Does Silly String Damage Car Paint? (Answered)

You woke up in the morning, did your morning walk, completed other kinds of stuff, you are about to step up and enter the car. At that moment, you found some silly strings on your car. Maybe it was Halloween last night or any other party nearby.

What would you do? How would you clean the silly string? We will talk about silly strings and the proper ways to get rid of them. Keep with us and find your queries.

Does silly string damage car paint?

Silly string damages car paint to a great extent. The silly string has fluid plastic resin that needs to be removed as soon as possible. If you don’t remove them, they will dry and stick to the car paint. Then, you cannot remove them quickly and will fail to clean the car paint.

Too much silly string will mess up things. It will ruin the paint structure if it gets dried, even you cannot remove the entire paint using kerosene or other oily ingredients. But it will damage the car paint thoroughly.

Silly string is a liquid plastic resin that will come out once the can is opened and pressed. You cannot stop it from damaging your paint unless you clean it very soon. If it dries, you cannot remove it; it will take much effort, and you need to go deep clean.

Since the silly string has plastic resins, it will stick to the surface and paint. You cannot do anything against it but go for a deep clean. You need to use chemical or detergent soap and mix them well to remove the silly string from the car paint.

Especially the dried silly string that we talked about. It has a sticky ingredient that will attach to the paint. When you clean it, you might lose the shiny color. It will also weaken.

Does silly string take paint off cars?

The silly string might take the paint off the cars in harsh conditions. Let’s say you park your car near the house or super shop, or anywhere. After a while, your car gets some silly string from the passers-by. You came to the car after an hour or two.

By that time, the silly string will dry. If you clean it, you will see that the silly string is coming with the paint. It will be a pathetic situation for you. You can’t do anything but follow our tips to avoid such horrible things.

But the best way to avoid silly strings is to park the car in a safe place where there are no festivals nearby. It will reduce the risk of getting silly string and damaging the car paint along the way.

Does silly string wash away?

The silly liquid string will wash away quickly, but the dried silly string will not disappear. It will stick to the surface and will damage the paint as well. If you deep clean the silly string, it will take the paint off the car.

But we found some easy ways that will help you to wash away the silly string without damaging the paint. But the dried one will be tough to wash and clean. It will stick to the surface firmly and don’t want to come off.

However, you can wipe the silly string within a while if it is not dried. When you see the string on your car, you should clean it instantly.

What does silly string do to a car?

Silly string does some damage to the car. It affects the paint and sometimes takes the paint off the car. Some other damages were also found due to the silly string. Let’s get through them.

Car paint:

When the silly liquid string falls on the car paint, it doesn’t do that much damage. You can wipe it and clean the surface within a while. If it dries, it will create issues for you. You cannot clean it only by wiping.

You have to go through a rigorous process and clean off the entire area. But it’s possible to clean off the dried silly string as well.

Window:

If silly strings fall on the window, it will seep through the glass and plastic. But not all; some portion of the string will attach to the window and make it vague. You cannot see anything from the inside.

Once the silly string gets dry on the window, you need to use the bristle brush or anything complicated to remove it. It will not damage the window if you clean it properly.

Door:

Finding the silly strings on the door will be a mess. It will dry out soon and will stick to the aluminum frame. It will damage the color of the door and will fade away the color and paint from the door.

So, it would be better to clean the liquid string and not allow it to dry.

Damage Seat:

If silly strings get to the seats, it will be tough to sit on them, and you cannot clean it soon.

And it might be an harsh situation for you to deal with. In that case, you might need to go to a car wash shop and ask them to deep clean the interior.

How long does it take for silly string to damage a car?

It might take two hours for the silly string to damage a car. Although the silly string is a non-toxic material, it will damage the color and paint of the car.

If you leave it for several hours, it will stick to the surface, and you can’t do anything but deep clean the entire car.

Sometimes, it might take a long time to get to the paint if the car surface is wet or water. It might not dry soon, and you may remove the liquid silly string without a deep cleaning.

How to remove silly string from car paint?

Thanks for coming across the entire write-up. You’re waiting is over. We will talk about how you can remove the dried silly string from car paint without damaging it. Follow our tips to get the best result.

Power Washer:

You first try with the power washer and remove the silly string. It is not dried yet; you can remove it using the power washer. It will be better to follow this step when you get the silly string within a few moments.

You need to power wash the dry silly string to soft it. It will also remove the surrounding silly strings from the paint, door, and window.

You may wash the seats if there is any string. It’s an excellent deal to power wash both the liquid & dries silly string.

Cotton Swabs:

After cleaning with a power washer, you can use the cotton swabs and gently wipe through the surface if you still find the silly string. It will remove the liquid string from the window and door of the car.

You need to gently buff the cotton sabs on the silly strings and remove them slowly. Don’t be in a hurry; take time and wipe through it.

Apply Lubricant:

If you have used those two methods and still can’t remove the silly string, it is dried already. You have to apply the liquid or lubricant to that area.

You may consider applying the WD-40; it’s the best lubricant for a vehicle to remove all kinds of silly string and other things from the car paint. However, it doesn’t have enough ingredients to entirely remove the dried silly strings.

Auto Body Solvent:

If you still can’t remove the silly string from the car paint, you are stuck with the worst thing.

You need to use the body solvent to give you a better result. Keep in mind you can’t overuse the body solvent; it might damage the car paint.

Moreover, you need to use a soft fiber cloth to remove the dried silly string. You can dip the cloth into the solvent and gently buff on the silly string.

What can I use instead of silly string that are not harmful to car paint?

Silly string is not a recommended vehicle material to use on your car paint. It will damage the paint and stick to the surface. You can’t even remove them quickly.

Therefore, we found some genuine products that you can use instead of silly strings that are not harmful to car paint. They are:

• Biodegradable Confetti
• Paper Decorations
• Party Favor Packs
• Bunch O Balloons
• Monopoly Deal Card

Final thoughts

The silly string has liquid plastic resins. It will stick to the car’s surface and paint when it dries. You cannot remove it quickly once it dries. If you use chemicals or detergent, it might take the paint off the car. In a word, the silly string does damage the car paint and ruin the structure.