Removing Sunscreen From Paintwork At The Time Of The Crime

[CaliStu]

There is plenty of info around about how to remove old sunscreen marks from paintwork, but does anyone know the best way to remove it immediately at the time?

Presumably the quicker you get it off the less damage is done. But I'm wondering what's best to remove it.

With summer camping season beginning soon this seems a good thing to work out in advance

 

[Tourershine]

There is plenty of info around about how to remove old sunscreen marks from paintwork, but does anyone know the best way to remove it immediately at the time?

Presumably the quicker you get it off the less damage is done. But I'm wondering what's best to remove it.

With summer camping season beginning soon this seems a good thing to work out in advance

This is the one of the most common issues we remove from Caravans and Motorhomes, normally from where kids put their sweet little tiny paws all over the sides as they do, when they don't seem to be able to walk in a straight line without touching everything.

Sun cream contains many chemicals that help stop us from cooking, but also have the adverse effect that if they come into contact with pretty much any painted surface, be it a car paint, to the issues we rectify on powder coatings, enamel, even gelcoats on plastics and fibreglass. The main culprit is an ingredient called polyethylene glycol, this sits on the surface and starts to etch into the paint within minutes, and if not removed quickly it can permanently damage the paintwork.

We remove it by machine polishing, but as a quick solution, something like Autoglym Super Resin Polish has enough cut to remove fresh handprints, but anything that's been on the surface for prolonged periods will only vanish temporarily, and return after a week or so, leaving no option but to bare mental the panel and re-spray.
Suncream marks on cars are one of the biggest reasons finance companies can use to claw back £100's when you return a car after your lease agreement.

 

[CaliStu]

Thanks! So if you were to notice fresh paw marks on your van, what would you do? Apart from chopping off the paws!

 

[Tourershine]

Thanks! So if you were to notice fresh paw marks on your van, what would you do? Apart from chopping off the paws!

There are possibly loads of remedies, but personally I would grab the Super Resin first, that way I know the ultra fine cut will actually remove the suncream.
For the space a bottle of SRP and a couple of microfibre cloths take up, i'd just carry it around in the vehicle, because it will be invaluable in many circumstances, including the suncream one.

 

[CaliStu]

There are possibly loads of remedies, but personally I would grab the Super Resin first, that way I know the ultra fine cut will actually remove the suncream.
For the space a bottle of SRP and a couple of microfibre cloths take up, i'd just carry it around in the vehicle, because it will be invaluable in many circumstances, including the suncream one.

Thanks! Good info. And just to be clear you wouldn't try and clean the marks off first with anything else? Just straight in with SRP?

 

[Tourershine]

Thanks! Good info. And just to be clear you wouldn't try and clean the marks off first with anything else? Just straight in with SRP?

At the time, unless I had loads of the chemicals we use to test, no.
Panel wipe/de-greaser might work, but firstly, I've never had suncream on my paintwork, so wouldn't actually know if that works on fresh marks, and secondly, we see the suncream marks weeks, sometimes months after it's been on the surfaces.

I often recommend Autoglym, simply because it's what we use within our work, and we buy this in bulk. I'm sure there are loads of other products on the market that would do the same thing, but SRP is our general multi-purpose go to product.
For me, it makes sense to use something that cuts, removes and protects all in one.