Mold Spores...?

Hey guys. Doing this from my blackberry at work so bear with me. I have a pearl white lexus is250 in my bay right now for a full detail. Our wash guy preps and washes the car so I don't touch it til it gets to me. I go to start claying the car and I notice these little brown spots alllllll over the car. Some are as large as half the size of a pencil eraser and a couple millimeters tall. Blue clay won't take them off, red clay won't take them off (without taking wayyy too much time), tar remover/laquer thinner won't touch them. I've never seen anything like it. My boss comes up wondering what I'm doing and he says, oh you've got mold spores. Forgive my ignorance, but in my experience with detailing I've never really heard of this. Alcohol prep pads from the first aid kit dipped in water are taking the smaller ones off, but leaving bad marring. Any advice? Anyone ever dealt with this?

 

:help: Wash the Car with Straight APC, that or Hit it with some bleach :yikes: seriously....Just watch getting it(Bleach) on the trim.

Those alcohol pads will take all day, course I guess you have all day...lol

 

Never seen that on a car. If it was mold it would wash off and would most certainly come off with clay I would think. The only thing I've ever seen not budge with lacquer thinner is industrial enamel. Had to do thirty cars in a parking lot next to a building that was just painted. Used RED ClayMagic and a lot of elbow grease. Good luck.

 

We actually had a post about this on a Tundra site I am a member of. A few guys there had some good info on it, if this is indeed the same thing. It sounds like it is. Here is a link to the thread, and a copy of the post that explains more about it. Unfortunately, it seems no one has a good way to get them off.

Hey Brandon, I think this is on my paint - Tundra Solutions Forum

 

Yeah looks like the shotgun fungus thing is right on the money. This stuff is INSANE. I've never seen anything like it. I rewashed the car in straight upc (ardex purple rush) and its no better. Claymagic red takes some of it off but its way more trouble than its worth. I think I've gone through fifty alcohol wipes already. I'm grabbing my IPA solution from my house on my lunch. Its war.

 

I have the same issues here at home with some of my families cars but its a different type of spore. Some of the cars are next to mulch and our mulch actually releases spores and they get all over the sides of the cars and is impossible to get off even with clay and when I try and polish over them they cut my pads up like crazy. I have to spend so much time removing them but I don't think they are as tough to remove as mold spores.

 

I just found an old reply for this problem from a well known member (TOGWT)here......

 

I think I dealt with this before on a simple wash and wax. After 10 minutes I told the customer it would be extra to get those off, a good 4-5 hours of claying, thank god I saved myself on that one.

 

Klasse AIO to the rescue!

 

:shead: Wonder how this turned out :chips:

 

thanks for all the suggestions guys.

how it turned out....well i have blisters on my index and middle finger on my right hand now. the best method of removing the spores i found was to rub in 3M Finesse by HAND with a MF. talk about tedious. i even tried cutting down the spores with a wool compounding pad and a heavy cut body shop compound, which did basically nothing except heat up the clearcoat a lot.

today sucked.

 

Glad you got it in the end! ARTILLERY FUNGUS! WTF?

 

thanks ken. artillery fungus...this stuff was like cluster bomb fungus haha.

 

The best thing is you are gonna look like a genius next time you see it on a clients car and can tell them what it is!

 

Dang Billyblooshoes, :sorry: to here about your fingers :yikes:

Glad it all worked out, like 911 said...next time baby, next time $$$ :giggle:

 

Artillery Fungus

Small black specks (artillery fungus); these resemble asphalt (tar) spots but could be the spore of artillery fungus (Sphaerobolus) they look very much like tar spots and are usually about 1/10th-inch in diameter. The term artillery refers to the fact that the fungus actively uses energy to shoot its spore masses, sort of like cannon (an artillery piece). It is a fungus that lives in wood-based mulch, the spores are usually shot only a short distance (several feet) but the wind can carry them for longer distances.

They can be removed by using a chemical paint cleaner (Z-PC Fusion Dual Action Paint Cleaner or Klasse All-In-One) or plastic razor blade to scrape and remove the spot. If the affected paintwork is not neutralized any remaining acid residue will be reactivated each time it comes into contact with water.

An extract from “Automotive Detailing, Inside & Out; Knowledge Base for the Perfectionist “© TOGWT ™ Ltd Copyright 2002-2009, all rights reserved.​

 

haha funny thing is, when i brought the car down to the lexus service center, the lady was there waiting for it. she has a couple questions about maintaining it, and while i was at it, i told her about the thousands of artillery spores, explained to her what they are and where they come from, and how hard they are to get off etc. she admitted parking right next to a huge mulch bed at her house, which i advised her not to do. she looked at me like i was crazy with all the talk about artillery spores etc. oh well.

worst part is we didnt even charge her extra labor for the removal of the spores. usually for bad tar and road paint etc we charge a lot more, but since she didnt realize they were there and it wasnt agreed upon originally to remove them, they didnt charge her more.

thanks for the info!

 

Sad thing is if you wouldn't have gotten them off it would have been the 1st thing She noticed :yikes:

Someone should have called Her as soon as the Damage(Mold) was discovered. Explain to Her you can't find everything on an initial inspection.

The way it stands now, she has not learned a lesson....My Pastor once said: The most sensitive Nerve in the Human Body runs from the Heart to the Wallett :giggle:

 

:applause2:

Never heard that one before.... but LOVE IT. LOL

 

I'm shocked that you have blisters on your right hand...I've seen pictures of your girlfriend:giggle: