Another out of spec detailing video: heavy stain removal from stainless steel

[Crissa]

The problem with using water to rinse off the BKF, is that it will run down on (and potentially stain) the black plastic. You can't prevent this by masking it off. You can prevent this with one strip of masking tape on each fender if you are doing the windex method.

it does take several passes with new rags each time to remove the bkf, but I'm unwilling to stain my plastic (it came delivered with stains on the rocker panels, likely from bkf+water), and I do not want that to happen again once they replace them. No matter how much water you use, even if you assume you will wash the truck, bkf, rinse, dry, waterless wash to remove the streaks... you cannot know for sure that you won't stain your rockers because "rinse" isn't controlled enough to know exactly how much bkf will run down on your plastic and sit there.

Bar Keeper's Friend won't damage the plastic while it's being hosed off. Just make sure to either mop up or flood the drips and don't let them sit.

-Crissa

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[mstatkus]

I’ve got these factory prints on my tailgate. Not fingerprints but more silver.

 

[HaulingAss]

I actually prefer the tarnished look but this is good to know lol

I prefer the mellower look of the weathered steel too. But mine hasn't become as weathered looking as the Out of Spec Cybertruck (even though mine lives out under the trees and in the mud and bird poop 24/7).

They seem to have a lot of trouble keeping it looking nice. I think all the chemicals they recommend strip away the passivation layer and allow the metal to weather to a more tarnished look by hindering the formation of the passivation layer. It's almost like they are trying to create the narrative that the Cybertuck requires a ton of labor to keep looking nice. I just wash mine with soap and water, looks far better than their weathered portion. I wonder what they are doing wrong?

They haven't had it long enough to become experts on it.

 

[ideaXfactory]

I prefer the mellower look of the weathered steel too. But mine hasn't become as weathered looking as the Out of Spec Cybertruck (even though mine lives out under the trees and in the mud and bird poop 24/7).

They seem to have a lot of trouble keeping it looking nice. I think all the chemicals they recommend strip away the passivation layer and allow the metal to weather to a more tarnished look by hindering the formation of the passivation layer. It's almost like they are trying to create the narrative that the Cybertuck requires a ton of labor to keep looking nice. I just wash mine with soap and water, looks far better than their weathered portion. I wonder what they are doing wrong?

They haven't had it long enough to become experts on it.

Totally agree.

On a side note, my truck is extremely even in it's finish, and I like that. It hasn't turned grey, or changed, it just still looks new.

I did take a week long trip to Chicago, through several rain storms, and thought that the rain there (dirtier and more acidic) seemed to turn the metal grey somewhat. So I power washed and cleaned the metal back to a even shine after returning. I diluted and used a ph 4 cleaner on the front trunk. But other than that, not much was needed to clean it up.

 

[Seribus]

Totally agree.

On a side note, my truck is extremely even in it's finish, and I like that. It hasn't turned grey, or changed, it just still looks new.

I did take a week long trip to Chicago, through several rain storms, and thought that the rain there (dirtier and more acidic) seemed to turn the metal grey somewhat. So I power washed and cleaned the metal back to a even shine after returning. I diluted and used a ph 4 cleaner on the front trunk. But other than that, not much was needed to clean it up.

Still happy with the CitriSurf 2310? I still need to finish the whole truck when it's a bit cooler in Carolina. I also uncovered a few stains on frunk during my treatment that scared made me and made me take pause. I first thought it was something I did using 2310. When I did the front of the frunk using 2310 it looked awesome. No blemishes or iron deposits. I added those discoloration areas to my upcoming service request. I may try 2310 on this areas again to see if I can even the texture across the frunk top.

 

[Pops]

Tesla delivery centers do not recommend barkeepers friend at all, and only recommend cleaning it with an alcohol solution right now.

When I took delivery they recommended I use bar keeper's friend to clean the vehicle. I'm not sure what the official advice is but it seems like it might vary per employee.

