Car Paint Repair: How to Remove Car Paint Overspray

Lead Image for Car Paint Repair: How to Remove Car Paint Overspray
  • 1-5 hours
  • Intermediate
  • 0-250
What You'll Need
Rubber gloves
Rags
Terry cloth
Olive oil
Paint thinner
Buffing wheel
What You'll Need
Rubber gloves
Rags
Terry cloth
Olive oil
Paint thinner
Buffing wheel

One facet of car paint repair is removing car paint overspray. It can often be the case that someone is spraying a car and not paying attention. The next thing you know, there is spray paint all over your car. How do you get rid of it? There are several stages to complete, but you need to be careful not to scratch your own car's finish

Step 1 - First Removal

Very sparingly, put some olive oil on a clean terry cloth towel. Begin to wipe the overspray. If the paint is still wet, you should be able to remove it all very easily. If it’s dried, the job is going to be a great deal harder. Use a circular, clockwise motion to take off as much of the paint as possible. If it’s partly dry, the olive oil will help loosen it a little. Be thorough and rub every part of the vehicle where you can see signs of paint overspray that need car paint repair.

Step 2 - Paint Thinner

Before you use any paint thinner, you need to protect your hands. Put on rubber gloves and pull them on tight. Take a rag and put paint thinner on it. You shouldn’t use too much; it should just be damp, not soaked. Be very careful when you’re applying the paint thinner to the overspray on your car. Make sure none of it drips or runs and that you apply the thinner to all parts of the overspray.

When you’ve done this, you should use a clean terry cloth towel to wipe off as much of the overspray as possible before cleaning off the finish of your car with clean, dry rags. This should remove a great deal of the overspray, but if it’s had chance to dry thoroughly, you might not take off all of it.

Step 3 - Further Removal

If there is still some overspray left, dampen another rag with paint thinner and rub it hard, using a clockwise motion. Be careful not to let any of the thinner drip or run-wipe it up immediately if it does. Keep doing this until you’ve removed all the overspray. You will need to take great care in your rubbing and the amount of thinner you use in this cap paint repair. It’s very easy to end up marring the finish, and that’s the very last thing you want.

Step 4 - Finishing

If there is still a little overspray left, you can remove these final pieces with a buffing wheel. You need to have a wool pad on it and apply it lightly to your car's finish. Use until you’ve cleared all the overspray, then put it away. There’s no need to buff the whole finish. Instead, all you’ll need to do is wipe down the finish with some dry rags that are very clean. This should give you a shine and complete the car paint repair.