Test # 3: White Ford Explorer – Tailgate
This may be the most important test yet….my wife’s car. I tested Iron X on my truck first. I completed two tests of the tailgate. Iron X removed the orange spots from my F-150 tailgate! So, I thought that I was ready to move up to the next level….my wife’s car.
Will Iron X remove orange spots from a Ford Explorer? Iron X does a fantastic job removing orange spots, fallout, rail dust, etc. The Ford Explorer had several spots on the hatch back door. Iron X removed all orange spots and removed rust stains around two paint chips!
Will Iron X remove rail dust or orange spots from a Ford Explorer Tailgate? Iron X does a fantastic job removing orange spots, fallout, rail dust, etc. The Ford Explorer had several spots on the hatch back door. Iron X removed all orange spots and removed rust stains around two paint chips!
The tailgate of the Ford Explorer has several orange dots near the license plate area. This car is two years older than my truck, a 2011. So, there were proportionately more orange dots on the white tailgate.
Earlier this week, I received a bottle of Iron X in the mail. I was looking for a way to remove the orange spots from my white paint. I”m still a bit skeptical. Although I had great success with Iron X removing orange spots from my F-150, I was concerned because my wife’s Ford Explorer is a slightly different shade of white. With two years between the model numbers, I was concerned that the paint specification may have changed enough to have a different outcome.
Here’s what I observed:
After one minute: the spots began to change color from orange to purple. Interesting
After two minutes: The shade of purple became more dark or intense. Also, tiny dots of purple began to appear in areas where I had not see orange spots before the test.
After three minutes More of the surface area began to show purple dots.
After four minutes No real change.
After five minutes: No more purple spots. My timer indicates five minutes. Time for the next step!
Here’s what I did:
First step, read the directions. I need to be sure that I am consistent between each test. The directions on the side of the bottle read:
Directions:
1. Wash the surface of the vehicle.
2. Shake the bottle well.
3. pray on. Wait 3-5 minutes while contaminants change color to purple-red.
4. Rub in with a damp soft sponge. Avoid drying under direct sun.
5. Rinse well with water
The Scientific Approach:
Continuing with the format of the first test, I’d like to keep my lab coat on and establish a problem statement. If this test is a success, then, that’s great. However, if the test is not successful, I will need to explore each variable in order to put my curious mind at ease. So, it is important to me to be as objective as possible.
Problem: tiny orange dots have appeared on my wife’s white Ford Explorer. These spots look like rust, but I cannot remove them by washing or scrubbing.
Testing plan: Spray Iron X onto the rear section of the Ford Explorer, the tailgate, (following the directions) and see if the spots fade or disappear.
Let’s break down the directions:
Note: the directions are in red. If you already reviewed the directions in the first two tests, then, skip over the red font.
Wash the surface of the vehicle.
Check: I washed the Ford Explorer tailgate using a 2500 psi pressure washer, with an orange tip. I washed the truck with regular car washing soap using two hand sponges. When I was done, I rinsed with the pressure washer. The water for the pressure washer was from a rain barrel. Pretty standard wash, nothing fancy. (Same as test #1 and #2)
Shake the bottle well
I gave the bottle a good shake. However, the consistency of the color of Iron X looks the same before and after. Not sure if my shake made much of a difference. But, I followed this direction.
Spray on. Wait 3-5 minutes while contaminants change color to purple-red.
Pause at this step. I decided that I better take one more look at the precautions on the label. If it turns the paint purple-red, then, I don’t want it to turn me purple-red!
The label states:
Precautions:
*Test the product on an inconspicuous area before applying.
*Recommended eyes and skin protection.
*Work in a well ventilated area
*Keep in a dry cool place
*Keep out of reach of children
A few of the precautions inspired me to take action:
First: Recommended eyes and skin protection:
Before I begin spraying this material, I put on a pair of safety glasses and a pair of nitrile 8 mil gloves. The label states that this is a corrosive material. But, the label was not very specific about what type of chemical gloves to wear. Considering this, the 8 mil nitrile is a good “incidental contact” type of glove, in my opinion.
