Milky streaks after Super Degreaser use, how to remove/clean?

[scoutfai]

Some engine oil was accidentally spill over my car's engine bay during its regular service.
I brought the car home and decided to give it a very strong cleaning.
I used the Meguiar's Super Degreaser at 1:1 ratio. Get the job done as I wanted. But at night when I inspect it under a flashlight, I notice some white streaks stains under the hood as shown in the following picture (shot as best as I could):

I only see these stains under the hood.
I tried Meguiar's Cleaner Wax, SwirlX, Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polish, M205, Optimum Power Clean at 4:1 ratio, IPA 50%, odorless mineral spirit, all do not give me an effective solution. All done by hand polish.
Ultimate Polish gives the best result among them around certain area, but it could not completely clear out all the streaks.

I have no idea what these streaks are, in fact I am not even 100% sure these streaks does not exist until I cleaned the engine bay today but I am inclined to believe it is due to the engine cleaning today. Maybe I accidentally let the degreaser dries under the hood without realizing it.

I suspect it is a kind of strong cleaner agent etching on the non-clear-coated paint (under the hood has no clear coat).
It's late now so I cannot continue. Tomorrow I will try again, as you can imagine at that angle the arm get sore very fast, so I can't work much at tonight.
Someone suggested me to try to use an acidic cleaner to wipe on it, trying to neutralize the pH. Well I have Wheel Brightener but I am skeptic about that suggestion.

Can anyone offer advise on what are these streaks stains and method of removing them?

[The Guz]

Re: Milky streaks after Super Degreaser use, how to remove/clean?

The dilution ratios for super degreaser are 10:1 and 4:1. I suspect the ratio at 1:1 was the cause.

[scoutfai]

Re: Milky streaks after Super Degreaser use, how to remove/clean?

Yes I suspect that too. But the streaks only appear under the hood.
I needed the strong cleaning power due to the excessive engine oil all over the engine bay so I went straight to 1:1.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Milky streaks after Super Degreaser use, how to remove/clean?

Our Super De-greaser if left to dry on paint can certainly stain it, especially at 1:1. Did the Ultimate Compound by hand improve the appearance at all or was there no change?

Also, i have noticed the paint on the inside body panels can have a inconsistent appearance/spray pattern. It honestly doesn't look like a stain to me. I could be wrong, but I would think a stain would be much more apparent. Can you try to capture another picture from a different angle?

[scoutfai]

Re: Milky streaks after Super Degreaser use, how to remove/clean?

Our Super De-greaser if left to dry on paint can certainly stain it, especially at 1:1. Did the Ultimate Compound by hand improve the appearance at all or was there no change?

Also, i have noticed the paint on the inside body panels can have a inconsistent appearance/spray pattern. It honestly doesn't look like a stain to me. I could be wrong, but I would think a stain would be much more apparent. Can you try to capture another picture from a different angle?

Hi Nick, thanks for your feedback.

The next day I tried again. This time I mask a test area in the middle of the hood first. I first tried hand polishing with Ultimate Polish, then Ultimate Compound. This time I worked longer but there is no significant improvement. At this point I already can see a lot of silver pigment on the applicator pad, so pretty sure this under hood is not clear coated. Then I tried my friend's wild idea, use a 4:1 Wheel Brightener, spray on a cloth and wipe on it. It actually makes it more hazy. I am out of idea and bring out my traditional DA, fitted with a 3" cutting pad with Ultimate Compound and start polishing on the test area.
Soon after the cutting pad touches the panel, a lot of dark (almost black in color) pigment collected on the pad surface, then not long after that i see some light milky, brownish color appears. Which I assume is the prime coat. I stopped working anymore. Wipe the test area clean and touch it with finger, the surface felt very smooth (a result one will expect from machine polishing) but there is no gloss (which I guess is supposedly to be like that since it is not clear coated). This test area is not as hazy as other stain area now, but I wouldn't call it equal to other unstained area, nevertheless I also remind myself this could be due to there isn't much silver base coat left thus it is not as silver looking as the rest of the area.

Since I used up all my tricks and the test area makes me realize how thin and soft the base coat is (silver color), I stop trying any other method again. I think I am going to leave it just as it is until I get a more convincing suggestion.

The stains does not looks very obvious. In fact I need to be at certain angle and bright lighting to be able to see it. I tried my best to capture a few photos with my smartphone. The red circled area is the test area. You can see an obvious discoloration at there, that was after the DA machine polish, which I assume is the primer coat. I think you can click on the photo for bigger resolution.

Again I am not 100% sure Super-Degreaser at 1:1 left to dry at there accidentally is the reason to blame. But I will take more precaution next time.









For your information the base coat (silver) is Japanese paint (Kansai Paint), color name is Titanium Silver (code is S28), I think Dupont in USA produced the same color with same code.
From the photos the stains only locate at the area where the water droplet will stay there after a spray or rinse. So it is possible that when I was concentrate cleaning the engine, some degreaser accidentally sprayed on the under hood, then the solution just flows until it stopped and dripping at that area.