Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

[theblackaltima]

Not too long ago, I applied rim cleaner on the hood of my car as if it were wax! The horrid memory is still quite ripe and vivid in my mind. I was rubbing the product into my hood with a wax pad by hand. By the 75 percent completion mark, I realized something was not right. I looked at the bottle of what I thought was wax in my hand, but low and behold, it was in fact rim cleaner! I quickly dropped everything I held in my hand and with my mouth agape, I ran back inside the house, filled a bucket with hot water, and doused the hood of my car with it all the while cursing out loud. Then, steam emanated from the hood, and it looked as if my engine were smoking! But alas, engine smoke it was not. I wiped, and I wiped. Until eventually, the hood was dry.

The microfiber towel I used to wipe the rim cleaner off has no black paint on it.

The hood of my car now contains swirl-like marks, but instead of being in a circular motion, they run downwards. I'm pretty sure it wasn't there before.

How can I undo my terrible mistake? Apply polish and then WAX? I'm out of those items currently.

What did I do to deserve this terrible fate?

PS: I didn't use meguiar's rim cleaner. I used the product that starts with and 'S' and ends with a 'z'. (I'm not sure I'm allowed to mention other products here).

[davey g-force]

Re: Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

A photo would help, but it sounds like you'll need to clay, then compound (and/or polish), then wax.

Don't panic, it should be fixable.

PS: Don't you mean the product that starts with and 'S' and ends with a 'x' ??

[TheSublimeGoose]

Re: Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

1....I applied rim cleaner on the hood of my car as if it were wax...I ran back inside the house, filled a bucket with hot water, and doused the hood of my car with it all the while cursing out loud. Then, steam emanated from the hood, and it looked as if my engine were smoking...

2.The hood of my car now contains swirl-like marks, but instead of being in a circular motion, they run downwards. I'm pretty sure it wasn't there before.

3.How can I undo my terrible mistake? Apply polish and then WAX? I'm out of those items currently.

4.PS: I didn't use meguiar's rim cleaner. I used the product that starts with and 'S' and ends with a 'z'. (I'm not sure I'm allowed to mention other products here).

Alrighty, I want to address a few things in your (shortened by me, simply to consolidate) post. Also, bear in mind, the MeguiarsOnline.com staff/administrators are, in my opinion and experience heavily involved here on the forums. Point being, this is an interesting question, I forsee one of the forum's staff eventually responding to your conundrum. Additionally, please bear in mind I'm simply a layman. A relatively experienced, and amateur detailer; But I'm a layman, nonetheless. Keep checking this thread, in case one of the staff responds.

First off, holy cow! What luck, right? However, honestly, don't beat yourself up too much over this. I've found myself in a hurry, or simply getting so relaxed because of the therapeutic value of detailing, that I'll grab the wrong product and almost do what you did.

The best piece of advice I can give you to prevent this in the future, is something I've done. Quite literally make it a part of your detailing routine to always, always, always, look at whatever product you're about to use, before you even apply said product to the applicator pad/cloth/etc. What I mean by this, is make it a part of your routine in such a way that it would seem absurd not to do it. For me, not looking at the product's label before application is as necessary of a routine for me as, say, using two buckets during Step 1 (wash). It takes a quarter of a second, and could save you many minutes, if not hours of work to fix the blunder. If you look at this addition to your routine as necessary as the aforementioned example (the two buckets, that is) it becomes easy to add it to said routine.

Please don't take this as a lecture; Indeed, I merely wish to present an easy way to add a possibly paint-saving method to your technique. Anytime you need to add a step to your routine, use that advice! It's worked for me, and for my detailing compatriots. OK. Sorry for the novel. On to your issue!

