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  1. #11
    Super Member silverfox's Avatar
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    The Europeans are blowing us away in terms of using road grime film removers safely on car paint. If you look at those types of products offered in this country they are almost all from British companies who have exported them here.
    In my day we didn't have the Internet, iPods,iPads, or smart phones....but we had some really bad-azz cars.

  2. #12
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    This makes me want to call in sick on rainy days

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  4. #13
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    Quote Originally Posted by silverfox View Post
    The Europeans are blowing us away in terms of using road grime film removers safely on car paint. If you look at those types of products offered in this country they are almost all from British companies who have exported them here.
    Safety is, of course, a relative term. Many of the TFR products are extremely corrosive and are well known to cause issues if used incorrectly, especially on trims. This is one of the topics I used to bang on about all the time. The highly caustic products are cheap and effective but the risk to sensitive areas makes them, IMO, unsuitable for high end vehicle care. In that application, there are alternatives which are miles safer albeit at the expense of needing to be used at higher strength (in other words, the cost per use is higher). Unfortunately, not many of the new detailing brands know about that sort of thing!

  5. #14
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    It's worse in hot dry climates where it seldom rains and never snows. Much longer time for the films to build up on the roads between rains. The roads can get icy slick from the oily films, believe it or not.

    During the rain, it's also the water from the soaked road splashing the underside of vehicles and bringing more new grit and films onto the road surface--not just what was there on the road before the rain.

    Right after a rain, as the road surface begins to dry, I've noticed you can hear immensely more grit hitting your car (raised by the wheels of your car and cars you pass) due to the above, so I avoid driving right AFTER a rain too.

    Of course, sometimes you have no choice.

  6. #15
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    Quote Originally Posted by SR99 View Post
    It's worse in hot dry climates where it seldom rains and never snows. Much longer time for the films to build up on the roads between rains. The roads can get icy slick from the oily films, believe it or not.

    During the rain, it's also the water from the soaked road splashing the underside of vehicles and bringing more new grit and films onto the road surface--not just what was there on the road before the rain.

    Right after a rain, as the road surface begins to dry, I've noticed you can hear immensely more grit hitting your car (raised by the wheels of your car and cars you pass) due to the above, so I avoid driving right AFTER a rain too.

    Of course, sometimes you have no choice.
    I've definitely experienced the icy slickness on a summer day after a rain shower... It was a number of years ago, but I was taking a right (or trying to) when I slid across the road past the turn that I was supposed to make. I stopped just short of the drainage ditch on the other side! Luckily there were no other cars around.

  7. #16
    Mike Phillips
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    Quote Originally Posted by SR99 View Post

    It's worse in hot dry climates where it seldom rains and never snows. Much longer time for the films to build up on the roads between rains.

    Completely agree.


    Quote Originally Posted by SR99 View Post

    The roads can get icy slick from the oily films, believe it or not.

    I know I've experienced this exact thing... how the road can be slippery after raining when previously there's been a long dry spell.

    Always a good idea to be alert to this point.




  8. #17
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    Whilst hot and dry gives time for films to build up on the roads, it tends to mean that the films are less inclined to transfer to vehicles. I know it is anecdotal but UK vehicles are much dirtier beasts that those I have seen in arizona or california. Yes, there is particular soiling including mud and similar but this contributes to the film which builds on your vehicle as it is combined with the oily character or the film and thus does not rinse off.

    It seems to me that this also tends to be supported by the fact that UK has a large industry built around highly caustic TFR products whereas this seems to be notably less (from discussions on here) in the US.

  9. #18
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film


  10. #19
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    Quote Originally Posted by PiPUK View Post

    Whilst hot and dry gives time for films to build up on the roads, it tends to mean that the films are less inclined to transfer to vehicles.
    I agree.


    Quote Originally Posted by PiPUK View Post

    I know it is anecdotal but UK vehicles are much dirtier beasts that those I have seen in Arizona or California.
    I agree with this too...

    I have a unique perspective on this topic as I lived most of my life in Oregon, where it rains a LOT. Then moved to Southern California in the coastal area and later to the Mojave Desert where it hardly ever rains, (in both places, near the coast and in the desert).

    Cars don't have near as bad a road film problem in SoCal or in the desert as they do in wet, rainy Oregon.

    Cars do still get dirty however as I show in this thread,


    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Phillips


    Here's why you need to polish paint...


    My buddy Mike owns this really cool 1932 Ford Phaeton with yellow paint that to the average person looks pretty good. But a little polishing using a tape-line shows why all of us need to periodically polish the paint on our cars, especially our daily drivers, and the reason for this is because the paint becomes stained with a film of dirt that clouds the true color of the paint.

    Here's a section I've taped off on the cowel because me and one of our forum members already buffed out the hood when he stopped by to test out polishers.






    On the left I've clayed the paint and then machine polished it twice and then applied a coat of wax. You can clearly see the left side is now a brighter color of yellow and the right hand side has what appears to be grayish film over the paint.




    Here's the same picture above with graphics....




    Of course I finished polishing the rest of the car to test out some new products...




    Products worked well and now the dirt staining has been removed off the entire body and a coat of Max Wax has been applied.







    The paint on your car gets dirty too...

    The car in the pictures above is a garage-kept, sunny day only street rod, yet... the paint was still stained with dirt.

    If the paint on a car that is always stored in a garage except for sunny days gets dirt stained paint, what do you think happens to cars that are daily drivers?

    How about cars that are daily drivers but are never parked in the garage?


    That's right... the paint gets a dirt film over it and for this reason in order to maintain the paint and see the true color you need to periodically deep clean the paint with some type of paint polishing process. Any of these approaches will remove the dirt staining over the paint,


    • Using a one-step cleaner/wax
    • Using a paint cleaner also called a pre-wax cleaner.
    • Using a compound followed by a polish
    • Using a medium, fine or ultra fine cut polish
    If the owner of the above car had not used one of the above and instead used a finishing wax, or a finishing sealant, that is a product with no ability to clean the paint, what they would have done is simply "sealed the paint" and continued the staining problem.


    Medium to dark colored cars
    It's pretty easy to use a tape-line to reveal dirt staining on white and light colored cars but if you were to do this on a medium to dark colored cars, chances are good your eyes would not detect the change in color to the paint.

    That doesn't mean the paint on dark colored cars isn't covered with a film of dirt, it just means you and I can't see it. It's there however, and it's important to periodically polish the paint to remove the built-up film of dirt and other contaminants.

    Polishing the paint will restore clarity to a clear coat and it will restore the full richness of color to a single stage paint.

    It will also prepare the paint for your choice of a wax or sealant.

    If you choose to use a paint coating, you'll need to do an extra step to prepare the paint for the coating and it's always a good idea to follow the manufacturer's directions.



    Now that you've read this article and looked at the pictures...

    When is the last time you polished the paint on your daily driver?


    It's probably polishing time...





    Quote Originally Posted by PiPUK View Post

    It seems to me that this also tends to be supported by the fact that UK has a large industry built around highly caustic TFR products whereas this seems to be notably less (from discussions on here) in the US.
    I'd agree with you on this too... I'm thinking we're more lucky on this point than our friends across the pond.



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  12. #20
    Super Member Mike Honcho's Avatar
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    Re: Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    Bumped for the excellent and detailed info!
    Mike Honcho

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