where did I go wrong

[TNBurban]

I just bought a white 1991 volvo that had about a thousand little black dots on it all over that would not come off with a regular wash job so here is what I did:

1. applied some clay bar elbow grease. It took about 3 hours but the spots were finally gone.
2. washed car with meguiars soap
3. waxed with cleaner wax

After the clay bar and wash the surface felt silky smooth. And, right after the wax job the surface felt great as well.

Well, about 3 hours later the surface felt like 80 grit sandpaper. It will not brush off either, it feels like it needs another clay bar job. What happened? It was a nice day, about 70-75 out, applied everything in the shade and I followed all directions to a T.

I have clayed cars before and never ran into this. Could it be airborne pollen and other contaminants?

 

[Michael_P]

Could be industrial fallout from a bad smokestack filter. This happened to my fathers car back in the 70's with chromium powder released from a stack by accident from an AT&T circuit board factory. In a powder state, it merely would brush off, but when mixed with water, the powder would penetrate to the primer. This was a brownish color though, but there are other chemicals released from stacks which can have similar results.
A mild compound should take care of your car.

 

[bretfraz]

That's weird. Are you sure nothing got on the car in the 3 hours? Paint overspray, tree sap.... nothing?

I don't think I've ever heard of something like that happening. Have your tried rinsing off the car? What about washing it again?