 

[Dahongfei]

The forum love BKF, but I think that is too harsh for this truck.

I have tried a few products
1) ceramic spray, terrible and leaves so much smudging
2) carnauba based wax - this was OK, took off a lot of iron deposits and marks like that, but took a bit of work to massage it out. Then it shined up those parts that I was doing And the rest looked inconsistent.
3) quick detailer - this didn’t do much but it would take the dirt off
4) stainless steel, appliance cleaner - this did not do much and took too much elbow grease

The best thing that I have found so far is to use a decent car soap or dish soap and that gets the car very clean, then you do your touchup areas with either the ammonia, free glass cleaner or the carnauba based wax to get out deposits.

I believe that this can never be perfect like you could waxing a painted car, but you can get it pretty close and nobody will notice besides you.

I’m very happy how easy after just a wash and then use your leaf blower to dry it, you’re good to go.

TLDR- a good wash and then leaf blower dry off is all you really need.

 

[stirling]

I found some spots where I believe the delivery personnel probably used BKF and ruined the finish. I also agree nothing beats the Citrisurf passivation. I used 77 and it's significantly improved the look of every panel

 

[Dahongfei]

I found some spots where I believe the delivery personnel probably used BKF and ruined the finish. I also agree nothing beats the Citrisurf passivation. I used 77 and it's significantly improved the look of every panel

what was your process using the 77? Did you do a wash and then spray it on, wipe it around and then rinse it off as it says on the label?

 

[stirling]

what was your process using the 77? Did you do a wash and then spray it on, wipe it around and then rinse it off as it says on the label?

I did a wash, then dried, sprayed the 77 on til every bit of the panels were soaked. I used a non abrade sponge to spread it where the drops were too large. In rust/contaminant spots, I would soak it again and scrub a bit with the sponge, seeing if it would come off, if not, I would let it dry in that spot and then wet and scrub again. All and all when I got all the contaminant spots scrubbed off, I let those last bits of 77 dry on, then started rinsing with the pressure washer again and again til it was all off.

Unfortunately it rained the next day and now my car is coated in Vegas-road-oil-slick again, but hey it looked shiny as hell when it was done for 24 hours.

 

[Daryoon]

I see there is a Citrisurf 77 and 77 plus. Apparently the “plus” has additional component to get rust off according to the mfg.

Also, were you guys buying it from? Amazon?

 

[LarryASilva]

Out of Spec Detailing vids are pretty biased. I've watched a few, they're basically pushing the narrative that you need to coat or wrap the truck because the default stainless steel has imperfections and dirt sticks to it. Tesla delivery centers do not recommend barkeepers friend at all, and only recommend cleaning it with an alcohol solution right now. Which I assume is what's in their detailing kit for the stainless surface on the accessory shop right now.

In the Cybertruck Service Manual, we can find a recommendation by Tesla for a product called Citrisurf 77 for removing stains. I bought some and it works...and leaves no micro scratches. The only caveat ... just like BKF ... Citrisurf does remove the petina as well as the stain .... so some folks may end up doing the whole panel ... or even the whole side to make things look right. What we really need is a PROVEN ceramic coat that protect our SS from the micro etching caused by bird shit et al. Lot of products out there ... but to date I have read about no PROOF that they can seal against bird shit micro etching.

 

[LarryASilva]

I see there is a Citrisurf 77 and 77 plus. Apparently the “plus” has additional component to get rust off according to the mfg.

Also, were you guys buying it from? Amazon?

I accidentally bought the "plus" with that extra ingredient and used it on the top of my frunk on a massive micro etching from seagull poop. Applied a very thin layer across entire top and let set for 3 minutes. Worked like a miracle ! For unknown reasons ... only the regular Citrisurf 77 ... NOT the "plus" ... is recommended by Tesla. Good thing too ... this method is much less labor than BKF ... and puts no tiny scratches on the SS.

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