1. If this, heaven forbid, ever happens again I would suggest using warm water, not hot. Paint (well, the clear coat [CC]) is porous, and heat, especially high heat that would be indicated by the steaming, could expand those pores. Therefore, more of the product that you don't want on your paint/clear coat could be absorbed. When we're dealing with something that is potentially "caustic" as well, you want as little product getting onto, or, into, as the case may be, your CC/paint. This is something that I do have more of a layman's knowledge of, due to my career field in the military. In some cases, the heat could make the product itself more caustic. Think of this way, if you HAD to choose one these options; I pour bleach on your vehicle's hood, or steaming hot bleach on your hood, which would you choose? Again, I get that neither option is preferable, but obviously, you'd choose the room-temperature bleach. So, by pouring the steaming-hot water on your vehicle, you're making the product in question hot. To put your mind at ease, I'd say that since we're talking tap water, I'm sure it didn't do all that much damage to your paint. Just keep that in mind.

2. & 3. This is the meat of of my response. We're talking swirl marks so compound, then polish! Now, and I think this may be very important. Before you jump right in and compound the entire affected, take a VERY small amount of compound on an applicator, use your index finger and test it on an EXTREMELY small part of the affected area. You should do this anyways, whenever you use a new product on your paint/CC, but there is a reason I'm recommending this so heavily in this circumstance. Your paint/CC may have been weakened by the rim-cleaner, the heat, or a combination of both. This is a reactionary and probably overblown response, but, hey- better safe to be sorry... right?!

4. I've never ran into any issues utilizing other brand names. The other companies can't prevent the citizenry of the U.S. (where the majority of this forum's users are from) from using their product's names in a conversation. You know, that little thing called the "First Amendment" . Since this is a private forum, however, Meguiars, has the right to prevent them from being used, or any other words, for that matter (why you can't cuss on forums like this). That being said, I've never experienced any issues going on about "Turtle Wax" and "Armor All" and the like! Just a friendly FYI.

Hope all this helps, and, again, I apologize for the novel of a forum post. Just had a lot of information to get out.

~Mark

[theblackaltima]

Re: Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

Thanks for the responses. @davey g-force, I'll post a picture in a short while. I really hope a clay bar isn't necessary.

@MarkFilgerleski And as for the compound, can I use ultimate compound? I've used the ultimate compound to get rid of a good number of scratches on the sides of my car. Wouldn't that remove paint? The hood is the most important aesthetic to a car, and definitely mine!

[theblackaltima]

Re: Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

Alrighty, I want to address a few things in your (shortened by me, simply to consolidate) post. Also, bear in mind, the MeguiarsOnline.com staff/administrators are, in my opinion and experience heavily involved here on the forums. Point being, this is an interesting question, I forsee one of the forum's staff eventually responding to your conundrum. Additionally, please bear in mind I'm simply a layman. A relatively experienced, and amateur detailer; But I'm a layman, nonetheless. Keep checking this thread, in case one of the staff responds.

First off, holy cow! What luck, right? However, honestly, don't beat yourself up too much over this. I've found myself in a hurry, or simply getting so relaxed because of the therapeutic value of detailing, that I'll grab the wrong product and almost do what you did.

The best piece of advice I can give you to prevent this in the future, is something I've done. Quite literally make it a part of your detailing routine to always, always, always, look at whatever product you're about to use, before you even apply said product to the applicator pad/cloth/etc. What I mean by this, is make it a part of your routine in such a way that it would seem absurd not to do it. For me, not looking at the product's label before application is as necessary of a routine for me as, say, using two buckets during Step 1 (wash). It takes a quarter of a second, and could save you many minutes, if not hours of work to fix the blunder. If you look at this addition to your routine as necessary as the aforementioned example (the two buckets, that is) it becomes easy to add it to said routine.

Please don't take this as a lecture; Indeed, I merely wish to present an easy way to add a possibly paint-saving method to your technique. Anytime you need to add a step to your routine, use that advice! It's worked for me, and for my detailing compatriots. OK. Sorry for the novel. On to your issue!

