How to Remove a Paint Sealant?

[ShineTimeDetail]

A Problem I have been running into sometimes is a friend or neighbor will have had someone put a sealant on the car and it will become rough with time. I actually had this same thing happen to me where I applied Megs sealant on my car and the roof, hood and trunk lid had a rough texture after about a month. I tried to clay bar the car, I would wash the car 2-3 times with very hot waster and Dawn dish soap, I even tried to buff it but it took about 2-3 months until finally it was all off! It was weird that all the side panels were still very smooth just the top sections were rough. Any insight to why this is and what will take this off for future reference.

Thank You
Tom R.

[04Si]

I would think if you used a polish it would take the top nano layer of the surface off. That would include removing the sealant.

[AndrewBall]

use a diluted APC. if im doing a full detail on my car i take my APC and dilute it down. it creates a very sudsy and very lubricated soap for me to wash cars with. it removes all wax, and if i need to remove sealant i might spray some more concentrated solution on the car before i do a pre wash rinse. if I spray the stuff directly on the dry car i will only do a small section monitoring it ready to hose it off if i notice it starting to dry. typically 30-45 seconds and im hosing it off.

then i wash the car with my APC solution and then dry it. I may test a section on the hood first before i call it done. I may try spraying filtered water on the hood and seeing how well it beads up. If im not satisfied I will wash again. Up side to this is, not only is all the trim and every thing squeaky clean it is good at loosening up sap and such that might still be adhered to the paint. making claying much easier.

The APC i use is a local dealers private line but these APCs cant be too different from each other. I mean someone makes this chemical that all these places use.

I would maybe try P21S Total Auto Wash, Meguiars Body Solvent, Meguiars APC or one of the many other companies APC's. Just make sure you dilute it.

I would try out the stuff on a panel of something painted that you dont care about and let it dry and see what happens.

If you dont have any spare fenders laying around. go to lowes or home depot pick up a small piece of sheet metal and use a spray can primer, color (gloss) and then use a clear over top of it.

this is far weaker then actual automotive Base clear and if you dont see a white residue wear the cleaner etched into the clear where you let it dry then you should be safe. even then if you do see it. try diluting it more, you may find that 1:8 is too strong so use 1:10 or 1:12. most of the APC unless they say they are not clear coat safe, wont hurt it. Megs Body solvent although i havent used it likely would be a place to start. anything that will remove bugs which is typically a citrus type solution will break down the waxes. I know i can use my APC to clean my wax pads but it foams so i dont use it.

Hell, I dont know much about DP pad rejuvenator but half the dosage in a bucket of water and that might provide you the wax removing power you need. Again though id try this some where else first.

[ShineTimeDetail]

what does APC mean?

[Bonifax]

what does APC mean?

ALL PURPOSE CLEANER like this one

Meguiar’s All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate, 1 Gallon, works on carpet, fabric, vinyl, and leather for all-over interior cleaning. (http://www.autogeek.net/mg10101.html)

[ShineTimeDetail]

ALL PURPOSE CLEANER like this one

Meguiar’s All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate, 1 Gallon, works on carpet, fabric, vinyl, and leather for all-over interior cleaning. (http://www.autogeek.net/mg10101.html)

LOL oh ok

[Kurt_s]

A Problem I have been running into sometimes is a friend or neighbor will have had someone put a sealant on the car and it will become rough with time. I actually had this same thing happen to me where I applied Megs sealant on my car and the roof, hood and trunk lid had a rough texture after about a month. I tried to clay bar the car, I would wash the car 2-3 times with very hot waster and Dawn dish soap, I even tried to buff it but it took about 2-3 months until finally it was all off! It was weird that all the side panels were still very smooth just the top sections were rough. Any insight to why this is and what will take this off for future reference.

Thank You
Tom R.

Tom,

Try a paint cleaner or a polish to remove sealants. 50% IPA or mineral spirits may remove the sealant as well. The paint cleaners normally use some type of solvent that should strip the sealant and the polish will abrade it off. Some cleaners have both.

