How To Remove Oversprayed Coating From A Car
What is Overspray?
Liquasil’s metal roof coatings, Metalseal and Liquasil Lite are often applied using airless spray equipment, as this is the quickest and most cost-effective method.
Unfortunately, small gusts of wind can result in the atomised product being lifted and carried for some distance as it leaves the spray gun.
Eventually, the product will fall to the ground or onto vheicles and structures, which will look like tiny dots of paint, feeling rough to the touch when the oversprayed coating cures.
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
Overspray risk can be elimintaed by either moving vehicles away from the vicinity of the coating works, or considering application by brush and roller instead of airless spray.
Some contractors cover cars with polythene car covers during spraying works and this is a very good protection method.
It is possible to mitigate the risk of overspray by installing protective barriers around scaffolded areas, though this might be of limited effectiveness on windy days.
Dryfall Coatings
The problem of overspray is common to all coatings, not just ours. Some manufacturers claim that their coatings or paint systems are “dry fall” but this is often more of a marketing term because in order for overspray to be dry relies on very exact weather, temperature and distance tolerances.
Even if a product claims to be dryfall, it actually leaves the spray gun as a wet paint mist, In theory it cures before hitting another surface, but in practice, we have seen plenty of vehicles where the paint has tuck to vehicles, usually because of their proximity to the areas being sprayed.
Removing Coating Overspray From Vehicles
Professional Overspray Removal
Cured silicone roof and cladding coatings are difficult to remove from vehicles because they resist and repel water.
This means you can’t simply wash them off, as you might be able to with water based paint.
Professional car detailers have a number of products and tools that they use to quickly get vehicle finishes perfect looking, so it makes sense to use an experienced car detailer to remove overspray without ruining the paint.
The quicker you get a detailer involved, the better, because overspray will permanently bond to vehicle paintwork over the course of a week, making it more difficult to remove.
Overspray removal is labour-intensive, usually involving an initial wash of the vehicle, followed by a clay bar treatment, which is usually conducted twice to ensure that no tiny spots have been missed.
Once the clay bar treatment is complete, a good detailer will polish the vehicle’s paintwork with an orbital polisher and microfibre towels, leaving the surface as good as it was before the overspray occurred.
Source: Cardetailingplanet.
Do It Yourself Overspray Removal
If you find that your vehicle has been oversprayed and prefer to try the DIY method of removing the residue, you first have to determine the type of paint that has been oversprayed.
This is important because some coatings bond more strongly than others. Silicone and epoxies can be extremely difficult to remove.
You also need to consider how long the overspray has been present. The longer it’s been on your vehicle’s paintwork, the more difficult it is to remove.
If you can’t identify what type of paint or coating is involved, the safest way to attempt removal of the overspray is to use a clay bar detailing kit.
These are commonly available from Amazon, Halfords and other retailers.
Step 1 is the clean the affected areas and then lubricate the surface with the detailing spray from the kit.
Step 2 is to gently rub the clay bar over the areas using only light pressure. This will enable the clay to pick up the overspray without scratching the surface. It may need more than one try!
The key thing is to avoid chemicals such as acetone or strong solvents, since they are likely to damage the vehicle’s clear coat, resulting in permanent damage.
Other Overspray Removal Methods – Not Recommended
WD-40
There are plenty of influencer “tutorials” and blogs suggesting that WD-40 is a good way of removing overspray.
Unfortunately, these blogs often don’t consider what product has been oversprayed. It will not work on cured silicone, so if your vehicle has been oversprayed with a Liquasil product, forget WD-40!
The other issue with WD-40 is that it leaves an oily residue on your paintwork, which becomes even more apparent when the paintwork is wet.
Rubbing Compound
Compounds like T-Cut are abrasive, so these products need to be used with extreme caution.
It’s too easy for the DIY enthusiuast to apply too much pressure and leave large areas of paintwork dull. Remember that rubbing compounds are far more abrasive than polishes.
The use of orbital polishers combined with rubbing compounds should be avoided by anybody other than a professional car detailer.
Graffiti Removers & Chemicals
Vehicle paintwork comprises a number of different layers, each designed to perform a certain task.
The chemical composition of each will be different, so a clear coat will likely differ from the colour coat and the primer. There is now a shift towards water based automotive paint which can make it less resilient to contamination.
The use of chemical cleaners should be avoided because they can affect your vehicle’s paintwork warranty and cause problems with its appearance and performance.
Removing Overspray From Glass
We have discussed removing overspray from vehicle paintwork, but panoramic sunroofs and large windscreens are becoming more popular.
If a glass area is affected by overspray, it will probably be more noticeable than it is on paintwork.
The good news is that glass surfaces are more resiliant than paintwork, so you have more removal options.
As well as the use of a clay bar described earlier, you can also use plastic blades or even a razor blade edge to debond the oversprayed particles on your glass, as long as you do so gently to avoid scratching.
Specific solvents can also be used if you are able to identify the source of the overspray. If you know the manufacturer of the oversprayed product, ask their advice.
If the installer of te sprayed products are still on site, ask them if they have a suitable solvent that they can use to remove the overspray from the glass surface.
White spirit, turpentine or similar products may work if the overspray hasn’t fully cured and bonded.