OK, so my friend meant well when he borrowed my Trans Am and took it to a quarter car wash before he returned it to me. He must have rinsed my car off with the wax selection and now there are run marks from light dirt underneath the wax. I cant seem to get it out and dont want ruin my paint. Can I use a wax cleaner to remove the cheap wax and clean the dirt off?? Has anyone had this happen to their car? Thanks for your suggestions.

Also i would rather remove by hand instead of a buffer since i think the orbiter might damage the finish?

Bright white exterior (or at least was)

1984 TA
305HO auto
53K original miles

 

you can try the Mother's cleaner wax, but if that doesn't work, use a little rubbing compound. Use very little on small areas, rubbing lightly to remove dirt, then follow up with a good quality wax.

 

thanks. gonna try working on it tomorrow

 

Wash with dawn (or any other liquid dish detergent), dry and apply wax of choice. The dishsoap will strip away anything that a quarter carwash could apply.

And orbitals wont hurt your paint unless you are using a super aggressive pad and compound.

 

Ditto on the Dawn idea. If that doesn't work, try a clay bar.

 

Whatever you do, do NOT use a rubbing compound by hand it will just scour the finish!! While I normally don't like the idea of washing with Dawn I think this is one of the rare instances where it's probably not a bad idea. I'd probably follow with a good cleaner wax - Meguiar's ColorX is great stuff but get's little publicity - just to thoroughly clean everything up. Heck, I'd clay between the wash and cleaner wax but then again I'd use a machine to properly detail the car anyway. It's sorta what I do.

 

I agree. I would clay bar it (especially since it is white) and then reapply wax using the buffer. The other day I tried the Turrtle ICE liquid clay bar and it works very well. The buffer won't hurt the car as long as you don't burn your paint from improper usage.