For some of you southern folk who have never seen rail dust here is a few pix ..

Rail dust originally got its name because cars were shipped on open rail cars and the filings off the rail car wheels and tracks were magnetic and stuck to the cars paint. And when it got a little moisture with it it created the little brown rust spots.

In todays life most are from the brakes and in winter the filings off of snow plow blades.

From April to Nov I never see any of this on my car .. this is from Nov to date.

If left on for a couple of years you can see paint issues but if removed every spring there is never a problem.

Clay barring will remove it without damaging the paint . Other methods may cause marring.

Pictures were taken just behind the front wheel and the bottom of the drivers door. You will also find it behind the rear wheel and the back of the trunk abd rear bumper.

It won't be as visable on darker colors but you will be able to feel it.

 

Great reference pix, hopefully this will make others aware about the importance of using a claybar.

 

Exactly ... some are under the impression waxing or polishing will remove it when in fact waxing might remove the stain only to have it come back and polishing will take the top off but not remove all of it from the paint .. thus the stain returns.

Claying will remove the stain AND pull the particle out of the paint surface.

 

I have that on my TL - spotted it last weekend on the ONR. Nothing some clay, time, polish and some good 'ole zaino wont take care of. I'm going to hit our MDX first (hopefully this weekend if the weather in CT clears) and then the TL a few weeks after that.

 

I usually wait till into March to allow for the particles to blow off the roads and a few rains rinsed them down or you just accumulate more.

 

Great illustration Jess..........hats off for sharing...

 

Thanks for sharing the photos; few people seem realize what a problem metal shavings + water really is to a paint finish

The clay bar may not totally remove rail dust, but it will exfoliate the protruding particles; leaving behind some of the metal just under the paint surface. Once moisture is added this will form rust and spread to the other layers (i.e. colour and base coats) I would strongly recommend an acid neutralizing wash followed by a corrosion inhibitor to eliminate this and for use on an annual or semi-annual basis (dependant upon climatic conditions). You will find that a proper acid neutralizing wash opens the paint fissures (pores) and will release most of the imbedded ferrous oxide deposits and the remainder comes off very easily by clay encapsulation. These systems will produce a better finish on the paint surface than is possible with detailer’s clay alone and is also the only solution that addresses acid rain, industrial pollutants, and tree sap etching as well as other polyurethane clear coat concerns

Products-Neutralisation / Decontamination Systems; A, B C Decontamination System – http//:www.autoint.com
Finish Kare 1119 / 883 Paint Decontamination - http://www.fk1usa.com/decontamination.htm

 

I don't understand these decontamination products. Seems like a "system". Not sure what one should buy.

So clay really won't remove it all? That comment scares me.

Conversely, which particular clay would remove these spots without spending 1/2 a day rubbing the car?

 

Meagain, claying will move most if not all of the fallout. Decon systems are for very neglected surfaces. You will be fine with clays provided by most reputable retailers. Some of the OTC clays may be a little light grade for some consumer needs. They have been designed with the DIY'r in mind, and are pretty risk free, but.......maybe a little too light as mentioned.

 

Yea, we still get alot of this on brand new cars working at the dealership, but i dont complain since i get paid more to do it!

 

meagain .. the car above is mine and after claying the spots never reappeared all summer . I just got an 01 Alero that was worst than that and I clayed it and removed 100% of the roughness but some of the rust staining remained. A light polishing with the PC removes all of that and nothing has returned.

I have clayed some pretty bad cars and haven't needed to decon. them.

Don't be shy .. go for it .. it doesn't take that long ..

 

Jesstzn - that being your car makes me feel better because surely it was maintained properly. A couple weeks ago I saw this ALLLLL over my husband's WDP TL and used the Mother's clay I picked up locally on it. I knew in my head there were other more aggressive clays out there but when I saw it, I just wanted it off asap. It was a major PITA and there are still some spots on the trunk. Took forever.

So I'm wanting to get a clay that will really nuke these easier when they appear again.
I have the PC (xp) and hope to finally start on his car. I have Optimum Hyper compound, II compound, and polish. Do you think Optimum II with an orange or white pad would remove the remaining spots?

 

The remaining staining comes off really easy even with II Compound and a white pad .. go that way first .. always least aggressive

 

Awesome! Thank you. I'm going to take pics of the car's trouble spots and start a thread tonight or tomorrow to make sure I do things right.

 

Meagain, you may want to attempt the clay again on a small area and see if you can pull some more of the contaminants off. You really dont want to start polishing unless you have removed all that you can with clay. Should be baby butt smooth before polishing.

 

Umkay.

 

Stains are one thing as Dale had issues with, but the actual contaminant itself really needs to go!

 

My problem is each little dot needs tons of rubbing and I end up trying to go at it with my fingernail. there must be a clay that will take it off in 5 passes vs. 1,000? That's what I'm looking for.

When I clayed the TL - a car that's 3 years old and was never hand-washed much less clayed/waxed, and only ran through a car wash about 4 times in it's life - I saw zero dirt in the clay. Isn't that unusual?

 

Your going to need a more aggressive clay, thats all! (Guess who has some?)
As for the 3 yr old car, no fallout? Were you using black clay!? Thats unheard of.......Ive clayed new cars that made any further use of the same clay, impossible!

