[maheshshanmugam]

Dear All,
My wife bought an i10 and we had a puja done. I usually do not allow the pundit to smear anything on the painted surface of our new cars during puja. Somehow I missed telling him and he has freaked out on the car with sacred ash and kumkum smears.
The sacred ash smears are gone after wiping the car, but the kumkum has left yellow stains on the bonnet of the blue car.
Need advice on how to remove them. Washing with car shampoo did not do the trick. The dealer claims that he has given a teflon coating as part of the deal - is it the teflon that is stained - in which case, it should go with time right?
Mods - did do a search for removing stains - didnt find any and hence the new thread. Kindly move it to appropriate section if it was wrong on my part to start a new thread!
thanks all in advance.
Mahesh

[Ash_vtec]

hi, congrats on the purchase. Try using a little bit of rubbing compound on the area, preferably 3M...works well

[whatcanthisbe]

try a cloth dipped in petrol and wiping the area, that should do the trick

[linuxtechie]

, how come you faced this issue? Was the kukum chemically correct? Sorry cant answer this as never faced the issue.

~LT

[praJEEP]

Originally Posted by whatcanthisbe

try a cloth dipped in petrol and wiping the area, that should do the trick

Urghhh !!! i hate pujaris doing this to my bikes too.this is the best trick to get rid of kunkum, but you have to repeat the same for 3 to 4 times.

[rkbharat]

Same happened to my SX4 last week, and not just kumkum but that red ribbon on the bonnet also left a very weak impression on the bonnet after recent rains in delhi.

Will give a wax polish this weekend.

[praveen_v]

Originally Posted by maheshshanmugam

Dear All,
My wife bought an i10 and we had a puja done. I usually do not allow the pundit to smear anything on the painted surface of our new cars during puja. Somehow I missed telling him and he has freaked out on the car with sacred ash and kumkum smears.

If that sacred ash is of the grainy type, it can very well leave scratch marks on the paint. If there are no scratches, consider yourself lucky. The priest must have used the fine smooth type.

The sacred ash smears are gone after wiping the car, but the kumkum has left yellow stains on the bonnet of the blue car.

How long did you leave it like that?? I remove these at the earliest possible chance (Cant do that in front of parents heh heh!!)

[Sam Kapasi]

I have two words for you. Zippo Fuel.

Use a cloth moistened with Zippo Fuel to remove any stain.

[blackstallion76]

Sorry to bump this thread, but I am facing similar problem. Took the new vehicle for Pooja. The archak made some mark on the bonnet using sandalwood paste. It was drizzling as well during that time.
After 12 hrs, I tried removing it but it just not going. I tried soap solution, colin spray. And the vehicle is white color. The bonnet looks ugly with small yellow spots on the bonnet. Tried with petrol, did not work. Looks like paste has submerged with the paint.

Should I take to some car detailing service?

Please advise.

[sgiitk]

I will suggest Isopropanol (this is the Doctor's spirit, if it works,) or else rubbing compound. I will not try petrol it may damage the paint work. One intermediate way is to use Diesel. Seems to far more paint friendly, and often does the trick. In any case immediately after the clean-up do polish the area with a good wax.

[condor]

IMO, the stains should go away gradually.

Btw, the stain from the kumkum will be stronger with better quality kumkum. And the yellow stain is due to - turmeric.

[ghodlur]

Sorry to know that stains on the bonnet of your new car. Try using petrol to clean the stains. If it does not go then try a good car detailing services. No point in making it more worse trying lot of options.

[blackstallion76]

Took the car to 3M Car Care in HSR layout, BLR. There was one more new swift white color car with same problem. They were not able to remove them either.
They suggested not to try out anything and leave it like that. After frequent washes, it would go off gradually.

[AbhiJ]

A light rubbing compound is worth a try... something like silvo/brasso.

[Chewbacca]

The kum-kum has reacted chemically with the teflon / paint and it is best to ignore till it fades.

BTW, this happened at the office parking area. While reversing, a white Alto's front fender scraped against the left door of a red i10 that was parked parallel. There was no dent on the brand new i10 but the Alto's white color transferred over the red paint like a crayon. There was a 6 inch streak of white and some scratches too. The i10 owner wanted the Alto owner to pay up for the damages and thus summoned a mechanic from the nearby Hyundai A$$ for an estimate. The mechanic opened the bonnet without speaking a word, unscrewed the brake oil container, soaked a small area on a clean cotton cloth, applied it on the affected area and rubbed it for 15 seconds. Then wiped it clean with the dry part of the cloth. Voila, the white stain was gone and the scratches too.