autogeekonline car wax, car care and auto detailing forum Autogeek on TV
car wax, car care and auto detailing forumAutogeekonline autogeekonline car wax, car care and auto detailing forum HomeForumBlogAutogeek.net StoreDetailing Classes with Mike PhillipsGalleryDetailing How To's
 
Page 1 of 8 12345678 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 74
  1. #1
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

    Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film



    Road Film

    Road film is the oily film splattered all over your car when you drive in the rain.




    Road Film also called Traffic Film tends to accumulate most visibly on the back of a vehicle and also the lower portions of a car but the truth is, if you drive your car in the rain, it's everywhere.



    Over time, road film impacts ONTO the paint to the point where a normal car wash will not remove it. The best way to remove it is to use a mechanical means via one of these options,

    1. Paint Cleaner
    2. AIO or All-in-One cleaner/wax type product
    3. Compound
    4. Polish




    Driving in the rain - For most of us it's unavoidable








    Where does Road Film come from?

    Oils and other fluids that drip out of cars, truck and suvs accumulate on roads and highways over time.

    When it rains, these accumulated oils and other fluids mix with the rain and are then splattered all over your car in effect staining you're entire car from top to bottom. The highest concentration of road film accumulates on your wheels, tires and lower body panels.


    Just look in the parking space of any parking lot...







    Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid, Gear Oil and other fluids

    These outlined areas show where fluids have dripped off engines and transmission, even radiators and accumulated to the point that the pavement has been permanently stained.







    It's also on roads and highways...





    The oil stain line that runs down the middle of the road...




    The dark line down the middle of the road
    It's the darker, line down the middle of roads and freeways where most of the oily fluids accumulate as car, truck and suvs drive down the road.

    Now that you've read this article and looked at the above pictures, you'll remember this every time you look down the road you're driving on.


    Remember, oil and water don't mix
    When it rains, the cars in front of you spray the rain water mixed in with these accumulated oils onto not only your car's paint but the wheels, tires, glass, plastic, cloth tops and vinyl tops.

    If it's on the outside of the car then it's getting coated with oily road film.


    Road Film builds up over time..
    Oily road film builds up over time and because this film is oily or sticky it attracts dirt. This can be the dirt in the air or also in rain water that's splattered onto your car from the cars driving in front of you.


    Can't always be seen...
    Because the dirt staining effect caused by road film build up slowly over time it's not always easy to see, especially on black and dark colored cars, but don't be fooled, if you drive in the rain your car is getting coated in road film.


    The solution to the problem?
    Washing your car will remove any topical road film. The problem is the dirty, oil film will tend to migrate into any voids, pits, pores or interstices in your car's paint at least to the point that normal car washing won't remove it.


    It's pretty easy to remove road film, all you have to do is periodically use one of the below approaches,

    Use a quality cleaner/wax or AIO. The cleaning agents and/or abrasives in the cleaner/wax will remove any road film that washing could not remove.

    Use a dedicated polish by hand or machine. Any high quality polish will effectively remove any built-up road film. Just be sure to apply a wax, sealant or coating afterwards to seal the paint.



    UPDATED - July 8th, 2021

    A few weeks ago I used my own car to use and then review a new car wash. It had been months since I had washed the car. During this time I have driven this car in a lot of rainy weather. Below the pictures CLEARLY show you ROAD FILM. And over time, this film IMPACTS ONTO the car so it doesn't all wash off. It takes some form of chemical decontamination and machine polishing to remove it 100%

    As I wash the car you can visibly see a layer of road film being removed.






    She's a dirty girl...

    Look carefully at the dirt level on the paint...





    See it?

    See the vibrant white color where I've ran the mitt over the paint? Then look in front of this area and you can easily see just how dirty this car was.










    The above pictures taken from this product review.

    Review: DP GR4 Graphene Wash





    Road Film... if you drive your car in the rain it's on your car...




  2. Thanks VitreousHumor, kolop thanked for this post
    Likes VitreousHumor, kolop liked this post
  3. #2
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

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

    Here's a few articles that share various ways to remove road film...


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








    Dirt in Paint or DIP - Stained Paint - Dirt Embedded Paint

    Here's the picture, not the difference in the color of green on either side of the black line...


    The car above is Wayne Carini's 1953 Hudson



    How to remove stains and embedded dirt out of paint

    The dirt you see on the pad in my hand... (the pad started out white)





    Came from this CLEARCOATED car...