Second: Test the product on an inconspicuous area before applying.
I wanted to find a relatively isolated part of the truck to test. I chose the tail gate of the truck. I chose the tailgate because if I had to get the tailgate repainted due to some whacky result of the test, then, at least it would the the least impact and cheapest part of the truck to paint!
Third: Work in a well ventilated area
My truck was parked in the driveway, away from my garage. There may have been a slight breeze. I don’t think I’d want to spray this in my garage. Although the label read “cherry scent”, the odor was more of a “rotten egg” smell. A mercaptan odor. (What’s a mercaptan odor? Drive by a paper mill, stick your head out the window. That’s a mercaptan odor.)
I used the spray applicator that came with the bottle. The sprayer worked fine. It did produce a good layer of Iron X across the paint. I sprayed the surface a couple of times just to be sure that the spray evenly covered the section of the tailgate to be tested.
I sprayed the Iron X onto the tailgate using spray applicator that came with the bottle of Iron X. I tried to apply an even layer across the tailgate of the Ford Explorer. I didn’t just spray the visible orange spots. Instead, I sprayed an even layer across the entire back tailgate. I didn’t only spray where I could see spots. I learned on the first two tests that there are orange spots on my paint that I can’t see. However, Iron X will find the spots. So, I sprayed the entire tailgate.
Next, I set a timer for five minutes. In order to give this material a fair test, I wanted to leave it on my truck for the full duration.
Rub in with a damp soft sponge. Avoid drying under direct sun.
I used my damp towel that I used for Test 1 and 2. I wiped the purple liquid from the tailgate. My goal was to try to remove all of the purple liquid from the tailgate. It didn’t take long to wipe all of the purple from the tailgate.
Fortunately, the day was overcast, so I didn’t need to worry about drying under direct sun.
Rinse well with water
I rinsed the truck with plenty of water. I don’t know the impact this could have on my paint, so I was sure to rinse thoroughly. I used the 2500 psi washer, just to be sure.
TEST RESULTS:
The spots around the license plate disappeared. The spots to the right of the license plate were gone. I needed to study the area carefully before I could be sure that the spots were gone. Spots on the opposite side of the license plate were also removed. The test was a success!
My original problem was:
Problem: tiny orange dots have appeared on my wife’s white Ford Explorer. These spots look like rust, but I cannot remove them by washing or scrubbing.
I can say with confidence that my problem statement was addressed. These orange dots were removed without any intense scrubbing.
BONUS TEST:
Before I started the test, I noticed two chips in the paint of the car. These two marks were definately paint chips. Rust was beginning to form around the paint chips and staining the white paint. These two chips and stains were much larger than the orange dots that I was spraying on the rest of the tailgate.
I was curious to see what Iron X would do. Would Iron X be able to clean the rust from around the paint chip.
Below are before and after pictures of the paint chips.
I was pleasantly surprised that the Iron X was able to remove rust stains from the paint. This may be a great way to prep paint chips before adding touch up paint.
The first paint chip was located just above the chrome rail rail that runs horizontally across the tailgate. This seems to be a pretty common location for rust to begin.
I applied Iron X to these paint chips using the same method that I used to coat the other parts of the tailgate. The spots did not receive an extra heavy dose, just the same thin layer that I applied to the paint.
I was surprised how well Iron X removed the rust stains around the paint chips. You can hardly tell that there was ever a rust spot on the tailgate. The paint chip was clearly present in both areas. There was no doubt about the location of the rust stain because the chip causing the paint was still there.
General observations:
I expected the Iron X to remove the orange spots and specs. However, I was impressed with how well it cleaned both the orange spots AND the rust stains around the chipped paint!
Video of the test:
I took a video of the Ford Explorer test and posted it on your tube. If you have any doubts about the honest of my test, take a look at the video. You’ll see that I am far from a camera expert, so there were no camera tricks! Here’s a link to a video that shows the entire Test #3