Help! Accidental ?bleach damage when cleaning car

firesidemaid

hi all.

washed my car this afternoon as usual. i always use our household bucket which occasionally is used to wash the floor with a mild household bleach solution in water.

i have used this bucket for years, i always wash/rinse it out first. then i filled it with cold water to rinse/loosen the dirt off my car before filling it again with warm water & triple wax shampoo.

i couldn't find my usual sponge so used a microfibre hand mit.

then did two rinses after. obviously it is quite hot and sunny today too.

cutting this story short - once it started to dry, i realised my plastic exterior door handles had faded and a large long scratch that i spent a lot of money having very professionally restored 2 years ago has suddenly reappeared?!?

i can't believe that even such a potentially weak trace of bleach could have caused this?? any more thoughts or ideas?

what can/should i do now to fix this? all constructive help greatfully received. thanks

chrisw

Unlikely to be the bleach, more likely that the handles have just faded over time and the scratch has probably faded differently so it stands out, especially in the sun.

The only way to fix it is to respray, although you could try something like T-cut first.

Incidentally, it's not a good idea to wash a car in strong sunlight as you end up with water spots or marks showing in the paint. This doesn't sound like what you've got though.

Iceweasel

Very unfortunate that.

There are so many different kinds of 'bleach' - and many of them are not very 'mild'.

Which brand was it?

A harsh lesson learned I think.

If the door handles are black plastic then a going over with Autoglym Bumper and Plastic Restorer Gel will bring them and any other black plastic bits back easily.

Can't help with the paintwork though.

Good luck.

firesidemaid

Many thanks to you both.

Will try T-cut, waxing and the black stuff as suggested.

Im getting over it now....i'm wondering how long it has been since i last washed my car.....

---lee---

up

Iceweasel wrote: »

Autoglym Bumper and Plastic Restorer Gel will bring them and any other black plastic bits back easily.

+1 love that stuff. You can often put new cars to shame when you tart up the plastics on an old car.

A few years ago, I arrived home to see my neighbour washer her absolutely filthy car. Using a single bucket of water, she started with the wheels and worked her way up - all in bright sunlight. I did not have the heart to tell her.

facade

firesidemaid wrote: »

.i'm wondering how long it has been since i last washed my car.....

Couldn't tell you when I last washed mine, probably February :eek:

I wash it when I can't see out of the windows, or if I get filthy putting petrol in.

Saves loads of time, and heartache seeing all the scratches that have appeared.


When I do wash it however, I always wash underneath twice, once when I start, to moisten the mud, then when I finish to get it off.

Big_Tree

The bucket you clean your car with should be used for nothing else.

neilmcl

BigJockKnew wrote: »

The bucket you clean your car with should be used for nothing else.

And if you really want to do it properly you should use two.

Big_Tree

neilmcl wrote: »

And if you really want to do it properly you should use two.

exactly......

I did see someone write about the 'three bucket method' but I think that is taking it too far