    The paint is clear and the brownish color is years of dirt staining that builds up ON the paint and doesn't wash off. It does come off when you use a compound, polish or cleaner/wax.




    How to clay, clean and wax paint by hand with Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion and Pinnacle Signature Series II Carnauba Paste Wax

    While claying will remove above surface bonded contaminants, Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion will remove embedded road grime and pollutants as you can see when we compare the applicator pad we used to a brand new, clean applicator pad.






    The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us






  4. Thanks kolop thanked for this post
    Likes VitreousHumor, kolop liked this post
  5. #3
    McKee's 37 Product Support
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    7,265
    Post Thanks / Like

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

    Excellent article Mike.

    I would like to add another way to remove stubborn topical road film, and that's with a paint-safe chemical cleaner. A great example is Detailer's Road Kill Bug Remover. While this product was primarily formulated as a spray-on bug and tar remover, it also works as a great "booster" to your car wash solution. A couple ounces will dramatically increase your soap's cleaning ability; you don't have to worry about it stripping a good quality wax or sealant either.




    Detailer’s Road Kill Bug Remover

  6. #4
    Super Member jankerson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    1,084
    Post Thanks / Like

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

    Most likely the reason why I hate driving my cars in the rain.

    Isn't it possible though that if the cars finish is properly maintained like people here on AG that washing and going over with a quality QD product would lessen the effects?

  7. #5
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

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

    Quote Originally Posted by jankerson View Post
    Most likely the reason why I hate driving my cars in the rain.

    Isn't it possible though that if the cars finish is properly maintained like people here on AG that washing and going over with a quality QD product would lessen the effects?

    Of course!

    And this is something I practice all the time with my truck as it's a daily driver...

    Frequent Car Care is Easy Car Care


    Keep a waterless wash and a spray wax with some clean microfiber towels behind your truck's seat or wherever you can in your driver...




    My article called The lesson white paint teaches us actually goes into detail about paint getting dirty...




  8. #6
    Super Member jankerson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    1,084
    Post Thanks / Like

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

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek View Post
    Of course!

    And this is something I practice all the time with my truck as it's a daily driver...

    Frequent Car Care is Easy Car Care


    Keep a waterless wash and a spray wax with some clean microfiber towels behind your truck's seat or wherever you can in your driver...




    My article called The lesson white paint teaches us actually goes into detail about paint getting dirty...




    That's what I figured.

    That White paint thread is my favorite thread here on AG.

    But then I am bias because I own 2 white vehicles.

    I will NEVER own another Black car...

  9. #7
    Super Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Minot, ND
    Posts
    12,365
    Post Thanks / Like

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

    Thanks for sharing Gentlemen. Being here in Germany my car is subject to this road film everyday as I rely on it to get me to work. Also the weather is very unpredictable.

    Unfortunately my car is a lot dirtier now than what I care for.

  10. #8
    Super Member Pureshine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    4,774
    Post Thanks / Like

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

    Very nice thanks for sharing this

  11. #9
    Super Member Scott@IncrediblyDetailed's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    935
    Post Thanks / Like

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

    Great article. Something I never thought of.

  12. #10
    Super Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    1,149
    Post Thanks / Like

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

    Nice article Mike.

    This is something which seems to be much more widely considered over here in Europe. We have a whole industry built around TFRs or Traffic Film Removers. The basic product type is strongly to extremely alkaline, the need for touchless cleaning pushes to the stronger end. In practice, many are actually rather similar to what you might use to clean your oven. 'Detailers' have traditionally shunned TFR products as being somehow evil but such products are now commonplace since the detailing/valeting brands are wise to this and have changed the names (and often diluted the nastier products).

Page 1 of 8 12345678 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Road film is hard to remove, need help?
    By TrustJesus in forum Auto Detailing 101
    Replies: 28
    Last Post: 01-06-2021, 02:25 PM
  2. Road film removal
    By kenshotx in forum Auto Detailing 101
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 02-17-2020, 10:23 AM
  3. Replies: 41
    Last Post: 06-28-2019, 02:28 PM
  4. Central texas road film how to remove
    By fuchsjhf in forum Auto Detailing 101
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 03-13-2018, 01:42 PM
  5. Road film left after using ONR
    By hollerstiltner in forum Auto Detailing 101
    Replies: 27
    Last Post: 08-17-2017, 07:36 PM

Members who have read this thread: 3

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

» March 2024

S M T W T F S
2526272829 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 123456