How to Remove Overspray

How to Effectively Remove Overspray

From time to time I’ve been known to forget a piece of tape here or there, resulting in overspray of all different magnitudes. There are several different types of overspray and I’ll let all the DIY’ers know the best way to remove them. The body shop should always take care of it for you but it’s not always a perfect world, so here you go.

Clearcoat overspray – this is likely the most common that you will find. It is characterized by the grainy feel you will observe when you run your hand over the vehicle, just like sandpaper! It is also difficult to obtain a spot-free wash as clear overspray will make your finish prone to water spots. There are a few options you can use. Paint thinner on a rag can remove it pretty quickly, however, it runs some risks when using over fresh paint so you may want to consider another method.

Ideally, you can use a clay bar and basically wet your car down and rub the clay bar around the entire vehicle. It will start off feeling gritty & once the clay bar has removed the overspray you will have a nice smooth feeling finish once again. Sometimes it leaves behind some pieces of clay on the surface which can be easily removed with a mild solvent, wax & silicone remove will work well. If you keep the clay moving it won’t stick and break apart, it\’s when you stop it tends to stick.

Another great way to hand overspray is by using a polisher. You can polish to remove the overspray and at the same time you will be shining up your finish. You will want to start with a coarser compound, then finish with a light swirl remover. Have a look at our repair videos and training if you would like some information on this method.

Acid can remove very mild overspray and road fallout. You can use a mild acid some that are even designed for wire wheels will work. Some companies put in under the name as a fallout remover. Generally, you will wash your car using this in place of soap, let it sit 5 minutes, and wash it off, repeating if necessary.

For windows’s the easiest way by far is some very fine steel wool. Just scrub the window with it and off the overspray comes. You can also use a razor blade, just angle it and scrape.

Primer & Paint Overspray – now the only way to remove this is by using paint thinner or a solvent of some kind. It will take some rubbing and soaking, wear gloves if attempting. This will also damage any fresh paint so be careful around those areas. Also, be cautious about trim items and baked in color parts such as textured mirrors, handles, rockers.

One last trick is for rubber moldings. Ideally, you won’t have any overspray on your moldings and hopefully, the shop removed them. If your looking to fix this up yourself grab a black sharpie marker and you can bet this is a much safer fix then trying to remove it. If you haven’t guessed just touch up your moldings and consider a new shop next time.