Help!!! How to remove overspray of wheels.

[PMMcivicFB2]

Was cleaning my wheels and noticed what seems to be construction orange paint splatter/spots. Any ideas how to remove this with out ruining the finish on the wheel.

 

[Nix]

Man that sucks! Are you certain it's paint? Can you carefully "pick" the spots off with your finger nail?

Try a clay bar first. You might need an aggressive grade of clay. Hopefully that will do it. I would stay away from any type of paint thinner or paint remover as it might dull the surface of the black spoke.

There are generally three grades of clay available. Fine, medium, and aggressive. The aggressive is kind of hard to find but most professional detailing websites should have it. I would caution you that you should not use it on the paint on the rest of your car. It will mar the surface much much easier than the other two. You will also need to pick up some clay lube. You can certainly use anything listed as a "quick detailer" spray. They are usually good enough for small jobs. If I had aggressive clay I would send you a chunk for free but it's something I've never needed. The clay may not work though.

A similar paint splatter happened to my mothers car and regular clay did not remove the specks. We had to get out the buffer and use some pretty decent polish to get them off or in most cases, just less visible. It sucks hard. A really strong bug/tar remover got them off but left dull spots in the finish. Super visible compared to the tiny yellow spots. Again, required buffing to remove but you're not gonna be able to really buff those spokes unless you do it by hand. That's a pain.


If it's not clay it could also be iron filings from your brake pads that have embedded themselves in the finish. If so, a product called Iron X is what you want. I would say to get the gel version as it is very good for staying put on things like wheels. Wear a latex/rubber glove and just smear it all over the spots.

I bet @RaskyR1 might have an even better idea though. He's the master of detailing. Like seriously one of the best in the country.

 

[PMMcivicFB2]

Man that sucks! Are you certain it's paint? Can you carefully "pick" the spots off with your finger nail?

Try a clay bar first. You might need an aggressive grade of clay. Hopefully that will do it. I would stay away from any type of paint thinner or paint remover as it might dull the surface of the black spoke.

There are generally three grades of clay available. Fine, medium, and aggressive. The aggressive is kind of hard to find but most professional detailing websites should have it. I would caution you that you should not use it on the paint on the rest of your car. It will mar the surface much much easier than the other two. You will also need to pick up some clay lube. You can certainly use anything listed as a "quick detailer" spray. They are usually good enough for small jobs. If I had aggressive clay I would send you a chunk for free but it's something I've never needed. The clay may not work though.

A similar paint splatter happened to my mothers car and regular clay did not remove the specks. We had to get out the buffer and use some pretty decent polish to get them off or in most cases, just less visible. It sucks hard. A really strong bug/tar remover got them off but left dull spots in the finish. Super visible compared to the tiny yellow spots. Again, required buffing to remove but you're not gonna be able to really buff those spokes unless you do it by hand. That's a pain.


If it's not clay it could also be iron filings from your brake pads that have embedded themselves in the finish. If so, a product called Iron X is what you want. I would say to get the gel version as it is very good for staying put on things like wheels. Wear a latex/rubber glove and just smear it all over the spots.

I bet @RaskyR1 might have an even better idea though. He's the master of detailing. Like seriously one of the best in the country.

No it's actual paint. Neon orange like what the use for road work.

 

[KennyGS]

I would try using some WD-40 on a cotton cloth.

 

[JonnyRotten]

I'm surprised that you can't just pick the little paint spots off with your finger nail.

 

[RaskyR1]

There are various solvents out there that may work but you really need to know what kind of paint it is first. I would start with what Nix suggested and go with a clay bar or maybe a plastic razor blade before moving to a solvent.

FWIW I've always avoid over spray jobs like the plague so my experience with them is somewhat limited and I can probably count the number of jobs I've done on 2 hands.