How to remove road paint
Written by: Vinnie van Rooij
When you drive over road paint, this can cause splatters all over the side of the car and the wheelarches. Although it might not be easy, these splatters can be removed. The following possible solutions can help you to remove road paint
Contents
Why remove road paint
When the road is painted, the paint needs some time to dry. It can happen that you don’t know this and drive over wet road paint. Unfortunately, the paint can be thrown up just like rain water. This splatter leaves your vehicle covered in road paint. Although it is not easy to remove, or make that area looks flawless again, it can be removed without to much trouble.
Protection protects
The tips below will help, but the biggest help is a proper form of protection on the car. A healthy layer of wax, a good sealant or strong coating will make it a lot easier to wipe off these splatters. If the paint was unprotected, removing will be alot more difficult.
Mineral spirits and MF towels
Cover a MF towel in mineral spirits, and put them over the affected area. Let the drenched MF towel soak the spirits in the road paint splatter to loosen it up. After a while, it should be possible to rub them off or use clay to remove them.
Motsenbockers
Motsenbockers is a brand that makes cleaning products. They offer several different types of cleaners, which have a reputation of being very capable of cleaning some of the hardest stains. They also manufacturer ready-to-use wet wipes that can be used to wipe off the road paint.
Cover in vaseline overnight
Vaseline is a petroleum based product, this means that the thick paste contains solvent like ingredients, which can loosen up the road paint. With this technique, you rub the vaseline on the road paint, leave it to soak for a night (keep it dry!) and you should be able to wipe off the paint with ease.
Oven cleaner
A bit more of a DIY solution that should be practiced with care. It is not clear what this will do with the paintwork on the long term! With this solution, you spray the oven cleaner over the road paint splatter, and leave it to soak for a while (don’t let it dry up completely). After a while, you can rinse off the oven cleaner with water, and the paint splatters should be soft enough to remove safely. You might need to repeat this to get everything off.
pressure washer
There are cases where the road paint didn’t get time to fully harden or bond with the surface underneath. A proper form of protection should also help with this. Using a pressure washer might be enough to blast off the road paint splatter. Even though this is an easy to ease solution, it is important to remember that the pressure behind the water can cause it to damage a sensitive surface. The water is hard enough to mark paint, plastic and blast chrome off chromed plastic trims. So this technique should be done with care.
Babywipes
Babywipes contain several petrochemical ingredients in very small quantities. Small enough to not hurt your skin, but large enough to have an effect on certain materials. If the road paint splatter isn’t severe, wiping it with babywipes can be enough to loosen up the paint, and wipe it off. Be very careful on the paintwork though, because it dan cause some finishes to become a little bit dull. It should be safe on wheelarches though.
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