1. If this, heaven forbid, ever happens again I would suggest using warm water, not hot. Paint (well, the clear coat [CC]) is porous, and heat, especially high heat that would be indicated by the steaming, could expand those pores. Therefore, more of the product that you don't want on your paint/clear coat could be absorbed. When we're dealing with something that is potentially "caustic" as well, you want as little product getting onto, or, into, as the case may be, your CC/paint. This is something that I do have more of a layman's knowledge of, due to my career field in the military. In some cases, the heat could make the product itself more caustic. Think of this way, if you HAD to choose one these options; I pour bleach on your vehicle's hood, or steaming hot bleach on your hood, which would you choose? Again, I get that neither option is preferable, but obviously, you'd choose the room-temperature bleach. So, by pouring the steaming-hot water on your vehicle, you're making the product in question hot. To put your mind at ease, I'd say that since we're talking tap water, I'm sure it didn't do all that much damage to your paint. Just keep that in mind.

2. & 3. This is the meat of of my response. We're talking swirl marks so compound, then polish! Now, and I think this may be very important. Before you jump right in and compound the entire affected, take a VERY small amount of compound on an applicator, use your index finger and test it on an EXTREMELY small part of the affected area. You should do this anyways, whenever you use a new product on your paint/CC, but there is a reason I'm recommending this so heavily in this circumstance. Your paint/CC may have been weakened by the rim-cleaner, the heat, or a combination of both. This is a reactionary and probably overblown response, but, hey- better safe to be sorry... right?!

4. I've never ran into any issues utilizing other brand names. The other companies can't prevent the citizenry of the U.S. (where the majority of this forum's users are from) from using their product's names in a conversation. You know, that little thing called the "First Amendment" . Since this is a private forum, however, Meguiars, has the right to prevent them from being used, or any other words, for that matter (why you can't cuss on forums like this). That being said, I've never experienced any issues going on about "Turtle Wax" and "Armor All" and the like! Just a friendly FYI.

Hope all this helps, and, again, I apologize for the novel of a forum post. Just had a lot of information to get out.

~Mark

Well, I applied ultimate compound on the hood and found that it changed the direction of the swirl marks. Great.

Then, I applied ultimate polish on the hood and found it got rid of most of the swirl marks. Great!

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until the weekend to get wax and more polish as I've neglected the other 85% of the car.

Also, I found a small dent on the rear side of the car next to the wheel. Thank you, whoever did that. I hope you receive 10x worse.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

Yikes! This could turn out to be a very serious issue, or much ado about nothing, depending on exactly what product you used and how long it sat on the paint. We have no problem with other brands being mentioned here on MOL and in this case, we want to know exactly which wheel cleaner you used. Was this, as Davey suspects, actually Sonax Full Effect wheel cleaner? If so, then you really shouldn't be in trouble here as that product is pH neutral and safe on virtually wheel surfaces, including painted wheels. And those painted wheels really aren't all that much different from your painted hood. Even so, prolonged exposure to the product - like 10 to 15 minutes or more - could possibly cause some staining to the surface. It's not intended to be used that way, nor is it intended to be worked against the surface like a wax, which sounds like what you were doing. But again, short term exposure even if it was applied this way shouldn't present a problem. Long term exposure?


So, please let us know exactly which product you used - if not Sonax, then the brand and specific product. Many companies offer more than one wheel cleaner so being very specific is critical here. We often hear people say they used Meguiar's Hot Rims and loved it (or hated it), but there are actually three different products under that sub brand. Without knowing which one they used and what the issue may have been, it's hard for us to determine why they had an issue. Also, a picture or three would be very helpful in diagnosing the issue here.

[KBzPTGT]

Re: Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

Simoniz ?

[davey g-force]

Re: Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

^^ Didn't even think of that! But I'm not sure they make a wheel cleaner?

[TheSublimeGoose]

Re: Accidentally applied Rim Cleaner on hood of my black car!

So, theblackaltima, everything come out OK? I apologize for not answering your Q about Ultimate Compound. I'm just not on here nearly as much as I'd like to be! Oh, and- a Meg's staff member responded! Pretty sweet, right?!

~Mark