No this is actually a very fine sheen. At first I thought it was sand from a sandworks three miles across town, but my garage is next door and they said they come across this continually.
The house windowsills are much worse, obviously as they've been there longer than 6weeks, they've almost been powdercoated in the stuff.
Appreciate the thought, but honestly it's not what you thought!
Dom F
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Appreciate the thought, but honestly it\'s not what you thought!
No pink fluffy dice! (snigger!)
Dave.
Oh dear, your wisecrack doesn\'t have the same appeal anymore DD.
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Dom,
If you look at the area around the tracks you'll see everything is brown...and it ain't spilt creosote!
Whatever the exact makeup of the deposit it is an accepted problem of living close the the tracks.
You need to get it off with colour cut and then apply a quality resin polish, there is little more you can do as I assume there is no garage?
MM
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No, no garage or anywhere under cover. Even cars two streets away have same problem. Only solution is a plastic car cover, but I was worried about effect of T/Cut etc, as even when car left out for minutes the problem will accumulate so I can see doing T/cut rather more than just the once.
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T-Cut is a cutting agent. Use it too much and you'll be down to the primer.
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That's what I'm worried about, and why I'm trying to find out if there's a less-destructive way of doing it!!
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Do you think it might be steel from the track?
I presume it does wear a bit, and have to go somwhere.
If so, any chemists out there?
What would you use to shift it without dissolving the car or damaging the paint?
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I used to park my car in a work car park next to a railway line, in the zone for trains to be braking for the local station.
I too had a problem with the car being covered in small brown flecks, which I learned to be train brake dust.
I then had a problem, because when left, they caused rust, but they were so well 'welded' to the paint, that to remove them was difficult, and having done so, they then caused scratches if allowed to contaminate the polishing cloth.
The result was that I ended up spending many hours carefully cleaning the car, frequently replacing the polishing cloth, and when done, walked another 300 yards to work each day so I could use another car park!
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SjB is on the money here; your problem is amlmost certainly partcles of brake pads and/or discs from the trains. The report I read said the particles, if left on the paint, could 'pit' it seriously and set up corrosive effects in the presence of moisture, dew, rain etc. If there aren't posted warning notices around you might be able to sue for the damage.
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SjB
You're right - This stuff is debris from the train brakes. Very adhesive and damaging it is too. Perhaps it's still hot when it hits the car.
Their is no sucessful way to prevent the damage or remove it once it's there. As you have found, the only answer is to avoid it landing on the car in the first place!
Regards
John S
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Rail Brake dust - this is why you seldom see vehicles transported by train any more.
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It may well be dust from train brakes (which I believe use phosphor-bronze pads, presumably on steel disks - that's the nasty smell one gets when a train slows) but may also be steel dust from the rails, if there is significant curvature on the line causing friction on the flanges. You can guess from the curvature or whether trains regularly slow for signals etc. nearby. Either way I don't suppose it's good for paintwork.
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Dom,
Bit of a long shot but worth a try. This works for industrial fallout from certain metal processing plants.
Go to a chemist and buy some oxalic acid. About a teaspoon full of crystals in a pint of warm water is the right concentration.
If the car is really dirty wash it as normal first. Then wash it again with the mixture, just a wipe over the surface will do, enough to give 100% cover. Leave it for 10 minutes or so then rinse off really well.
Hopefully you will have turned the rough "gritty" finish into a smooth finish, have got rid of all the grime etc and then hopefully the T-cut can be minimised. Then polish, extra protection gloss etc etc to build some layers up.
Let us know how you get on. As I say might work, might not but won't do any harm.
ciao
FiF
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Its brake dust. My old man was a train driver, and I lived near railway tracks. It happens worse near railway stations, but also gets dragged along the tracks and permanent way in the wake of trains. Nice lightish brown powder that goes hard if left and sticks like merde to a blanket. There is only one cure. Cover things.
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FiF
Given how the people here like to save money, it's only a matter of time before they ask how many rhubarb leaves to a pint you need to boil up to get the right strength material.......
Seriously, though, what's the thinking behind this one? The railway dust is a particulate. Will the oxalic acid dissolve the particles?
Regards
John S
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John, sort of, but I'm sure it totally depends on what the particles are. Hence the "may not work but...."
What I can say is that I tried this on my own car sufferng from fallout, well back in the days before factory emissions regs were what that are today. The beneficial effect was out of all proportion to the amount of effort involved.
Someone did explain how it worked, but its 30 years ago and sorry I just forget the details. I think its more of an unsticking agent than actually dissolving the complete particle but how ..? Anyway it also worked on the outlaws car some years later.
As for the "Given how the people here like to save money, it's only a matter of time before they ask how many rhubarb leaves to a pint you need to boil up to get the right strength material......." maybe an idea for someone's crop rotation.
year 1 hay
year 2 rhubarb
year 3 liquorice (sp?)
