Author Topic: WD40 to clean the car oxidized paint (chalky appearance)  (Read 179 times)

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seagul

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WD40 to clean the car oxidized paint (chalky appearance)
« on: April 01, 2025, 06:51:34 pm »
Hi folks,

There is a legendary car which mostly sit under sun resulting in steady oxidation of its paint especially on the top of bonnet & roof side. After minutely observing, it has been revealing that speed of this oxidation has now increased. For this, I have found a quick remedy on YouTube which is to spray the affected area with WD40, and then wipe it with microfiber cloth. But few comments were forewarning that it will decimate the whole paint but the person in video did clean the oxidation very well with WD40. Most of you might have heard or tried this, so what will be your take on it?

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coffee pot

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Re: WD40 to clean the car oxidized paint (chalky appearance)
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2025, 08:47:35 am »
Absolutely not. Maybe it's an April Fool? WD40 is one of those substances that seems to have attracted lore to itself. The original is a protective film that is dissolved in light oil. When the oil evaporates, a rust inhibiting layer is left. However, people advocate it for all sorts of things for which it is not suitable. All sorts of nonsense is offered by idiots on youtube and tiktok.

Oxidised paint is damaged paint. You can cut it away to an extent with cutting compound - you may have heard of T-cut which is a consumer grade cutting compound but there are more sophisticated versions out there. However, if this is a classic car of some sort and the paint may be cellulose or something that is not going to take kindly to this. If the car is valuable, get a paintshop to look at it, ideally one with expertise in classic cars. If it isn't and you just want it to look better, get some cutting compound and cloths and do it yourself.

sparxy

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Re: WD40 to clean the car oxidized paint (chalky appearance)
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2025, 01:31:50 am »
resulting in steady oxidation of its paint especially on the top of bonnet & roof side.

Is it the actual paint or the clear coat (if it has clear)?

Any decent bodyshop should be able to repair/repaint the affected areas, if it's a classic car with older paints you might be better finding a classic car body specialist.