Best thing for paint oxidation?

hkyplr18

hkyplr18

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Joe
I'm trying to get some oxidation and water spots out of some paint and I'm having no luck... I've tried a couple types of gritty wax and cleaners which don't seem to touch it, in fact it almost seems to make it worse.. When I put the wax on and then go to hand buff it's almost like the wax won't even buff off. Leaves wax residue plain as day. Weirdest damn thing I've ever seen... I'm attaching a picture that shows what I'm talking about. The water spots, oxidation and then you can see where the wax never buffed out. I'm thinking it's time for some compound and a buffing wheel but didn't want to go down that road until it was a last resort. Anyone have any suggestions? I've heard that 3M finesse-it works well..

Thanks!
 

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What products have you been using?
The process for every surface from paint to canopies is the same, least rough product that gets out the problem then progressively milder until clear or shiny. Paint then takes some polish and finally wax to protect it all.
I just bought an Amazon deal on Meguiars fiberglass kit of compound, polish and wax for a mobile home with graphics. Works great. Have to keep the products on the colored graphics as the wipe over onto white can stain the white.
Good luck.
PS: finess-it IS great for final polishing. Use it on my canopy.
 
Water spots:

Make a very weak solution of vinegar and water and wash the spots with that. Water spots are usually calcium from tap water. The vinegar will dissolve it.

Then, rinse with water and towel dry.
 
Clay bars are for bumpy crap stuck to the surface that are not affected by rubbing compounds. Absolutely NOT for "some oxidation and water spots". They will also take off some overspray paint but not what you are describing. Won't do squat about your problems. Try the vinegar then, if necessary, the least rough material necessary, and work your way out to fine polish and wax.

Don't take my word for it. The Bag Test: There’s a simple test that will indicate whether or not you need to clay. Wash and dry your vehicle, put a plastic sandwich bag over your hand and lightly rub your fingertips over the paint. If it feels gritty or rough, your paint is contaminated.
 
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Hank S said:
Sounds like you need a clay bar, lots of patience and arm strength.
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Not at all. Only used for bumpy contaminants and over spray. Worthless on surface imperfections.

How Does Auto Detailing Clay Work?
Detailing clay glides along the surface of your paint and grabs anything that protrudes from the surface. The particle sticks to the clay and is therefore removed from your vehicle. The surface being clayed should always be wet with clay lubricant to prevent loose debris from scratching the vehicle.

Used properly, detailing clay is completely safe and nonabrasive.Its a much better option than polishing to remove these contaminants because clay doesn’t remove any paint.

clay-graphic-wash.jpg
clay-graphic-clay.jpg

There are two different grades of clay currently available to the public. One is a medium grade detailing clay designed to clean the vehicle once or twice a year. This grade of clay removes wax along with anything else on the vehicle. We’re talking CLEAN. Examples are Wolfgang Elastic Poly Clay, , and McKee's 37 Universal Detailing Clay.

Your other option is a fine grade that’s relatively new to the industry. It’s called Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay and it’s a favorite of enthusiasts who prefer to clay as often as needed to keep that slick finish. This detailing clay removes everything the medium clay removes and it is gentle enough to use monthly or as needed for spot cleaning. If you’re someone who’s meticulous about clean, shiny paint (and who isn’t?!) you’ll love Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay.

All detailing clay requires the use of a clay lubricant to prevent scratches as you gently rub the clay on the vehicle. Check out our Clay Page. There you will find all of the different clays and their coordinated clay lubricants.
 
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Sounds like Flyingriki knows his stuff, but I'll throw this in here...

OP if you are interested in buffing, please educate yourself. Most of the products you find at the parts stores aren't really all that great for doing what they say they will do, other than lighten your wallet.

This gentleman's series of videos does a great job explaining how to correct paint issues. There are 5 videos, be sure to watch all of them.

If you're going to do this, you will need some tools and materials (and a lot of time) but you will be very impressed with the end result.

 
Try some Collinite No. 840 Cleaner and No. 845 Wax. They work great.
 
Depends how oxidized it is, if it's holding wax it may be too far gone. And what you think are water spots might be primer showing through the thinning topcoat.
 
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I did quite a bit of auto detailing in college and I still do quite a bit for my own personal vehicles.

First off, a wax or cleaner wax is not going to correct that. Waxes are simply a last step product that are used to protect the paint (like sunscreen for your skin). Cleaner waxes are meant to chemically CLEAN the paint, but NOT to correct any defects in the paint. You need either 1. a polish 2. a compound 3. an AIO (all in one).

Second - doing paint correction by hand is very difficult and very inefficient. It is an investment, but I highly suggest you pick up a decent DA polisher (Griots or Porter Cable will do) and then pick up a few Lake Country Flat pads - orange, white, and blue. Your mind will be blown by what you can do with a good DA polisher. I have corrected paint in much worse condition than what you have shown here, but doing any correction by hand isn't going to get you very far.

