Does Lacquer Thinner Damage Car Paint? (Explained)

Whenever it comes to painting a car or using a topcoat over the car, we must follow the instructions. Because car paint and coating material might react with each other sometimes. Generally, we use lacquer thinner as a solvent for lacquer paint. 

You might have heard about using lacquer paint over cars.

So, you might be confused about whether lacquer thinner damages car paint or not. Well, we use lacquer thinner to remove stains. So, you might be confused about using lacquer thinner to remove any stain from car paint. 

But you have to know details about lacquer thinner and its reactions with other paints.

Can I use lacquer thinner on my car?

You should not use lacquer thinner on your car. Generally, many people use lacquer thinner on the car to remove stains from the car’s body. But this can harm the car paint. Because lacquer thinner is not safe to use on your car.

Generally, lacquer thinner has a pretty aggressive effect on plastic and rubber. Most of the paints are made from plastic materials. Moreover, the topcoat of the car’s surface is also made of plastic materials.

So, when you put lacquer thinner on the car’s body, it will damage the car’s paint. Even it can go through the upper surface and damage the underlying surface of the car’s body.

If you want to use lacquer thinner on your car, you have to dilute the thinner with water. After knowing the appropriate strength of the thinner, you can apply it to the car.

Does lacquer thinner damage car paint?

Lacquer thinner can damage car paint. Generally, lacquer thinner is a pretty strong liquid that has an adverse effect on plastic and rubber. Most of the car paint is made from plastics. So, when you apply lacquer thinner without diluting it with water, the car paint will be damaged immediately.

However, before applying anything to your car paint, you should know what strength of material you can apply to the car. For example, lacquer thinner is a pretty strong liquid for using on car paint.

Sometimes, many people use lacquer thinner on the car after diluting it with water. After diluting, measuring the strength of the thinner is essential. But generally, we don’t know how to dilute and measure the strength of the lacquer thinner.

That’s why we sometimes use lacquer thinner directly on the car paint. This can ruin the car paint and make the car look damaged. Because lacquer thinner reacts with the car paint. Generally, lacquer paint reacts with materials that are plastic and rubber.

You might know that car paints and topcoats are made of plastic materials. That’s why the reaction will be immediate. It will remove the car’s paint from the car body.

Sometimes, we use lacquer thinner on the car paint and rub it for removing stains from the car. But this will ruin the car paint drastically. Even sometimes, diluting the lacquer thinner doesn’t help.

So, if you want to use lacquer thinner on the car, you have to dilute it first. Then you have to patch test on an area that is invisible from the outside. If the thinner doesn’t remove car paint, you can use it on the car’s body.

So, using lacquer thinner on car paint is not recommended. Still, if you don’t have any other choice, you can dilute it with water and patch test before using it on the car.

Will lacquer thinner remove car paint?

Yes, lacquer thinner will remove car paint. Generally, when you apply lacquer thinner on the car paint and dab it, you will see the car paint is removed from that spot. This happens because the lacquer thinner is strong enough to react with the car paint.

Applying lacquer thinner directly without diluting it will cause an immediate reaction. Even it will damage the car’s coating and paint on the body. You might want to use this thinner to remove a stain from the car.

But it will react negatively and remove car paint. So, diluting the thinner is essential. But you can’t apply the diluted thinner directly. Because sometimes diluted thinner is also strong for the plastic material.

That’s why you should test the thinner first before using it directly. If the diluted thinner doesn’t react with the car paint, you can use it. Otherwise, you should not use lacquer thinner on car paint.

Can I use lacquer thinner to remove semi-permanent stains on car paint? Is a repainted car surface very sensitive to lacquer thinner?

Yes, you can use lacquer thinner to remove semi-permanent stains on car paint. Generally, semi-permanent stains can come from different sources on your car. But the stains might be stubborn sometimes.

Even sometimes, car washing shampoo might not work well. So, you can use lacquer thinner in this case. But don’t put lacquer thinner directly on the spot. First, you have to dilute the lacquer thinner. Then you have to test it on an area that is invisible from the outside.

If the thinner doesn’t remove the car paint, you can use it for removing semi-permanent stains. Lacquer thinner works pretty fast and effectively. Even sometimes, it removes semi-permanent stains from the car immediately. So, this thinner can be pretty effective.

You might know that lacquer thinner can affect your car paint and remove the paint. So, you might be confused about a repainted car surface. In this case, you should not apply lacquer thinner.

Generally, the original paint of the car is pretty strong and durable. But the repainted paint is pretty soft. So, when you apply lacquer thinner on the repainted car surface, the thinner might remove the paint and damage the paint.

So, if your car is repainted recently, you should not apply lacquer to it. You should use something less aggressive.

How does lacquer thinner damage car paint?

Now that you know lacquer thinner damages car paint, you might want to know how lacquer thinner damages car paint. So, let’s see the processes of how lacquer thinner damages car paint.

Strong liquid:

Generally, lacquer thinner is not that strong. But compared to car paint, lacquer thinner is pretty strong. So, when you apply lacquer thinner on the car paint, it will react with the car paint and damage it.

You might know that lacquer thinner damages plastic and rubber. So, it also damages the plastics that are weaker than the lacquer thinner. Thus lacquer thinner damages car paint.

Dissolving ability:

Lacquer thinner has the ability to dissolve. Generally, when you apply lacquer thinner on the car paint, it dissolves the car paint. After dissolving the paint, the thinner will evaporate the content. So, the color of the paint will also be damaged.

The ingredients of the lacquer thinner are so strong that they dissolve the contents of car paint. Moreover, when you keep the lacquer thinner on the car paint for a long time, it will dissolve through the car paint and damage the plastic and rubber parts of the car.

What are the alternatives of lacquer thinner for a car? What solvent is safe on car paint?

Now that you know lacquer thinner is not suitable to use on a car, you might be looking for something safe. So, you have to find alternative solvents to use on the car. Let’s see what the alternatives of lacquer thinner for a car are.

Acetone:

Acetone is one of the most common cleaning materials. So, you can also use acetone for a car to remove stains from the car. It will not remove the car paint. Moreover, acetone is pretty fast-working.

When you apply acetone to the car, it will remove stains pretty fast. Moreover, it will also not remove the car paint.

Rubbing alcohol:

Rubbing alcohol is another liquid that can be an alternative to lacquer thinner. Rubbing alcohol is not that strong to damage the car paint. Moreover, it will be a safe solvent on car paint. You need to apply rubbing alcohol on the stain and gently rub the stain. 

The stain will easily remove from the car’s surface.

But rubbing alcohol might remove the clear coat from the car surface. So, you should be careful before using rubbing alcohol.

Methylated spirit:

You can also use methylated spirit on your car as an alternative solvent. Generally, the methylated spirit will not remove the car paint. Moreover, it will remove stains and grease from the car paint. This can be a good alternative to lacquer thinner.

Final Thoughts

You should not use lacquer thinner on your car. Because it can damage and remove the car paint. Generally, lacquer thinner is a strong liquid that can dissolve car paint. So, lacquer thinner is not safe to use on the car. You should dilute the lacquer thinner or use something less aggressive.