I use a citrus based car wash at 1oz per gallon for cleaning the paint before correction to remove waxes and hopefully sealants. It also may or may not remove the sealant that you are using, and it's similar to using Dawn. At least it seems to get the vehicle really clean and the paint surface doesn't act (bead) like it did before the wash. :)

Good luck!

[Setec Astronomy]

Um...it doesn't sound to me like you need to remove the sealant, you need to remove whatever environmental contaminant is sticking on top of the sealant/car. It seems obvious to me that if the sides of the car are fine, it's not the sealant that's becoming rough. What happened when you clayed the car? Did the clay get dirty?

[ScottB]

Pinnacle and P21S make great paint cleansers to remove old sealants and waxes chemically. Polishing by abrasion will remove old sealants too.

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

I noticed that you said your hood, trunk and roof all had the rough feel to them. I honestly wonder if some sort of overspray got on it...either at work or if a neighbor had their house painted or just in a parking lot where construction of some sort was going on near by...it would land more on the horizontal surfaces than the verticle ones and that would explain why everything else still felt super smooth.

The other thing I'm wondering is possibly tree sap...usually people think tree sap and think of it just sticking to the tree, but some trees (like ones i have here where i live) actually kind of 'spit' it if you know what i mean...lands all over the car...and if not taken care of and allowed to bake, depending on the type of sap...it could cause a big pain in the a$$ to remove...same as overspray.

The suggestions made were good as far as how to take it off if it happens again...but if you notice it again the sooner you try to remove it, the better. The sealant will help keep it from bonding somewhat...but it can only do so much against overspray/sap and other things that will bond to your paint.

Just my thoughts, maybe im totally off...but ive seen/heard of it happening before. Hope that helps some:dblthumb2:

[ShineTimeDetail]

I tried to use Megs wax cleaner and some other brand but it availed nothing. I'm not sure what the deal was but I don't to use any more of the product even though the stuff is probably good lol

[AndrewBall]

I noticed that you said your hood, trunk and roof all had the rough feel to them. I honestly wonder if some sort of overspray got on it...either at work or if a neighbor had their house painted or just in a parking lot where construction of some sort was going on near by...it would land more on the horizontal surfaces than the verticle ones and that would explain why everything else still felt super smooth.

The other thing I'm wondering is possibly tree sap...usually people think tree sap and think of it just sticking to the tree, but some trees (like ones i have here where i live) actually kind of 'spit' it if you know what i mean...lands all over the car...and if not taken care of and allowed to bake, depending on the type of sap...it could cause a big pain in the a$$ to remove...same as overspray.

The suggestions made were good as far as how to take it off if it happens again...but if you notice it again the sooner you try to remove it, the better. The sealant will help keep it from bonding somewhat...but it can only do so much against overspray/sap and other things that will bond to your paint.

Just my thoughts, maybe im totally off...but ive seen/heard of it happening before. Hope that helps some:dblthumb2:

you are most likely correct. certain types of trees literally rain sap all day long. if you see it in the right light you can see it falling from them sometimes on a hot day.

This sap is fresh and typically HARD, to it will make the paint feel like gravel. if they have been there for a while they can eat through the sealant. there is enzymes in the sap that can eventually etch into the clear coat. :eek:

I know i did a GMC truck that had this problem. it had been taken care of but this sap wouldnt come off with a washing, or clay bar. it had been there too long. i had to sand them off and then correct it. a very long process.

So, if you feel your paint is rough, try washing it ASAP and see if it feels better, if it doesn't clay a small area and see then, if it starts to get better then, its Most likely sap.

if you wash, and clay and its still their its either been there for quite some time or its something else.

Also if you feel the surface is rough, clay bar might remove it. but if the sap etched into the coatings at all the surface may still feel rough. what you are feeling then is the depression left behind where the sap was. try using a solvent to wipe the sealants and everything off the clear and see where you stand there.

For that reason if i plan to detail the exterior of a car i will wash it with something aggressive enough to remove waxes and other products. This was I know the paint is clean and what ever i feel is most likely a surface imperfection.