Hello everyone,

I hope all of you are doing great!

When I waked up today I've found myself being in unusually exciting mood. And there have been a serious reason for that. I knew I was going to spend first half of the day detailing the car in garage away from my daily problems and family responsibilities. The sun was shining through lonely puffy clouds and the birds were singing anticipating great day. The whole world appeared to me as a beautiful place. But let's leave my emotions aside...
A day earlier I went to local Porsche dealer (here in Redwood City) and acquired a black bottle of Porsche hard wax. I grabbed a sponge, shampoo and bucket and shut the door behind - I was full of hopes and dreams. How naive I was!
Washing the car wasn't too exciting. So I am going to skip this part. But I just mention that I wash the car every two weeks or so.
When last drop of fresh water was wiped away by my micro-fiber towel I was ready for exciting part - hard wax application. The wax itself is cream like substance with color of milk. It dries pretty quickly. Well. After I applied thin coat of that wax and started to buff it with cotton towel I noticed that there was some form of residue on the surface of the paint. After close inspection they appeared to be as very tiny little spots (like drops)..very little ones...hard to see. But when I was buffing away the wax they (that dark residue drops ) were leaving some form of dark trail...like when I moved the towel from left to right and as soon as I moved it over one of those drops the dark muddy trail was created originating at one of those drops... and continue in the direction of the towel movement. When I make opposite towel movement - this time from right to left - the story is repeated...this time with dark trail created in opposite direction and previous trail is being wiped away...It takes a
lot of buffing to get rid of that "drops"...Very hard...
As I said those micro-drops (I tend to believe they are some form of road grimp) are very small...hardly noticeable...When I slide my hand through the paint surface I can feel them. If I scribe those drops by my nail - they eventually go away...but there are a lot of them...and it takes time and efforts to locate them. I wonder if you guys know any product which handles them well....
I couldn't find the way to get rid of them on my old car.. I used 3d Swirl Mark remover and some cleaning concentrate...Nothing helped! But I din't care much about my previous car. There were no such residues on my 911 a year ago when I bought it. I guess they are result of outside parking while I at work.... I really don't want them to cover the paint surface just like they did with my previous car!

 

have you tried to 'clay bar' the paint surface??
max

 

But I had an impression that clay bar is a last resort in detailing. If those residues are being "generated" withing year that would mean I would have to reuse a clay bar once a year....which probably would make a lot of damage to the paint in long run...

 

Exactly my thought...

 

Are you guys familiar with that type of residue on a paint...I am not sure if I described it clearly...are they typical? What could be a good protection against them? Is clay bar the only option?
Thanks!

 

Throw that Porsche hard wax in the garbage!

I would use the clay bar, and then apply the whole zaino process. It is easy to apply, a good value, a brilliant shine and has good longevity. Many people on this board use it, and I have been using nothing but Zaino on my car for close to 3 years now. The clay bar as well as everything else can be purchased from Zaino.

 

You've already mentioned one other option -- your fingernail...

Personal opinion, not derived from empirical scientific study: The clay bar isn't going to cause enough damage to your paint, even in the long run, to be even a minor concern. While there may be other alternatives to the clay bar, they likely won't be nearly as efficient at getting rid of the residue.

People talk about using Porter-Cable polishers on their cars, etc., all the time. No, I probably wouldn't do so every time I wash the car, but even once every 3 months is only 24 times over 6 years. I figure the sand and dirt kicked up by cars in front of me as I drive upwards of 15,000 miles per year are going to cause more damage than that. My opinion, of course...

The residue itself sounds like fresh road tar. Have you driven over any freshly paved (like done on the same day) roads lately? You might try 3M Adhesive, Tar and Wax remover on a spot to see if it lifts the residue off the paint (just remember, as the name says, the wax will be removed too...).



-Chris

 

The tiny spots are probably tree sap, it behaves as you describe. Try not to park under trees, especially pine or redwood trees. Clay bar will remove them, it is not a difficult process.

 

Thanks for all your suggestions!

Peter, you are probably right. It is most likely tree sap since the whole car "covered" by those annoying "drops": hood, roof and etc. If it would be a fresh road tar then it could be only found on the lower area of the hood and front bumper.

I am going to welcome Zaino clay bar and wax into my life. It is just a little sad they don't accept the fast types of payments.
It is also probably a good idea to arm myself for this battle with tree sap with Porter-Cable polisher and all kind of application pads - I've heard there are a lot of them available - pink, yellow, blue and etc.
Would be great if someone would suggest which particular model of polisher to choose. And if possible to clarify which application pads to be used with it ....like yellow for wax, green for polisher, gray for clay bar....

 

Sputnik,
You may not need to use a Polisher.
Follow the Zaino directions. The dish soap may remove the sap. The clay bar will definitely remove the sap

 

Would advise reading the tutorial about the PC polisher on Autopia.org before diving into "advanced detailing". While it is difficult to damage your clearcoat with a random orbital polisher, a little bit of knowledge has been known to be dangerous in other areas so I would proceed with atleast a little caution here. BTW all of the PC models use the same basic motor/handle, only attachments and counter wgts. differ. Coastal Tools.com or Lowes has the best prices. Velcro backing and 6"pads can also be bought separately on the net.

Claying will not hurt provided the clay is always clean and there is adequate lube(if in doubt break off another fresh piece.) Would not leave out this step prior to laying down a serious polymer such as Zaino or Klasse which I prefer.

 

Would advise reading the tutorial about the PC polisher on Autopia.org before diving into "advanced detailing". While it is difficult to damage your clearcoat with a random orbital polisher, a little bit of knowledge has been known to be dangerous in other areas so i would proceed with atleast a little caution. BTW all of the PC models use the same basic motor/handle, attachments and counter wgts. differ. Coastal Tools.com or Lowes has the best prices. Velcro backing and 6"pads can bought separately.

Claying will not hurt providing the clay is always clean and there is adequate lube. Would not leave out this step prior to laying down a serious polymer such as Zaino or Klasse which I prefer.

 

Good thought, PeterS. in FL we have pine tree sap, which is clear, but just as much of a nuisance. 3M Adhesive, Tar and Wax Remover takes it off, no problem, without damaging the paint/clearcoat. Sputnik, this might be an easy option for you too. The remover is sold in both aerosol cans and small containers like a mineral spirits can.

Good luck!

-Chris