Daughter's car vandalized with what appears to be red grease. Cold out now. Best way to clean it?

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cvlw

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Last night, my daughter's car was splattered and smeared with red grease. If it is anything like Lucas Red n Tacky, it is going to be an unrighteous pain. To make matters worse, it is now freezing here in MN.

She doesn't live with me so, this is all second-hand info. She doesn't have immediate access to a heated garage where a proper wash can happen.

I instructed her to try gently "spatula-ing" thicker globs off with an old credit card or similar object and then wash the area using warm water and a much heavier-than-instructed dose of car wash/soap. In the end, if those don't address it, I told her to use dish soap.

We will worry about waxing the area later.

Any other advice? Anything I should correct?

Thanks

CVLW
 
I would worry about damaging the paint with a plastic card. A soft spatula will work fine, but I would also use a hair dryer to warm up the red grease to make it easier to come off. It will be very time consuming.
 
She should try removing the large globs of grease using old T-shirts and/or terry cloth towels. I would then follow up with WD-40 sprayed onto a clean towel or T-shirt. Test it on the lower painted panels/ undercarriage first to verify it won't damage the paint, but I use WD-40 to remove tar from vehicles frequently. I'd finish up with a good wash using Dawn detergent and re-coat with Turtle Wax Seal n Shine or Griot's Garage Ceramic Spray sealant.
 
Use a soft spatula to get the obvious chunks off. Take it through a car wash of your choice and few times and just let it go for the winter. It won’t hurt the paint.
 
Remove the thick globs with a credit card (or similar), then find a touchless car wash. Touchless car washes use high alkaline degreasers and should break down the grease after a few runs.
 
dlundblad said:
Use a soft spatula to get the obvious chunks off. Take it through a car wash of your choice and few times and just let it go for the winter. It won’t hurt the paint.
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Yes get one of those rubber spatula's from the dollar store. I would do this and then bring it to a DIY Wash bay after most of it is off the car.
 
Self service car wash and nail the grease with the pressure washer, pat dry, hit it with some purple power and let it sit for a few minutes then hit it again with the pressure washer. Would not use a credit card or spatchula that’s a great way to scratch the clear coat. Will definitely need to replace sealant or wax after the purple power is applied.
 
SatinSilver said:
I think taking it to a good detailer would be the best option so the paint isn’t ruined. Spending a hundred or two is better than the alternative. This way it can be safely removed and at least a spray sealant applied.
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Agree. Among other things, the pro retailer should have a heated shop and potentially hot wash water. These will help.

Id avoid any towels, spatulas, credit cards, etc., until I could determine what some hot pressure wash could do. I’d be concerned with marring if the grease and the paint it went on was anything but pristinely clean. IMO washing it off would be best. May need to use a degreaser. One of the YouTube detailers from Dallas talks about using non-pH balanced degreaser soaps to clean cars well. That’s probbaly the case here. Assume all sealant/wax is stripped, and so it should be gently prepped (perhaps more aggressively if removal caused marring), and then protect again...
 
We’re assuming this is vandalism. My wife has a white car, we have a narrow garage, grease and schmutz all over the body work and walls is just a sign that the work order has been completed 🤣.
 
Crash Bandicoot said:
We’re assuming this is vandalism. My wife has a white car, we have a narrow garage, grease and schmutz all over the body work and walls is just a sign that the work order has been completed 🤣.
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Why would you question him? The only thing you’ve proven is that you have a messy garage.
 
PimTac said:
Why would you question him? The only thing you’ve proven is that you have a messy garage.
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My garage is an idyllic sunny glade on a bright summer day! I just cleaned and organized it a couple weeks ago.

My daughter lives away from me and has to park outside. The way the grease was "applied" was deliberate.

She described it as "sticky red goo that smells like gasoline and burnt rubber." And those around her surmise it is grease. I don't doubt their assessment. She just asked me how to clean it.
 
Remove what you can with soft blue paper towels … and try a car wash
If that falls short … baby oil can break it down …
 
cvlw said:
Thanks for the inputs, bitog crew.
According to her, the grease is gone.
She used a hair dryer to heat it, got it off. She washed it, and managed to wax it, too. She was careful and finessed the whole effort. It took from about the time I posted the first question in this thread until now.
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Good to hear.
 
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