How to get spray paint off my car?

[Andy348]

Well, my brothers a fucking idiot and thought it would be a good idea to spray paint some chairs red about 5-10ft away from my car on a windy day. Now I've got red paint on my hood and roof. It's nothing you can see from far, but up close and level with the paint you can see it quite clearly. It feels like shit also.

Any suggestions before I beat my brother to death?

[nrubenstein]

Clay bar?

Many other options, but that should be the first one.

[Komzorz]

Clay bar should do the trick pretty easily. Good opportunity to clay the rest of the car too.

Make sure you use something as a lubricant, like quik detailer or I've heard slightly soapy water works too.

[Andy348]

Will do.

Thanks guys.

[bmrfan]

Clay bar can remove paint overspray - especially if your car has a good coat of wax.

[BlackbirdM3]

I bet you will need something more aggressive than just a clay bar. I had a similar thing happen with my race car, but the paint was less than 2 weeks old I ended up having to use a cleaner wax and a mild rubbing compount ( I so wasn't happy) The clay bar wasn't enough.

The clay bar is a good idea to use anyway. It will pull anything that might scratch your paint off when you polish and wax it. On dark colored cars its a good idea to use it on a regular basis anyway since it will remove the stuff that causes swirl marks.

Give the clay bar a shot, but my guess is that it won't pull the overspray off. Do the whole area, and that way if the stuff doesn't come off with it, the area will be clean when you go after it with a more abrasive compound such as a medium or heavy cut cleaning wax. If you do end up needing an aggressive compound, you will need to follow that with successively more mild compounds so you can remove the scratches, without leaving the area looking dull or showing swirl marks.


Will

[jaywood]

My dad bought a car brand new from the dealer and it came with overspray. He didn't see it till he got home. He used a clay bar and it came off easily.

[FunfGan]

Use brother as clay bar?

[mr.vang]

goof off at walmart should do the trick or brake fluid.

[Vivek]

I bet you will need something more aggressive than just a clay bar. I had a similar thing happen with my race car, but the paint was less than 2 weeks old I ended up having to use a cleaner wax and a mild rubbing compount ( I so wasn't happy) The clay bar wasn't enough.

The clay bar is a good idea to use anyway. It will pull anything that might scratch your paint off when you polish and wax it. On dark colored cars its a good idea to use it on a regular basis anyway since it will remove the stuff that causes swirl marks.

Give the clay bar a shot, but my guess is that it won't pull the overspray off. Do the whole area, and that way if the stuff doesn't come off with it, the area will be clean when you go after it with a more abrasive compound such as a medium or heavy cut cleaning wax. If you do end up needing an aggressive compound, you will need to follow that with successively more mild compounds so you can remove the scratches, without leaving the area looking dull or showing swirl marks.


Will

Some of this is sort of misinformation. Swirl marks are caused by shitty/dirty towels, not embedded dirt (that a clay bar would remove). Also, most cleaner waxes are a very mild chemical polish, and then a wax. They also generally have a lot of fillers to make the surface appear to be in better condition than it is. I highly doubt a cleaner wax helped much in overspray removal (it was probably mainly the rubbing compound).

If all else fails, OP, some graffiti remover should likely be okay. Try it on the bottom of your car somewhere (maybe under the rear seat?), but in all likelihood it won't damage your paint. Car paint, especially original, is much, much stronger than spray paint, and can hold up to chemical solvents much better. I know someone will call me out on this statement, and I really don't want to look up where I got this info, but oh well.

Edit: also note that there are many different grades of clay bars. You'll likely need a medium to heavy grade, depending on how bad it is.

[London]

Clay bar will work fine. Might have to put a little oomph into it but it'll work well. (same EXACT situation happened to me) didn't scratch my paint up at all. Just took off the spray paint.

I would absolutely not suggest off. I used it on my spoiler once to get some random sap off (granted this was like goo-off from the 70's so it was probably supercharged) but it ate through a chunk of the clear coat on the paint. Can't see it but rub your fingers across it and you can tell immediately.

[Andy348]

Use brother as clay bar?

Very tempting.


I will try a medium clay bar and if it doesn't work I shall try other methods mentioned here. I'd like to avoid getting abrasive polishers and pads and such but if it can't be helped, so be it.

Thanks & I'll keep this updated.

[Mr. Tasty]

Clay barring will generally mar the paints finish, even if you are careful. Might as well fully correct your paint now.

[MattAvino]

take a soft cotton tshirt and dab it with acetone (dont saturate it) and wipe spray paint. Should come off immediately. Then wash the car and dont let acetone sit on the paint of your car.

[Tamataz]

Gasoline and rag?