salmansqadeer

Hey Everyone!

I am a bit perplexed and very very very concerned at my new bike purchase.

I bought a Twin Six Rando Steel bike in black about a month ago, and finally got the chance to take it out and ride some gravel. After the ride I took the bike out for a wash, and went through my normal washing routine (single bucket, scotch brite sponge, dishwasher soap, etc) - the same washing routine I have used countless times on my Carbon Fiber Specialized Roubaix.

Everything seemed to be going well until I took a soft drying cloth to the bike, and to my absolute horror - it looks like the sponge has left long spindly scratches all over the frame! (Basically wherever I washed it - which is everywhere!) I originally thought it was just soap scum or something similar - but I am now convinced that this is actually hundreds / thousands of small very light scratches in the clearcoat.

So my question to this forum is:
1) Did I do something wrong while washing? I know I used both the soft / scratchy side of the sponge - but I have always done that and it has never been an issue - is this something that should be avoided?
2) How does this speak to the quality of the paintjob on the steel frame? Is this something I should be concerned about / reach out to the manufacturer about?
3) HOW DO I GET RID OF THE SCRATCHES ON MY NEW BIKE! I am thinking of using ScratchX after a ton of searching the forums / googling - but wanted to get your input first.

I will add pictures to this thread once I can get home and take them - I just wanted to put this out there to see if anyone had had similar experiences.

Thank you!

fietsbob

Easiest: Ignore them ..
You went on a gravel road and brought gravel back
that going to be the end of your gravel excursions ?


I expect you rubbed in grit while scrubbing it.

Mechanically, You reduce scratches by taking down the surrounding area to the level of the deepest part of the scratch.

CACycling

Did you use the sponge side or the abrasive side? The abrasive side would definitely leave scratches in paint.

markjenn

I would think it would be obvious, but.... yes, the scratchy side of a scotch brite pad will scratch paint. There are a lot of different scotch brite pads - some are even recommended for scuffing up old paint before repainting - but I would never use anything but the sponge side on a painted surface I cared about.

- Mark

DOS

I had good result with combination of turtlewax pruducts -- rubbing compound and wax. But it was on an isolated spot one time so I cant speak to how it might work all over. Could make it worse.

salmansqadeer

Hey Mark,

Yeah I guess you are right - I have used both sides (including the abrasive side) on some of my other bikes (old steel and new carbon fiber) without ever having an issue - so I just assumed it was safe (and I wasn't hard scrubbing either - this was just a light wash). I guess I found the bike that it doesn't work on! Big mistake like this once means i'll never make the mistake again.

Thanks for being helpful (unlike some of the other people posting on this thread).

FBinNY 

As Bob posted earlier, odds are that you picked up grit and rubbed it into the finish. it's easy enough to do if you aren't careful to avoid it by frequent washing of the sponge itself.

BTW- some finishes are far more pone to scratching or showing minor swirl marks (usually linear on bikes), and IMO the only answer is to not buy those finishes in the first place. (speaking as the past owner of a "wet look" candy apple red car).

salmansqadeer

@FBinNY Yeah this was after a long gravel ride - and I definitely did not use the two bucket method of washing - so I am guessing the grit from the bucket got caught in the soft abrasive sponge + on a new bike whose finish I didn't know about yet was totally not a good idea.

Definitely a lesson learnt for future efforts. I have gone ahead and bought some ScratchX and will post some before and after pictures in case anyone ends up in the same situation as me.

dr_lha

Back when I got my car new, it had a sticker in the window that left a rather annoying sticky residue. I used a scotch bright pad, abrasive side, to clean it off. I figured, toughened glass, that's not going to scratch right? Later I was horrified to find loads of permanent scratches on the glass where I had cleaned off the glue. Lesson learned.

There's a reason why car sponges don't have an abrasive side. It scratches paintwork.

jf19451

I would try Meguiar's Scratch X. It removed some pretty bad scratches on my Corvette.

themp

I would try one of these 3M products.

Paint and Scratch Repair - Products - 3M Auto

SJX426 

Just used Scratch X on a 43 year old finish that was dull. Cleaned up to a bright luster, incredible! I used 0000 steel wool to get rid of some rust on the paint and the Scratch X took the steel wool scratches right out.

Camilo

Yea, buff it out with any number of car polishes available and you probably will be satified with the result.

Dave Cutter

Bon Ami is a scouring/cleaning power. It's old logo was a newly hatched chick (as in chicken) with the phrase "Hasn't scratched yet" (yeah I know old and corny). But on a soft sponge.... it will polish out scratches from glass. I would NOT try it on paint.

markjenn

I suspect you were scratching the paint somewhat on the other bikes too, but it wasn't showing up as much. And as I said earlier, there are a number of scotch brite pads around these days, with abrasive sides ranging from lightly abrasive plastic (for things like kitchen appliances and teflon pots/pans) to very gritty abrasives which will scratch virtually anything and are even recommended for roughing up paint prior to refinishing. If you were using the least abrasive type, I'm a little surprised that it made noticeable scratches in light single use, but paint finishes vary in hardness. Again, I'd never use anything but a soft cloth, wash mitt, or sponge on painted finishes I cared about. People who really care about their cars won't even use a sponge. And always use lots of water and clean your sponge out very often.

It's very likely the finish can be restored if you want to work at it using any number of car-oriented polishes, rubbing compounds, and waxes. Or you could just live with it..... in some ways, things like this just take away the pressure of worrying about keeping it nice.

- Mark

Davet

Bon Ami is used by windshield wiper makers to thoroughly clean windshields when testing their products.

Bike tinker man

Depending where you live & if you know any I would take your bike to a auto re-spray shop & ask them what they would use or recommend, there are several very good "cutting polishes / cutting compounds" but rather than make it worse & buy the wrong thing I would try this route 1st.

Yes Scotch-brite pads are not for cleaning paint work or even crome, or ally rims, handlebars etc, they simply will scratch

Looigi

Sponge is NG. Use a soft brush. A sponge will rub any dirt and grit on the bike into the finish, as will a cloth or rag. Rinse first with a gentle stream or shower of water to remove the big stuff and soften the rest. Then go over the bike with a soft brush and soapy water. Rinse with a gentle stream or shower of water.