Owning a four wheeler is the dream of many a middle income families, a necessity for a big family, a status symbol for a business man and a sheer display of power and luxury for a millionaire. Irrespective of the purpose, a car is a man’s most prized possession and caring for it needs to be his priority. However, accidents are inevitable and what can be more depressing to see your pride on wheels out of shape or color? A wrong paint job can make your car look very unattractive and unlikable. It might so happen that while painting your car or applying a touch up, some other areas might get painted leading to an uneven look. Sometimes the paint might even spill accidently over your car. All these situations require the paint of your car to be stripped off completely. Nevertheless, removing the paint from the car in the right way is what will help give your car the desired finish. Mentioned below are a few tips on removing paint from a car effortlessly and correctly. Read on to learn more.
Removing Paint From Car
Removing Paint Using Soapy Water
Prepare a bucket of lukewarm soapy water to strip out the paint from your car. Use only a mild detergent or a car wash shampoo for the purpose. Take a dish washing scrub, dip it in the soapy water and scrub it over the paint meticulously. This is one of the most effective methods to get rid of the spray paint from the car. The sooner you try this method after painting, the finer the result will be.
Removing Paint Using Paint Thinner
A paint thinner can also be used effectively to get rid of the paint from your car’s body. You can make use of kerosene, turpentine, gasoline or even a nail polish remover to get rid of the paint from your car. Pour out one of these thinning solutions onto a clean cloth and rub it over the area you want to remove the paint from. You will notice the paint getting transferred to the cloth. Continue rubbing the cloth with the thinning agent to get rid of the paint entirely. If you notice that the colour is not getting transferred to the cloth, it means to say that the thinner is insufficient.
Removing Paint Using Rubbing Compounds
If your car is coated with acrylic or lacquer paint, you will have to make use of this method. Make use of a good quality car rubbing compound and a buffer not over 2500 to 3000 rpm. A buffer higher than 3000 rpm might burn the paint, leaving behind ugly marks especially in case of dark colored cars. You have to apply the rubbing compound first and then use a buffer. This method is also useful in removing paint scratches from the car.
Removing Paint Using Sand Paper
You can also make use of 800 grit sandpaper to remove the paint from your car’s body. Sand the paper continuously over the paint for few minutes. Now take 1000 grit sandpaper and rub it continuously for few minutes. Next you will have to repeat the process with 1500 grit sandpaper and then a 2000 grit sandpaper to get rid of the paint completely. You can also use wet sandpaper effectively for the job.
Removing Paint Using Media Blasting
Media blasting is another useful way to strip off paint from your car. However, you will have to remove glass and rubber fixtures from the vehicle as the media blasting might cause damage to these objects. There are different types of media available such as the ‘glass beads’; ‘baking soda’, ‘sand’ etc. Choose the one that best suits your requirement. Fill in the media blasting equipment with the media of your choice and spray it over your car at a consistent speed. This process should be carried out in a well ventilated area as this process generates a lot of heat.
Removing Paint Using Chemical Stripping
Chemical stripping should also be carried out after removing all the glass and rubber fixtures from the car. Pour a sufficient amount of aircraft stripper on the surface you want the paint to be removed from and let it stand for a minute. This will cause the paint to eventually lift which can later be removed using a putty knife.
Usually you need something with a little abrading ability to bite into and move the transferred paint off the original paint. The safest way to go would be to apply some ScratchX with either a microfiber applicator or a peice of terry cloth towel and put a little passion into it. You need a fiber type applicator because it offers a little more bite than a foam applicator which will tend to glide over the paint versus kick it off.
If that is too gentle then something that has worked for me is using our M04 Heavy Cut cleaner with a peice if terry cloth as the M04 Heavy Cut Cleaner uses a fairly aggressive diminishing abrasive that you can easily feel with your fingers. What this diminishing abrasive does when worked against the transferred paint is to bite into it and remove it. The problem is however that this is a product intended to be applied with a rotary buffer only and it will tend to scratch and mar the finish when applied by hand. The way I've used it successfully is to remove the transferred paint, and then remove any scratches, dullness or marring left by the M04. I usually do this with a rotary buffer.
The end result is the transferred paint is removed and gloss is restored. I know this can sound sort of like a backwards approach but it's the larger size diminishing abrasive characteristic of the #4 Heavy Cut Cleaner that you are leveraging to remove the transferred paint as this can sometimes be what it takes to successfully do this.
I have some pictures of doing this exact same thing off a black bumper on a BMW I can try to find and post.
Safest thing to try, and first thing to try however is the ScratchX by hand using a fiber type applicator. If you find your aggressive rubbing with the fiber type applicator removes the transferred paint but leaves some marring then you can come back and remove the marring by re-applying the ScratchX only switching to a foam applicator for this procedure.
Always use the least aggressive product to get the job done and be ever mindful that simply changing product, applicator material or application process can change the aggressiveness of the procedure.