 

I used the OTC Mothers clay on the TL. I just clayed my new Hyundai (250 miles) with Griots. Nothing really to speak of there either but I could expect that more.
I was planning to do the TL once more. They are both yellow clays and for all I know - the same stuff.

I thought I'd enjoy claying but I don't. With the TL though, I could feel it was smoother but I didn't see any dirt/discoloration of the clay when done.

 

If I clay my TL to get rid of these spots (Rail Dust), do I absolutely need to polish after? If I do, I probably can't since I don't have a PC/Polish and currently don't have much to work with since all my supplies are in storage (in the military, between assignments).

What would you guys recommend?

 

You don't have to polish out after .. go for it !!

 

werd

 

This is exactly what my wife's Honda has! I thought Honda Motors gives a 10 year rust warranty? My TL-S has peeling paint under the fuel door.

 

Rust corrosion, that what they warranty. Not brake lining/rail dust.

 

Bumping...

Angry woman here with orange spots everywhere.

So at the very end of September, I clayed every single speck of orange off the car, did the optimum compound/polishes, then 3 coats of UPP. If I put something on 'before' the UPP I don't remember. I seriously spent days on the spots. I should've had a more aggressive clay to make shorter work of it but damn, it was a tedious, lengthy todo.

Today I just ran out with the TL to get it cleaned (yes I neglected it this winter till today), and see zillions of orange spots again. Grrrr. All over the trunk area - even on top of it, and of course all over the sides of the car.

For whatever reason, I had it in my head that if I protected the car good enough in Fall, this would not reoccur, or if it did, it would be scant. I was thinking the brake dust wouldn't "stick" so much to the car. I also thought if it was protected enough, the orange would come off easy. Nope.

Is this issue just a given no matter what product(s) are used on the car going into winter? Or, would using different product(s) be in order to help minimize this in the future? I'm feeling like I did all that work for nothing. And work it was.

 

Fraid so ... the particals stick to anything. I know I see it on mine every spring.

 

Sigh. OK. What is a very aggressive clay that will make short work out of removing them? I spent maybe 3 days last fall to where I couldn't open my hand for a few after completion. I want something that will nuke it as quick as possible. A clay that will make orange spots flee just by looking at it.

 

Secret to this is to use the clay to get the rough off till its glass smooth then use the Polishes to remove the remaining brown staining.

If you try to clay off the rust stain then it takes forever.

 

Patrick, Excel Detail, sells a medium grade clay that works a million times better than the mothers/meguiars clay they sell at the local auto store...

Course you def wanna let the medium clay do the work (as opposed to my arms when I used the local auto parts store bought clay - pushed and rubbed so hard i thought my arms were gonna fall off) just be sure to use plenty of lubricant and it all comes right off, ready for polish!

 

Well......I did, at one time. Been sold out of it for about 2 months now due to the re-org. But...........I think we will be back sooner then anticipated. And I will carry that identical clay again.

 

Snuck in the new name did ya?????

 

I probably shouldnt have.......gee darn, 5 minute edit rule. LOL

 

OK - I'm starting to wonder if my claying the darned spots off "cut OFF" the particles instead of sucking them out.

Found this on a BMW thread: "All the horizontal panels were covered in rail dust, so back outside and another wash down with AG Fallout remover, which IMO is the best way to tackle rail dust, as claying can risk leaving parts of the contaminant still embedded in the paintwork due to the shearing action of claying, which can lead to further problems at a later date"

Seriously, I'm not talking maybe 20 specs here. It's TONS and the car was speck-less just 4-4.5 months ago. I still don't understand how this could be from 'brake dust'. Unless I didn't 'really' remove them last fall and it's re-stained. His brakes were checked by Acura last fall and were deemed fine but I wonder about them if this IS from Brake dust.

And the staining didn't come out with polishing so if it's supposed to, then again I did something wrong.

 

Its not brake dust its more wear particulate from the rotors and in most cases in the winter filings off of snow plow blades.

Unless then particulate is really bad and has been on a long time clay will pull it off.

And the staining didn't come out with polishing so if it's supposed to, then again I did something wrong <--- I don't understand what your saying here .. you said above last fall everything was gone and specless.

If you look at the pix I posted above those were taken in March .. in Oct my car was specless also and I don't drive a lot in the winter. I detail 75+ cars every spring and again in the fall and every spring ALL of them have the same brown specs.

The decontamination system is for really bad cases.

 

It IS really bad IMO. Car looks like someone was spray painting nearby and hit the car.
I did make it speckless eventually. I got 99% off with the clay but missed some here & there and tried the PC on it. Just with normal use, most didn't come off unless they were VERY tiny. So I had to go back and clay the remaining specs again.

In a couple days, I'll try video'ing it and toss it on youtube.

Jesstzn - can you see this on at least a silver car? I have a friend that is having a bit of a hard time with the concept because they never saw this before. And I wonder if it's impossible to see on anything other than white or perhaps light silver.
Wouldn't it be cool if there was a special light that would make them show up really well?

 

You can see it on silver .. just not as well.... get a ZipLoc bag and get your friend to put his hand in it and run it over his fender behind any wheel and if he has it he will feel it before he sees it. Then clay that spot and let him feel it again .