I've got a sort of very fine white powder which has etched into the paint on both my cars - and some neighbour's ones. It won't come off with ordinary car shampoo and warm water even with soaking for ages. Using a cutting compound like T-Cut does shift it but produces scratches at the same time. What I'd like is a chemical that loosens it so it can be hosed off.
Google for "MIR" - its amazing stuff that shifts almost anything and leave a good polish as well.
Sounds like cement containing dust
NT
Well if it is volcanic, I can't see you dissolving it without damaging the paint at the same time. I suppose the real question is 'why has it stuck'? Were your cars sticky with honeydew from aphids in trees as well? If the paint wasn't sticky, perhaps there is an electrostatic attraction between particles and paint. In that case it may help to have a look at your shampoo and see if it says anything about 'cationic' or 'anionic' surfactants. If the one you have been using is of one type, try and find a cleaner with the other type and see if that releases the particles. Otherwise all I could suggest would be hiring/borrowing a pressure washer and see if that helps: or of course there is the car wash at your local garage - possibly the easiest way out...
S
I have this feeling you mean "Mer".
It's just another polish.
=A0 London SW
I can post on a car cleaning forum I am on on your behalf if you want? I'm sure they'll be willing to help.
easy way to test that is use a fairly soft type of de-scaler..or indeed vinegar. If it fizzes, its cement type shit.
Cars parked near railway tracks get a black dust covering them, they use oxalic acid to clean it off. Rub a stick of rhubarb over it?
Yes please. I'm sure it's a common problem.
I'm not certain it's volcanic but it appeared at the time all planes in the UK were grounded.
Can't see how a pressure washer is more likely to shift it without damage than other means. The paint surface is rough to the touch. Whatever it is has sort of etched itself into the paint
It looks a pretty universal 'white' under a magnifying glass. Not like anything I've seen before. I've certainly had dust from building works before - but that just washes off.
I think it's the leaves that contain the oxalic acid
A bit about it on the web but, as ever, one very silly press release regurgitated by all and sundry.
We know the ash is acidic, and therefore cationic, so it will bond to anionic surfaces just like hard water salts stick to tiles etc. I'd try putting vinegar on with a soft paintbrush. If possible, test on an area where it can stay in a puddle. Agitate the brush, but no abrasion. May take a few applications, and a kettle descaling product may speed things up
No doubt we'll be seeing dedicated ash removers in the shops quite soon
If this is as common as that surely most every poster on here will be grumbling about the same thing?.
FWIW no sign if it here near Cambridge...
And a crap one at that.
It only really shows badly on the old Rover which is plain black. Metallic colours tend to mask it. But you can feel it with your hand.
Was discussing it with a neighbour who has a few month old Lexus RX 400h. He thought I was making it up - until I got him to run his hand over his car roof paint, then again over the paint inside the door jam. Try it on yours - or examine the paint surface with a magnifying glass. Although of course by the nature of fallout not everywhere will be affected the same. Even if it is fallout, which I'm not sure of.
In message , tony sayer writes
Hi Tony, here in Bedford when the ash cloud was causing the plane problem I went out one evening with a bright LED torch and could see VERY fine particles of dust falling down in the beam, as mentioned on another thread somewhere. They were too fine to see under normal light for some reason. Anyway the next morning there was a fine grey dust layer on the cars but it simply blew off and didn't appear to have caused any damage.
I had a further dust deposit last week that was a slightly reddish colour, again this just blew off. Both cars are quite heavily polished and this may have helped the situation, neither time did there appear to be any pitting or sticking of the dust.
The cars were dry at the time though with no overnight dew, may have been different if they had been moist?
The colleges have probably banned it from falling and making the place look untidy.
Was this when we had that hot spell? Dust from the Sahara pops up every so often.
I pressure washed the volcanic stuff off our cars and it came off with no problems.
Andy.
Here you go:
Yep, you are correct.
It may well be, but it certainly excels in what it does - and far easier than many.
Cash
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