Surface rust spots on rear bumper
 

I managed to collect some kind of metallic dust on the rear end of the car late last year. I'm pretty sure it came from that godawful endless construction they're doing on I-94 in Indiana but I digress...
I've got a number of small spots that just started out as dirty looking spots, but now they're starting to discolor a bit brownish. The rear bumper is all plastic so I know it's just on the surface but I need to take care of it before it gets much worse. The spots are embedded in there enough that even scraping with my fingernail doesn't have any effect. Is there anything I can do now to take care of it? I have some similarly hard to remove crap on the sides just behind the wheel wells that I'm sure were splashed up from the road as well.

I can't break out the hose until the snow is gone and the local DIY coin wash doesn't allow buckets so the best the car gets during the winter is a weekly or every-other-week wash in the DIY bay (which is negated within a day or two of daily driving). I'd probably be drawn and quartered if you guys saw what my car looks like right now :yikes:

clay bar is your friend....... do the whole car...

Or wash/wipe down the areas with a bucket of clean water to remove any road salt or dirt- Then try using a bug & tar remover or a cleaning product like Meguire's cleaner/wax.
I would do this ASAP

Clay the car it will come right up then put a fresh coat of wax over it. Its just industrial fallout, all cars get it you just see it more on white. If you havnt clayed before you will be amazed at the difference.

The stuff behind the wheels, you will probably need a remover for, I would get that off before you clay, dont wont to pick up that debris in your bar

Thanks for the quick answers everyone. I do have a garage so I could hose it down real good at the DIY and take it inside for better cleaning. Is claying and waxing all right to do when it's around the freezing mark? Highs this week are all around 15F so it might be closer to 30 in my garage.
Can you recommend something good to get that off? I've tried both of Turtle Wax's Bug and Tar removers (the one in the aerosol can and the squirt bottle) and neither have had much effect.

Detailing chemicals aren't going to perform well in temps that low so you might just have to wait. Especially the clay, which needs to be somewhat malleable in order to work with... at that low of temp it'd be like rubbing your paint with a block of ice.

Dylan what temps would you recommend detailing between? I'm sure when it's between 40 and 50 it should be ok. Or am I completely wrong?

I can't speak to ALL chemicals, but ours (and most others) have a 'ideal' temperature tolerance between 40-80*

North or south of that is where you begin to run into ease of use issues. Mid summer for example my garage gets easily north of 90*.... I can still use most of the stuff, it just becomes a little less user friendly. In anything above 105* its pretty much futile. Polishes dry out to quick, waxes don't cure properly, etc.

Colder than 40* temps you'll see cleaners and stuff become less user friendly as well. I've used Detail Spray in temps as low as 37*... it works, just takes more time effort as it will like to streak somewhat. Waxing and things of that nature become thicker and thus don't cure properly in really low temps so thats another set of issues.

The thing to keep in mind is you CAN detail in less than ideal temps, the question is whether or not you SHOULD as the chemicals are going to try and make your job substantially harder in less than ideal conditions.

I was a certified brake mechanic for years and the rust spots you are talking about most likely came from your brake pads. I have see this on many different cars, even mine, it is the metallic fibers from the pads that actually come off the pads during braking and stick to everthing then that metallic spots rust from the weather. I have removed them easy with paint thinner. Just put some on a soft cloth and wipe the area and the spots come right off, then use a good wax and wax that area good and you are all set. Make sure to do this in the shade or a garage, you don't want the sun to "bake" everything.

Small rust spots on my rear bumper section... Detail guy that washes are car at work said he can get them out with compound. Should I tell him to use claybar instead? I don't know crap about detailing


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Iron-x then clay first........ Least aggressive method first....

Neither does he.

+1

Thx Charlietuna (one of my fav rappers), I will youtube instructions on iron x & clay process..

Apply iron x, then use clay to glide on top of ironx?


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