Can my paint be saved?

[pclark]

I have a black Civic and left a black trash bag laying on the hood for a couple of hours yesterday. When I got the bag off of the hood, the paint underneath the bag has turned grey. I do not know what to do. Is there anything I can do to save the paint or is it gone for good?

[xebola]

I am new to this so you might want to wait until some others like Murr et al give some advice.

I would wash the whole area (and probably the rest of the car as well.)

Clay a small portion of the stain. This might remove it.

If it doesn't, I would try DC1 on the same area that I clayed.

If that didn't work I would probably try Scratch-X (with extreme prejudice.)

If that didn't work I would freak out. Just kidding. It really doesn't sound that bad.

It might come out with QD or SD. It might come out with Body Solvent or a bug and tar remover. I have never seen the situation that you are describing, but somebody here knows how to deal with it. You will work it out.

[PsyDoc]

Gray?

This sounds like moisture got into the clearcoat and is giving a "cloud" appearance in the paint. I guess on a black car it would look sort of gray. There was a guy who had similar thing happen with a car bra. You should be able to do a search and find the thread. I recall that one of the suggested courses of action was to use a 50/50 solution of alcohol and water to help evaporate the moisture. I think someone also suggested parking it in the sun to see if doing so would help with the evaporation.

[Murr1525]

I cant see it being permanent.... but dont look at me on this one..

Do you at least have any sort of Quick Detailer too wipe over the area? Make sure there is nothing on the surface that can etch in.

When new cars come to a dealership, they sometimes have a sort of cloud, or shape, where the plastic was. Maybe it is similar to what you have? I've seen them just let it sit and it has gone away, or a little hair dryer sometimes speeds it up. I'd at least park in a warm spot, if not direct sun, and hopefully your situation is just temporary.

[xebola]

Wow that is fascinating. I wonder how moisture gets past the wax.

Check out:

Covered car with plastic sheet --> stained my paint

I hope it's not as bad as that. Best wishes.