Wax, Ultimate Paste Wax, Meg's Gold Class Nauba and this has never happened. I also have never let those sit on the paint for 5 hours.

Needless to say, unless I messed up the application I will be looking for a new sealant since I'm not going to go white speck hunting every time I seal!

Only thing I can think of is maybe you used to much sealant when applying. If too thick there's a lot of excess sitting in the chips. Hopefully it's just excess residue. Also, SF4500 with q-tip...

Most paint sealants just need to haze over then you can buff off...

 

[GreatAvalon]

A Different color wax may help. You could try topping the sealant with a darker carnauba. High pressure or steam might get the residue out as well.

Thanks! I do have SSII I would top with and see if that fixes it. I honestly don't even know what color SSII is since I have never even opened it yet haha. I don't have a steamer, but I do have a pressure washer so add that to the list! Thanks again!!

Only thing I can think of is maybe you used to much sealant when applying. If too thick there's a lot of excess sitting in the chips. Hopefully it's just excess residue. Also, SF4500 with q-tip...

Most paint sealants just need to haze over then you can buff off...

Yea maybe it was too much. I applied it by my PC, and it was the first time I've applied a LSP with a machine. Due to wind and bitter cold I had to apply it in the garage, and it was so clear that I couldn't see my passes. I knew I needed to go thin, but I had to add enough so I could see my passes. So too much is a real possibility. I had lots and lots of dusting when buffing off as well, so I think that means it was too much product?




A MF towel wet with water won't cause me to loose the sealant right? I want to really scrub with a wet MF towel since that is the easiest and fastest way to get it all up. Going through with a q-tip is tedious and time consuming, but I will do what I have to do in order to get rid of the specks!

 

[281]

Thanks! I do have SSII I would top with and see if that fixes it. I honestly don't even know what color SSII is since I have never even opened it yet haha. I don't have a steamer, but I do have a pressure washer so add that to the list! Thanks again!!


Yea maybe it was too much. I applied it by my PC, and it was the first time I've applied a LSP with a machine. Due to wind and bitter cold I had to apply it in the garage, and it was so clear that I couldn't see my passes. I knew I needed to go thin, but I had to add enough so I could see my passes. So too much is a real possibility. I had lots and lots of dusting when buffing off as well, so I think that means it was too much product?

I remember when I applied sealant/waxes the first time using a machine. Used wayyyyy too much product. Live and learn rops:

Maybe the pressure washer will blast it right out!

When applying waxes, thin is in!

 

[GreatAvalon]

I remember when I applied sealant/waxes the first time using a machine. Used wayyyyy too much product. Live and learn rops:

Maybe the pressure washer will blast it right out!

When applying waxes, thin is in!

So you no longer apply sealant/waxes by DA? If no, then what hand foam applicators do you recommend? The whole time I felt like I wasn't in control of how the product was getting on the paint. I'm certain the DA took me longer to apply the sealant versus if I would have done it by hand. But I wanted to play with my new toy, and learn since maybe it will be faster when I get used to it

Thin is in <---words I knew going in, made a conscious effort to do, but I think I fell short on execution! Not being able to see it really threw me for a loop. Not cool!

Pressure washer won't make me loose the protection of the sealant right?

 

[281]

So you no longer apply sealant/waxes by DA? If no, then what hand foam applicators do you recommend? The whole time I felt like I wasn't in control of how the product was getting on the paint. I'm certain the DA took me longer to apply the sealant versus if I would have done it by hand. But I wanted to play with my new toy, and learn since maybe it will be faster when I get used to it

Thin is in <---words I knew going in, made a conscious effort to do, but I think I fell short on execution! Not being able to see it really threw me for a loop. Not cool!

Pressure washer won't make me loose the protection of the sealant right?

I apply everything I can by machine now. What size pad did you use to apply sealant? Last time I applied BlackICE by hand, I used a 4" LC Hydro Crimson pad.

Pressure washer won't remove sealant, especially after sitting/curing overnight.

 

[GreatAvalon]

I apply everything I can by machine now. What size pad did you use to apply sealant? Last time I applied BlackICE by hand, I used a 4" LC Hydro Crimson pad.

Pressure washer won't remove sealant, especially after sitting/curing overnight.

I used a black and blue flat 5.5" LC pad. On the front of the car where all the white specks are I used the blue.

The cure time is why I didn't try to remove this evening when I saw it. Figured once its cured I can try to do it. Something I thought of when you said wet MF towel...what if I spray some ONR diluted to QD and wipe. Does ONR remove the sealant?

 

[281]

I used a black and blue flat 5.5" LC pad. On the front of the car where all the white specks are I used the blue.

The cure time is why I didn't try to remove this evening when I saw it. Figured once its cured I can try to do it. Something I thought of when you said wet MF towel...what if I spray some ONR diluted to QD and wipe. Does ONR remove the sealant?

ONR won't remove sealant. Only thing that removes sealant is to abrade the surface (polishing)

 

[GreatAvalon]

ONR won't remove sealant. Only thing that removes sealant is to abrade the surface (polishing)

OK cool! As always, thanks for all the great help! I will keep you posted tomorrow on how its turning out man!!! I definitely have a course of action figured out thanks to you and spiral! :dblthumb2:

 

[aim4squirrels]

It's probably just excess sealant that paid into the pits as you moved the buffer over them.

If the car is still clean, take a dry microfiber towel and twist it into the pits, that should break the excess residue up and lift it out.

Rubbing with a Q-tip can induce marring, tread lightly on that one.

Try a pencil with a rubber eraser tip covered with a microfiber towel for the more stubborn ones.

 

[GreatAvalon]

Well I tried to address it today. In the sun light, the metallic flake made the white specks blend in. That, and it seemed the white specks got somewhat better after sitting all night. I started out spraying ONR diluted as a QD, and scrubbed. That worked some, but not all the way and I was having to really focus on individual specks. So I did a rinseless wash on it. That got about 75% of them up. I figure the rest will get up when I wash it, which will be probably within a week since we are supposed to get snow Monday. Winter just will not leave! So thank you everybody for your help, and thankfully I didn't need to IPA/Eraser and prolong this any longer. I am freakin tired after working on it since Tuesday!

 

[281]

You'll get another shot at it come spring time buddy!

Thin is in - hard one to practice especially after spending a few days on the car...

 

[FUNX650]

The same thing that gives this product it's off-white appearance...
(An emulsion that has, as one component: amino-alkoxy dimethylsiloxanesiloxane)...
Is probably what has been deposited/dried-up in the nooks and crannies of the paint chips.

It's similar to the depositions left behind from other LSPs.
Hey...
This is pretty good proof that LSPs act as: "Fillers"!


-Remember the adage that: "Like removes like".

Apply some of this Sealant to the affected areas, not allowing it to dry/haze-over.

Gently wipe with a polish/wax removal MF-towel until the former dried-up Sealant is removed.

May take more than one attempt.
But at least the original Sealant application isn't removed from the surrounding areas by the use of some externally applied solvent.

Bob