Paint Overspray Removal

Removing overspray is a common problem in the world of auto detailing, and a service that I specialize in.

Paint Overspray is pretty common out in the world of cars. It comes in many forms and from many sources. The majority of people have no idea that their car may have overspray on it.

What is Overspray?

Think of some of the examples of life.

Your neighbor next door is getting their house painted on the exterior. The paint contractor uses an airless spray gun to spray the house. But a sudden breeze blows through and blows paint “overspray” right onto your car.

Now depending on the two colors at play here; the color of your car and the color of the house being painted. You may not be able to see the overspray. You will certainly be able to feel the overspray…and you will certainly be in need of removing overspray.

That is of course you happen to feel your paint one day and now feel what feels like thousands of little dots attatched to your paint on your car.

What if it is days, weeks, or months later that you finally feel your car…are you going to remember that the paint overspray came from there?

Or…what if the neighbor kid next door decides to spray paint his bicycle. He hangs his bike frame from the tree in the front and starts to shoot paint onto it. Except not all the paint goes onto his bike frame…

some of it gets blown over to your car where it lands and sticks to your car.

What if your car was parked at work and the office building next to yours is getting painted? Would you know to look to see if any paint overspray made it to your car.

More About Removing Overspray

Having been in the car detailing business for as long as I have, I have seen many examples of this. And let me tell you that every painter I have talked to, always insists that the paint will be dry by the time it reaches something else.

They don’t want to believe that the overspray will actually reach your car and still be wet enough to stick, and they don’t want to believe this because then they would actually have to do something about it.

I must add that there are always exceptions to every rule…there are some truly reputable paint contractors out there that truly recognize this dilemma, and take precautions to avoid this. I have also worked with many of them over the course of many years, and have been sent out to deal with the problem when an accident really was an accident.

I will add that when it comes to removing overspray, the sooner you can get it removed the better. It is a specific process that must be treated in proper fashion. And this doesn’t mean arming yourself with a buffer, and buffing the overspray off.

It is important to find a car detailer that has experience with this and can treat accordingly. Let me offer a list of things to remember regarding paint overspray removal:

• chances are, you will notice the overspray long after it has happened
• not all auto detailers know how to properly do the service of removing overspray.
• there are many materials to a car; glass, metal, rubber, plastic, paint, etc. overspay is not partial- if it is on your paint, it will also be attached to the windows, trim, rubber, wheel, tires, etc.
• does your car detailer know how to deal with all these materials…safely?
• there are areas of your car that overspray just can’t be removed from; you may have to live with a little bit of it.