Removing rubbing compound
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: Camden DE
Removing rubbing compound
The PO of my 88 coupe had the car painted, and it has white residue in every crack and crevise. I have worked on it with soft towels and car soap, and also hit it with the high pressure hose at the local car wash. Nothing has worked in removing it, and I don't want to scratch the paint in by using harsher methods. The worst places are around the headlight enclosures, the crevise between the rear bumper and the body, the front bumper and the body, and around the door handles. What makes it worse is it's a black car. I have owned it for 8 months now, and was hoping with each subsequent wash the concern would diminish. No luck. Any ideas?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: Camden DE
Thanks, I will try that! And I will tell my wife it was your idea to use HER toothbrush! 
I had heard somewhere that peanut butter worked too? Maybe the oil in it works to break up the dried on compound?
I will try the brush with a little car soap first. Thanks again!
I had heard somewhere that peanut butter worked too? Maybe the oil in it works to break up the dried on compound?
I will try the brush with a little car soap first. Thanks again!
Pro
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635
Likes: 1
Or they make special tooth brushes to clean places like that, just check at a bodyshop supply store. I've worked in body shops. They would try the tooth brush, if it's too hard and dried out You might want to buy a light liquid polishing compound. Work that into those areas to liquidfy the compound residue. Then clean it out with rags, the tooth brush etc.It's going to take work rubbing it out of there. If it's hard to get in there carefully use something like a plastic paint stick or screwdriver to push a rag in to work the liquid polishing compound into the cracks. Anther safer thing to use is the pointed plastic sticks they use to put in windsheilds. These are cheap almost any glass company would give you one free if you asked for one. A body shop might also use solvent's to clean that but you can get into trouble if you don't know what you are doing there. Good Luck on this!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 935
Likes: 385
Thanks, I will try that! And I will tell my wife it was your idea to use HER toothbrush!
I had heard somewhere that peanut butter worked too? Maybe the oil in it works to break up the dried on compound?
I will try the brush with a little car soap first. Thanks again!
I had heard somewhere that peanut butter worked too? Maybe the oil in it works to break up the dried on compound?
I will try the brush with a little car soap first. Thanks again!
I've heard the peanut butter solution also, but never had to try it. Let us know if you go that route and how it works.
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: Camden DE
Thanks!
All great ideas! I will try them all this Saturday and let you know how it goes. I really can't believe someone would leave this amount of residue behind. The paint job is good, not perfect, but they must have had a noob do the polishing and he just didn't care enough to detail it out. I will take some before and after pics to show the extent of the crud left behind. Thanks again!
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,008
Likes: 5
From: Greensburg PA
If worst comes to worst, you can use rubbing alcohol+water (50/50) to remove it. It'll take it right off with some light brushing, but you'll have to re-wax/seal the area, because it'll strip the protection.