Third - I am not sure when your plane was painted, but my guess (if it is older) is it is a single stage paint (meaning paint and primer - there is no clear coat like what we see on modern vehicles). This is actually a good thing as single stage paints are a lot softer and porous than clear coats. That is the reason you can take an old car with badly oxidized and faded paint and restore it to almost new. That can't be done on a modern car's clearcoat - they are very hard coatings and once they fail you can't do anything other than respray the entire panel.

Here is my suggestion to you:
1. Wash the surface
2. Clay the surface
3. Polish with DA Polisher (white or orange pad) with HD Speed

That is as simple as it gets. HD Speed is an awesome AIO product - it will polish and protect your paint as it contains a wax as well (hence "All In One" product). If you don't want to get yourself a DA polisher then I recommend you find someone who does have one or pay a decent mobile detailer to do the work. I can tell you that I could have that paint looking brand new in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately as I stated before, you will have a hell of a time trying to do this by hand (not that it can't be done, but results will be less than optimal)

If you want any help at all or have any questions please feel free to PM me! That goes for anyone on this forum! I love this stuff!

Just for your reference, there is some terminology that needs to be cleared up here:

- Wax/sealants - wax, sealants, paint coatings, hybrid waxes, carnauba - these are all simply protective coatings. There is no correction or paint removal done with a wax.
- Polish - liquid or paste that contains fine abrasives, primary purpose is to abrade the paint (your removing very fine layers of paint). Great for light scratches, swirls, etc. This is NOT a LSP like a wax (last step product).
- Compound - liquid or paste that contains very aggressive abrasive, primary purpose is to abrade paint quickly. Great for subsurface defects (deep scratches, swirls, water spots, etc). This is typically followed up by a polish and then a wax.
- Clay Bar - clay bar does NOT correct any paint defects whatsoever. The purpose of clay is to simply remove contaminates from the paint. This always done before doing any correction work or waxing. Traditional clay bar is a bit of a time consuming process so I use a nanoskin mitt now which is MUCH faster.
 
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OkieFlyer said:
Try some Collinite No. 840 Cleaner and No. 845 Wax. They work great.
Click to expand...

Collinite 845 is a GREAT last step product (wax). The 840 Cleaner is great, but it is designed to chemically clean the paint and does not contain any abrasives. Great Pre-Wax cleaner, but not designed for any defect removal.

If I want longevity I typically hit my vehicles with HD Speed followed by Collinite 845 - keeps it simple. If I am doing a nice vehicle (I did a BMW M3 not too long ago) I will get a little more "fancy" with it and go with a dedicated polish and top it off with a nice show car wax like Pinnacle Liquid Souveran. For an airplane though we want longevity!

Even better is a paint coating...these last 12-18 months versus 3-6 months of a normal wax.
 
flyingriki said:
Clay bars are for bumpy crap stuck to the surface that are not affected by rubbing compounds. Absolutely NOT for "some oxidation and water spots". They will also take off some overspray paint but not what you are describing. Won't do squat about your problems. Try the vinegar then, if necessary, the least rough material necessary, and work your way out to fine polish and wax.

Don't take my word for it. The Bag Test: There’s a simple test that will indicate whether or not you need to clay. Wash and dry your vehicle, put a plastic sandwich bag over your hand and lightly rub your fingertips over the paint. If it feels gritty or rough, your paint is contaminated.
Click to expand...

The baggie test is great! I do this on every car I detail.
 
CC268 said:
Collinite 845 is a GREAT last step product (wax). The 840 Cleaner is great, but it is designed to chemically clean the paint and does not contain any abrasives. Great Pre-Wax cleaner, but not designed for any defect removal.
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I recommended it mostly for the water spots/discoloration he mentioned.

I had some areas on my plane with stains, probably oil, and nothing would remove them. I used some mild abrasive compounds of different sorts with a buffer and they remained. I had nice smooth paint, but still stained. Finally, I tried the 840 and the stains went away. I'm not a body man by any means, and I may have been able to get them out with the buffer and compounds, better technique, and more patience, but the 840 got them out with much less effort. Of course, the oxidation will likely require something more aggressive, but I'd rub a little 840 on there and see what happens before committing to breaking out the buffer and compound. I was quite surprised by what 840 can do. YMMV.
 
OkieFlyer said:
I recommended it mostly for the water spots/discoloration he mentioned.

I had some areas on my plane with stains, probably oil, and nothing would remove them. I used some mild abrasive compounds of different sorts with a buffer and they remained. I had nice smooth paint, but still stained. Finally, I tried the 840 and the stains went away. I'm not a body man by any means, and I may have been able to get them out with the buffer and compounds, better technique, and more patience, but the 840 got them out with much less effort. Of course, the oxidation will likely require something more aggressive, but I'd rub a little 840 on there and see what happens before committing to breaking out the buffer and compound. I was quite surprised by what 840 can do. YMMV.
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Sure - it is very possible that any cleaner wax (Collinite 840, Pinnacle Cleansing Lotion, etc) could get the water spots out. It will simply depend on the type of waterspot. If it is etched in the paint a cleaner wax will provide marginal results. If it is simply stubborn surface waterspots then it should work fine. Again, having a DA polisher makes all the difference in the world though.
 
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