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Power washer striped clear coat?
Complete detailing noob here. Bought a 1700 psi power washer to use on my recently purchased SGM 2IS because it hasn’t been washed/detailed in a while. Never got closer than 1 1/2 feet from paint and used a wide spray tip. Looks like it blew off some clear coat...or something. My car has a small window sticker that says resist all which is some sort of sealant that the dealer would have applied at some point and It got me wondering if that’s what came off. I find it hard to believe that 1700 psi would damage my clear coat at 1 1/2 foot distance but what do I know.
Is it some other sealant that came off or did I really strip my clear coat? Pictures below. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...fae1e0547.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...144143682.jpeg |
Those look like they were deep scratches that were already on the paint. It's possible the ragged edges lifted when the pressure washer hit it, but more likely it was there before you started.
I have a 2000 psi pressure washer that I use with a 40 degree (white) nozzle and have zero issues with it damaging the paint. |
Thanks for replying. The bumper did have a few scuffs beforehand as you were saying but I don’t recall there being any clear stripped off like in the photo. I still think it shouldn’t have come off even if it was scuffed a bit. Is it possible it’s some other sealant? I know that the previous owner had a sealant called resist all applied to the paint I just have no idea when. |
I also agree that those could be scratches that were there before. Alternately other possibilities include the sealant the previous owner applied or do you know if those sections were possibly resprayed for any reason by the previous owner? Improperly applied clearcoat can do that even without the influence of a power washer.
Never had an issue with using a power washer on my 2017 RX350 or any car for that matter. But you have to use common sense as you would not want to use 0 degree red or 15 degree yellow nozzle. Even a 25 degree green might be a bit much. 40 degree white is the best. |
Alternately other possibilities include the sealant the previous owner applied or do you know if those sections were possibly resprayed for any reason by the previous owner? Improperly applied clearcoat can do that even without the influence of a power washer. ^^ These are pretty much the only plausible scenarios I can think of. I used a 40 degree tip so there really shouldn’t have been a problem unless any of the above possibilities are true. I didn’t notice any issues on any of the other body panels so maybe just the rear bumper was resprayed at some point and someone did a poor job. I’m going to take it in to a bodyshop to get their opinion because I have no experience with any of this stuff other than the research I have done. Just wanted to detail my car haha. Sheesh. |
You will not see a sealant on or off the car or notice the parts where it is no longer on the car, it is just a very very think sliver of coating even compared to your clearcoat.
You can remove the clearcoat, paint, with a power washer if the pressure is too high or you are too close or keep it focused in one area for too long. What likely happened is the power washer blew off some paint chips, scrapes the previous owner filled in with touchup, likely pretty recently. |
I use a 2300 psi pressure washer with a 40 degree nozzle frequently and have never seen any such damage. That paint looks generally in bad shape period.
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Last summer I used a power washer to remove bird dropping from my hood. To my horror, it also removed a patch of clear coat. I now have an ugly rounded blotch on my hood that looks like a glazed donut was just baking there. Apparently the only solution is a full spray of the hood with a fresh coat of paint. :(
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Originally Posted by Propulsion
(Post 10497758)
Last summer I used a power washer to remove bird dropping from my hood. To my horror, it also removed a patch of clear coat. I now have an ugly rounded blotch on my hood that looks like a glazed donut was just baking there. Apparently the only solution is a full spray of the hood with a fresh coat of paint. :(
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My best guess is that the bumper was repainted. A lot of times people, dealership, and even bodyshops don't prep the surface before repainting, or barely prep it. So that repaint will chip off easily and show the original paint below.
On my father's black LS460 you can see where the dealer quickly repainted the bumpers and sideskirts, because there are chunks of the new paint that have flaked off just like that, showing the original paint below. Definitely not a sealant. Just think of a sealant as a wax... You wouldn't really notice if you removed the wax from a part of your car. In my opinion it is way too thick to be the original clearcoat, and you don't really see a clear coat flake off like that. |
Originally Posted by 14RX350
(Post 10498612)
My best guess is that the bumper was repainted. A lot of times people, dealership, and even bodyshops don't prep the surface before repainting, or barely prep it. So that repaint will chip off easily and show the original paint below.
On my father's black LS460 you can see where the dealer quickly repainted the bumpers and sideskirts, because there are chunks of the new paint that have flaked off just like that, showing the original paint below. Definitely not a sealant. Just think of a sealant as a wax... You wouldn't really notice if you removed the wax from a part of your car. In my opinion it is way too thick to be the original clearcoat, and you don't really see a clear coat flake off like that. |
To me it looks like those spots were already there. It also looks like it was repainted because I haven't seen OEM clear coat look like that. I"m no expert but I don't think you did that from your power washer. I think once you cleaned the car you could see those spots.
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