"Purple Power" to the rescue.

Taxvictim · 09-05-2010, 11:37 AM

Desperate problems call for desperate measures. My mother-in-law is staying with us this weekend. At home and work she parks right under trees. Her white Mazda Protege was completely covered in tree dirt, including some dark berry stains. She told me her shop would charge her $250 to get the stains out. Seriously, there were hundreds of these little dark stains on her white paint.

I tried every car stuff in the garage... bug and tar remover, Stoners, polishes, paint cleaners, clay, polishing compound, even rubbing compound, but nothing would beat these stains. I brought out the foam cannon and saturated the car a few times and just let it sit to see if the soap would loosen these stains. No luck.

Purple Power says right on the label "Do not use on auto paint." Hmmm...

With nothing to lose, I sprayed the PP on a little test spot and waited thirty second. The stain wiped right off. I couldn't detect any damage to the paint, so I used PP to do the whole car, then immediately washed the car twice and put on a sealant and wax so the stains might come out easier next time.

Honestly, the Purple Power made it a simple spray and wipe procedure. Maybe I just unwittingly stripped off her clear coat, but it doesn't seem like there was any damage to the paint anywhere I did side by side comparisons. Anyone else ever tried this on paint?

fdriller9 · 09-05-2010, 07:40 PM

Purple power is pretty aggressive stuff...I would imagine it would be bad for the paint. You may not notice anything with a naked eye but on a microscopic level, you may see some deterioration. If you have access to a paint thickness measure thing, I would see how low the paint is now.

Taxvictim · 09-05-2010, 11:12 PM

You may well be right, but given the age of the car and the extent of the tree stains, it was worth the risk. That said, there was no paint on the rags I used to wipe off the stains, though there may have been some clear coat. It all looked and felt normal after cleaning. Obviously, I don't recommend this for regular use. It was an extreme case, but this stuff really worked. I put the info out there for others who might get into a similar situation. Let's hope the sealant I put on, plus regular cleaning by my mother-in-law from now on makes this unnecessary again.

09-05-2010, 11:37 AM	#1
Taxvictim Private First Class 30 Rep 193 Posts Drives: 2008 328i, Titanium Silver 6MT Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Wake County, NC iTrader: (1)	"Purple Power" to the rescue. Desperate problems call for desperate measures. My mother-in-law is staying with us this weekend. At home and work she parks right under trees. Her white Mazda Protege was completely covered in tree dirt, including some dark berry stains. She told me her shop would charge her $250 to get the stains out. Seriously, there were hundreds of these little dark stains on her white paint. I tried every car stuff in the garage... bug and tar remover, Stoners, polishes, paint cleaners, clay, polishing compound, even rubbing compound, but nothing would beat these stains. I brought out the foam cannon and saturated the car a few times and just let it sit to see if the soap would loosen these stains. No luck. Purple Power says right on the label "Do not use on auto paint." Hmmm... With nothing to lose, I sprayed the PP on a little test spot and waited thirty second. The stain wiped right off. I couldn't detect any damage to the paint, so I used PP to do the whole car, then immediately washed the car twice and put on a sealant and wax so the stains might come out easier next time. Honestly, the Purple Power made it a simple spray and wipe procedure. Maybe I just unwittingly stripped off her clear coat, but it doesn't seem like there was any damage to the paint anywhere I did side by side comparisons. Anyone else ever tried this on paint?
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09-05-2010, 07:40 PM	#2
fdriller9 Banned 253 Rep 7,089 Posts Drives: '06 AW 330xi Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: North Jersey/Philly/NYC iTrader: (4) Garage List 2006 330xi [6.44]	Purple power is pretty aggressive stuff...I would imagine it would be bad for the paint. You may not notice anything with a naked eye but on a microscopic level, you may see some deterioration. If you have access to a paint thickness measure thing, I would see how low the paint is now.
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09-05-2010, 11:12 PM	#3
Taxvictim Private First Class 30 Rep 193 Posts Drives: 2008 328i, Titanium Silver 6MT Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Wake County, NC iTrader: (1)	You may well be right, but given the age of the car and the extent of the tree stains, it was worth the risk. That said, there was no paint on the rags I used to wipe off the stains, though there may have been some clear coat. It all looked and felt normal after cleaning. Obviously, I don't recommend this for regular use. It was an extreme case, but this stuff really worked. I put the info out there for others who might get into a similar situation. Let's hope the sealant I put on, plus regular cleaning by my mother-in-law from now on makes this unnecessary again.
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