;-0
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John, sort of, but I'm sure it totally depends on what the particles are. Hence the "may not work but...." What I can say is that I tried this on my own car sufferng from fallout, well back in the days before factory emissions regs were what that are today.
Someone did explain how it worked, but its 30 years ago and sorry I just forget the details. >>
Will oxalic-acid work safely on today's water-based car paints?
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"Will oxalic-acid work safely on today's water-based car paints?"
good question; dunno, hadn't thought of that, but seeing as the paintwork is stuffed anyway why not try on an out of the way part.
any evidence that it won't by the way?
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>>>> any evidence that it won't by the way? >>
Don't know myself, but there are some chemists on here who might know.
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Good Grief: This site. I never thought I would get to write about this!
Some years ago, when I was fresh faced young graduate with a shiny new PhD in Chemistry I worked for a very short while for British Rail R&D. One of the jobs I got involved with was protecting imported cars from damage during rail transport from Harwich. The new cars would invariably have a film of bronw muck from the train brakes. This was particularly true of the cars on the transprter behind the engine. This brown stuff was Iron Oxide from the brakes. At the time Oxalic acid was used in the train washes in order to remove the iron oxide particles. I think Oxalic acid was used because it is a weak acid, was fairly cheap and not as damaging to the environment or workers as someting like hydrochloric acid. However, it is still harmful to humans by skin absorption so be v. careful if you decide to use it. Oxalic acid works by forming a water soluble compound, a chelate, with the iron oxide and this can be washed away. (and this is why it is harmful to humans: it chelates the iron in blood). This link, from a supplier of descaling acid, tells you how to and how not to remove iron oxide from your car:
www.nielsenchemicals.com/datashts/dsws_descacid.htm
(I am not suggesting you use this stuff by the way: the link provides useful info only)
Lifted from the link:
N.B. Acids and acidic materials can damage decorative trim, polished aluminium and anodised surfaces, care should be exercised to ensure that Descaling Acid is not brought into contact with these surfaces.
So, maybe oxalic acid is not the stuff to use.
This link is to a company who provide a different method of cleaning iron oxide from trains:
www.uk-canada-trade.org/newfrombritain/sector/np57...l.
If you contact them, and the stuff they sell is harmless to humans, they may let you have some. Worth a punt.
BTW: I left before the imported car p[roblem got sorted.
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John S: Tell them about the soot particles from Richborough PS and the damage they used to cause to the imported cars coming off Ramsgate stored in the fields next to RichPS.
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What you want is a claybar.
Halfords used to sell them 'Surface cleaning bar' code 635797
I don't think they sold many and you can sometimes find them for a couple of quid in the 'clearance' section. Once they are there they often get snapped up by people who know what they are.
Mequires does one as well (pricey though)
Its a bit like plastercene (sp) and is very very slightly abrasive. (hint - break bits off to use - if you drop a bit, chuck it away or you'll be rubbing grit into your paint).
The paintwork is kept wet and the bar wiped over it. Crud sticks to the bar and every so often you mould it in your hands to shift to a cleaner bit. I've seen that it is specifically mentioned in quite a few places for 'fallout' from railway lines.
Works a treat for restoring a deep gloss to black cars.
from the web:=
Our clay bar is designed to remove deposits from the surface of the paint, deposits such as industrial fall out from some factories, traffic film, tar etc. Did you know that parking a car near to a railway line (including station car parks) may result in the car being covered in minute deposits of metal from a trains wheels and braking system!
Tree sap mist, overspray and industrial fallout are just a few of the contaminants that bond to yor paint's finish, making it rough and lackluster. Lubricated with Quik Detailer (included), this amazing non-abrasive clay bar quickly restores a smoot-as-glass finish on your car. Then polishes and waxes will apply and wipe off in half the time with dramatically improved results.
Taking the Paint Rubber (clay bar) allow to stand in some hot water to soften for a few minutes. Then place the clay in the palm of your hand and starting with the roof, move the clay over the painted surface in a back and forth motion. Using wet finger tips gently feel the paint surface before and after using the clay and not the pimply feel to the paint before starting and the super smooth after claying it. Always keep the surface of the paint well lubricated with water otherwise the clay will stick to the paint.
Proceed from the roof to the bonnet and boot and then on down to the doors and lower extremities. Pay particular attention to tar spotting on the lower halves of the doors. If you have a stubborn tar spot just press the edge of the clay and rub somewhat harder and the tar will disappear. When you have finished there is no need to wash the car again unless you really want too, as any clay smudges will disappear using cleaner fluid.
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MB
Just seen this. Slightly different problem. When an oil fired power station doesn't have flue gas desulphurisation, the sulphur contained in fuel oil produces sulphuric acid, which collects on the smuts in the chimney. Change of wind direction, and these can be released. Very damaaging to paintwork - iridescent bloom at best, burned to the metal at worst. The particular Richborough problem occured when they were using orimulsion, which made it headline news. Disclaimer - I wasn't working for P****G** when this happened!
Regards
John S
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