Many cars now come with the option to apply super protective coatings, often called clear coats and “arms”. These are a great help in preventing things such as acidic bird droppings and rock fragments from damaging your car’s exterior paint. But when someone spills Super Glue on him, it’s a much more complicated situation.
We wish this was good news and bad news, but there is no good news for Super Glue and painted surfaces. The basic ingredient in most Super Glue and Crazy Glue removers is acetone. This chemical is also found in nail polish, which is very popular for removing small beads and stains at home, as long as they are on skin, wood, glass, and surfaces that will not stain or discolor. .
Acetone can even be used on a finished table or cabinet top, but will most likely damage the gloss/finish, and should always be tested on an inconspicuous area first.
There really is no safe way to remove this type of adhesive material from a car’s painted metal surface without removing an area of paint. The only method you can try, which is by no means guaranteed, is also used on the skin and is a combination of thick hand cream, with a bit of liquid or powder soap. First, soak the spill with warm water by placing a dripping rag over it. Then take a cloth, dip it in your mixture and apply it to the glue and rub. The combination of grease and slip from the petroleum ingredients in the soap can ease the glue from the skin, but on a car, since the glue is attached to the paint and not a permanent surface, it may be able to change the glue, but it will remove the paint with it.
