This week one of my windshield washer jets started to get plugged up and would just dribble out fluid. Today after work I was able to get the jet unclogged however I noticed that the washer fluid that was dribbling out across my hood had made some noticeable stains on the white paint. I had been using Rain-X orange washer fluid, which has now been completely flushed out and rinsed off...

TL;DR: Don't use Rain-x washer fluid.

My question is what would be the best way to get the stains out without messing up my paint? I was thinking 3000 grit sandpaper (wet), followed by some clear coat polishing compound, then a good wash and wax.

Also, do you guys have a good "recipe" for some homemade washer fluid that won't stain paint, and product recommendations for the polishing compound, car wash, and wax?

Thank you.

 

In the summer I use Kristal Klar and mix it with distilled water. You can get it at Amazon for around $9.00, makes about 8 gallons. As for the stains, you might try WD-40, Superclean or just rubbing compound. I would skip the sandpaper.

 

Try some Meguiar's ScratchX or Ultimate Compound by hand, following the directions on the bottle.
Follow that up with some Ultimate Wax!

 

Yesterday I bought some Turtle wax rubbing compound. With a lot of elbow grease and I got the stains mostly taken care of. I will probably work on it a little more tonight but its good enough that its not noticeable unless you know its there.

 

Be careful with rubbing compound. It is very aggressive and can cut through the clear coat. It definitely scratched the clear coat. You should follow up with a polish to polish the scratched out of the clear. Then apply a sealant to protect the clearcoat.

 

What type of sealant would you use for that?

 

There are a lot of sealants on the market. Take a look here http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html

 

I would have called Rain-X and asked if they wanted to take care of the problem. Seems like it should not be staining people's vehicles.

 

I honestly thought about it but I doubt I would get anywhere. Best thing to do is stop buying their stuff and make a post about it here so more people will know. From google searches Ive done it seems like it happens enough that they should know about it by know...

 

I also noticed while I was waxing my truck yesterday that i'm starting to get some rust on the bottoms of the doors. I can post pics soon. I know rust is the norm on vehicles up here but I thought that the doors and body panels were aluminum on these?