Weird white dots.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Weird white dots.

I have 3 options i guess(?)

1) Take it to the self-serve car wash tomorrow and try the method you suggested (spraying it with a high-pressured spray).
2) Will i have any luck with Meguiar's Clay?
3) Using a detailer:

1) You're best chance outside of using a toothpick to dig it out

2) No

3) Not really, you'd be better off with a toothpick and dig it out or a pressure washer and force it out with water. Neither are great solutions.

Welcome to Rock Chip City.

[cryptopath]

Re: Weird white dots.

You know, I believe this is something to do with Meguiar's wax.

Backstory: I bought a tin of Meguiar's Carnauba Wax, and used it on my black car. It went on pretty thick the first time (I guess that's the first time it got any wax), and then I buffed it all off.

Before: When I was done, the car looked great. No white spots. (Some staining though, more on this later).

After: A few weeks later, I started finding little white spots of wax on my car. They look ridiculous. I can remove them with my fingernail, but I'd rather not do this all the time. I also find white streaks of wax, as if the wax decided one day to bunch up and form streaks.

So from this I conclude that it may have something to do with weathering / an effect that develops over time. I also find that I notice them after I go over pollen with a duster. Could the duster be scratching the wax up? Or maybe removing the pollen makes the white spots stand out. From what I've tried, I can't tell. I just don't like the white spots.

I'm rather disappointed by Meguiar's Carnauba Wax. It stains trim, and leaves random white dots. If anyone knows what it is or how I can avoid it, please let me know.

[speed3blackmica]

Re: Weird white dots.

its really wierd that im reading this...today i just washed my car, and after drying i noticed tons of white spots everywhere ! i thought they were all miniature rock chips ! i got so mad! i picked at with my finger ever so gently and it came off. i dont know what it was..but a clay bar took it right off the paint..strange.

[cryptopath]

Re: Weird white dots.

I have a new hypothesis.

The white wax spots on my car is probably just wax sitting in little indentations in my paint. They aren't obvious at first because the coat of wax is thick (the whole area is smooth), but as the wax wears off with time, it exposes the imperfections. I believe this isn't geometrically possible (there's no reason why the wax surface would be rougher inside the indentations), but that's the best I can come up with.

This would explain why they appear with time... Still not sure why nobody else has this problem, though...

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Weird white dots.

its really wierd that im reading this...today i just washed my car, and after drying i noticed tons of white spots everywhere ! i thought they were all miniature rock chips ! i got so mad! i picked at with my finger ever so gently and it came off. i dont know what it was..but a clay bar took it right off the paint..strange.

We've had people call a day after claying and waxing to complain that the claying didn't last long, which is sort of an odd statement to begin with, but in the end it turned out to be tree sap mist. Not the kind of tree sap that leaves pencil eraser sized blobs of sap, but the very fine stuff that you can only see at certain angles (but you can sure feel it). Of course, this usually ends up happening only on the horizontal surfaces of the car, unless it's fairly windy in which case one side of the car can be covered too. But it almost never covers the entire vehicle.

I have a new hypothesis.

The white wax spots on my car is probably just wax sitting in little indentations in my paint. They aren't obvious at first because the coat of wax is thick (the whole area is smooth), but as the wax wears off with time, it exposes the imperfections. I believe this isn't geometrically possible (there's no reason why the wax surface would be rougher inside the indentations), but that's the best I can come up with.

This would explain why they appear with time... Still not sure why nobody else has this problem, though...

The only "little indentations" your paint should have would be very small rock chips in the hood. These can be so small that you don't even notice them, until you finally break down and use clay, a paint cleaner and then wax. The wax gets into those tiny little nicks and dries white, making them quite noticeable against dark colored paint. You may not see these for a day or two. It also sounds as though you applied the wax far too thick - at least "thick" is a term that is never associated with a proper wax application.

The streaking you mentioned is very unusual. When you consider that, no matter how heavy you apply a wax, or how many coats you apply, it leaves behind a film that is only a few nanometers thick. It can't just later on bunch up and leave streaks - it isn't physically possible.

Do you have any pictures of either of these issues? How old is the car and what sort of condition is the paint in?