Using carburetor cleaner to remove old dirt on a car's paint

[Martha12]

Hi, I recently spoke to a friend who recommended using a carburetor cleaner to remove dirt that wouldn't come off using anything else like soap or a claybar. So I tried it on one of our older cars and it seems to work amazing with not negative effects. Before I try this on one of our newer cars, is there anything I should know that might damage the paint or clearcoat in the long run?



Thanks



edit: to mention, I used soap and water right after using the carburetor cleaner so as to not eat away at the clearcoat or paint.

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

I sure as hell know I wouldnt do it.

 

[phamkl]

I bet you could use gasoline or acetone as well.



I wonder if causes detorioration on contact? If it takes time before it does damage I guess you'd be good? dunno.

 

[93AccordLXwhite]

Personally, I would never use it, I'd rather use other more mainstream solutions that I am sure are safe for my paint. I'd recommend going to a junkyard and trying it on an old car, letting it sit for 5-10 minutes and see what happens. Do you have a list of ingredients in the carb cleaner you're using? What kind of dirt is it that can't come off with soap or a claybar? It's likely that a simple cleaner wax would work, saving you the worry:nixweiss

 

[gmblack3]

Just use a good AIO type product. There is a reason its called carburetor cleaner and not paint cleaner.

 

[kompressornsc]

It will eventually dull your paint. I use a lot of carb cleaner / brake-kleen on my kart and if it touches any of the painted parts, they go dull. I try not to get it on the frame, but sometimes it's tough. About the only thing I've found that dulls paint faster is brake fluid.

*I'm not recommending this on a car, but for cleaning my kart, I soak everything in WD-40 and wipe it down. It's the only thing that will cut through almost everything w/o dulling the paint.