"Water Marks" on Paintwork

[lydgate]

I have a Maroon B Traveller and on the bonnet there are a number of marks on the paintwork that look as though they are where water has dried in the surface. They will not polish off. Does anyone know what has caused them and how to remove them?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

[jonathon]

Hi,
This is a common problem with reds. Basically the water left on the paintwork acts as a magnifying glass and burns(not litterally) the paint. These marks will cut out with a cutting compound then brought back to a shine with a good polish. This is why you should never wash or polish your car in bright sunlight

[aupickup]

i have had that problem with mauroon b and now i know why, that is great thanks

btw are you going to the national johnathon

[lydgate]

Thanks for the quick reply.
Will get the T-Cut out tomorrow!

[jonathon]

Go steady with the T cut as its very abrasive.
I will probably be going to the national as a visitor rather than trader this year. So see you there

[Gareth]

I didn't know that was the reason... It certainly makes sense, however.

Wilkinson's sell 'Safe Cut', which isn't quite as abrasive as T-Cut, and therefore it takes a lot more effort to polish out scratches, &c. For a quick restoration job on slightly blemished paintwork, however, it's pretty good.

[beautgrainger147]

how does it compare to Brasso, thats quite abrasive, well enough to polish off some gold plating.
After I started using it for some polishing applications my grandad decided to polish his entire car with it to liven up the colour.
J.G

[Gareth]

[Willie]

Strange that, I had my car in for its MOT last week and their guard
dog pawed the front wing! The owner rubbed the marks away with
BRASSO wadding! Said it was one of the best polishes!

[Onne]

It's not very good on the silver though. Indeed abrasive, soo much that it clears the hallmarks over time.
I have got quite some silver, some were polished every week, and you can see that, they get bland. I have got some spoons dating London 1807, which weren't polished. The hallmarks are still very clear!

Now back to the cars.

The type of cloth you use makes a huge difference. If I polish my car, I use Cartek wax. Super stuff

[beautgrainger147]

sorry to go a bit more general than the topic but, when I polish silver myself I use silver polish (obviously) and for watches (not recomending you carry out DIY on your own watches) I use a green putty like substance called Rodico with the manufacturer's name being Bergeon, I like to use it in hard to get to places and when I've cleaned a movement to make it shine (dust sticks to it too), though I do go carefully on guilded work - apparently potasium cyanide (I think it is) works well on guilded things (though I dont use it because of the health hazards etc).

[Onne]

I use some stuff called Hagerty silver polish, recommended by my jeweller. And I only polish my watches from the outside to be honest

[beautgrainger147]

yes,
just that as it happens, watches are one of my hobbies, -collecting and repair, I wouldnt recomend that people repair their own unless they know how. I've still quite a lot to learn .
I thought I'd put forward a couple of polishing substances.
I'll look out for that polish here next time I'm out though.

[Onne]

Its an utterly british name innit, made in The Netherlands though. Watches are also a hobby of mine, pocket watches that is. Just bought a 1930 Leeds pocket watch, made by R Stone, in silver case, with a swiss movement.

Way of watermarks now though...

[beautgrainger147]

nice.

[keithB]

Just spotted this thread and just want to add (nothing about polishing the family silver!) that watermarks can also be a problem on new paintwork. I had sprayed cellulose trafalgar blue and cut it back. I then polished and waxed it. However I was told (afterwards!) that I should have waited at least 2 weeks before waxing it because the wax affects the not so dry paint. When water drops dry on it they leave dull circles which are difficult to get out and it seems a reoccuring problem for a long time after.

Also T-cut is not too abrasive however you should not use it as a polish only as a colour restorer, ie, when the colour is a bit dull or marked. Also because it takes off the surface you must potect it and apply a wax polish or one of these weird polymer polishes which most seem to be now.

I'm not sure about Brasso - its not an abrasive but a chemical cleaner so any affect it has on the paint is because it is disolving it!!

cheers

Keith

[beautgrainger147]

Hello,
I'm not sure myself about the chemical cleaning properties of brasso, since I'm not involved in it's manufacture, however the yellowy powder that is left when dried is a bit abrasive.

I've found when using it after it's been stored a while that the liquid part pours out - this doesnt seem to do much on it's own, until I shake it, and then the two parts mix again.

When I've polished plastic and glass I've always tried to get some from around the top/lid where it will be thicker in consistency (more of the powder, less liquid) from drying out.