# Melting salt damage

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** damage, toyota, camry\
**Created:** [February 21, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689 "2011-02-21T20:05:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bwk058](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de053/32.png) [@bwk058](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bwk058)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689/1 "2011-02-21T20:05:39Z")

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Help! At work we have a 2 level parking garage. I park on the ground level. The second level is open to the elements. When it snows, they throw salt on the top level. Here’s the problem; When the snow starts melting, the sodium drips down onto the first level. Now I have 2 large splotches on my hood. Any idea how I can remove them so my paint isn’t damaged? (FYI: they are repairing the garage, but that’s a little too late for me.

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**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689/2 "2011-02-21T20:08:19Z")

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Wash the car.

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**Author:** ![bwk058](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de053/32.png) [@bwk058](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bwk058)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689/3 "2011-02-21T20:12:30Z")

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I have taken it through the car wash. It didn’t help.

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**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689/4 "2011-02-21T20:27:38Z")

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At this point it’s probably too late. You can try paint polish/re-conditioner.

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**Author:** ![lion9car](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@lion9car](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lion9car)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689/5 "2011-02-21T20:34:36Z")

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Salt should rinse off. Are you sure this isn’t something else from their repair work?

Regardless, a clay bar would probably do the trick here.

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**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689/6 "2011-02-21T22:32:30Z")

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Seconded. If it’s salt, it will wash off. I wonder if they used gypcrete in the repair job. It’s put on as a liquid and if you splash it on a car, would probably look suspiciously like salt deposits.

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**Author:** ![Roadrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Roadrunner](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roadrunner)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/melting-salt-damage/61689/7 "2011-02-22T21:02:18Z")

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I had a paint peeling/streaking problem with a '79 Olds I bought.

Nothing short of a paint job fixed that one.

It turned out that the previous owner parked in an underground parking area of his apartment building, and what dripped down was LIME from the concrete.

The end result of the ice/snow melt from the salt application MAY have triggered the same problem.