Suggestions on cleaning toner off paint

Try Simple Green. It is a fairly strong cleaner and it comes in a concentrate form so you can start with it mixed thin and work your way up as needed. Besides, it will act as an environmental balancer. Toner is actually considered hazardous waste now. Where I work, used toner has to be kept separately and disposed of following hazardous waste guidelines. With the Simple Green being a more environmentally friendly product it will somewhat balance out in the wash as the toner goes down the drain ;>)

Chris whitewall junkie Mfinja's Hot Wheels with WhitewallsAll Small Wheels Error Cars

Ammonia

That stuff is ground so fine that it may have worked its way into the structure of the clear coat/paint, meaning that nothing will take it off without removing the paint with it.

I recommend testing with some strong solvent (or the other items suggested) on a very small, inconspicuous place on the bed of your truck. If it doesn't come off from that spot with gradually stronger detergents/solvents (Solvent Green, turpentine, xylene, etc), then you know you don't want to risk trying it on a larger area of your truck and risk messing up your finish. It would just be a waste of time and a needless risk.

The reason I sound a bit defeatest is because I have seen fine carbon powders similar to toner powder permanently stain painted surfaces. I would theorize that the particles are so fine that they drop down into microscopic interstitial spaces on the painted surface and become entrapped there.

If it were me, I would be tempted to try a little rubbing compound to see what that does.

Luther

Thanks all...

After spending the better part of a single day (Sat) cleaning and detailing the truck... the bed was left as is.

I did have success with brake cleaner, and the Harley's cleaner/polisher I treated the rest of the exterior paint with. Brake cleaner was faster/easier, but I'm concerned about the effect on the paint. I did wash the area with soap and water IMMEDIATELY...

After crawling over every inch of the truck, I'm quite convinced that I scored a real good deal!

Rick

-- Computer recommends - Hard drinking calypso poet

Why not just cover up the toner stains with a bed liner, if the truck's worth it?

The truck does have a rubber bed mat and a locking fiberglass tonneau (sp) cover. With the cover on, "Out of sight, out of mind"

Rick

Covering it up may be your best bet.

Your situation is unique in that it is a finely ground and highly insoluble solid that you are trying to remove from your truck's paint. Detergents work on the principal of binding to the contaminant with one part of their molecule while still maintaining water solubility with another site on the moleule. This works swell with grease but isn't going to do squat with toner particles. Solvents, on the other hand, work by actually dissolving the contaminant. Again, most greases are petroleum-based and, thereby, soluble to some extent in most organic compounds (pentane, heptane, hexane, benzene, methanol, ether, etc.) In this process, the molecules of the contaminant (the solute) are separated from one another and dispersed freely in the solvent. It works beautifully with crystalline solids, less well with amorphous structures.

I did a bit of digging and it appears that most copier toners are organic compounds and their structures are polymeric. This means the stuff is basically very finely ground plastic. I guess this makes sense in that it has to be 'developed' to get it to stick to the paper and this usually involves a bit of heat. As such, they also have relatively low melting points.

Based on the above information, my conclusion is that the only thing that has any chance of removing the stains from your truck is going to be a strong organic solvent. Forget the Simple Green, etc - it's going to be a waste of time and effort. I would recommend an aromatic hydrocarbon such as toluene, benzene, or xylene. These would be your best bets for getting the toner into solution so that it can be absorbed off of the finish. Note that you don't have to destroy your truck to see if hope lies in one of these compounds. Just snatch a little toner from the copier at work and place samples of it in several suitable containers (glass jars will work nicely) - then, pour some of each of these solvents into the containers and see if one of them causes the toner to break down. If you get lucky and one of them eats the stuff, then you can try a sample spot on your truck. Of course, these are agressive solvents and they will certainly eat your clear coat/paint as well - but, if you can get it on and off in a hurry, you may have some luck.

Note that heat is your ally in this process as well. The warmer the solvent, the better it will dissolve solids. So, if you can warm up the solvent a bit (even 10° will help), that is going to help your cause. Just make sure you stay well below the flash point of whatever compound you are using and keep the vapors away from ignition sources.

One other thing to note. I read in the literature that it is importatnt that these compounds (toner solids) be kept away from oxidizers, meaning that they will react with them. In your case, reactions are good in that this means the toner will be converted to some other compound. God knows what that new compound will be but it can't be any less soluble than copier toner is and it will certainly break some of the chains in the polymers. So, you may want to try some type of oxidizing agent to see if that will help break the crap down into something that can be removed with a solvent or maybe even a detergent. Examples of oxidizing agents are hydrogen peroxide, sodium hyrodsulfite, sodium hypochlorite (bleach), or one of those "oxyclean" type things you buy down at Sam's club. Again, throw some of the stuff in with the toner in a beaker and see what happens.

Just some thoughts. It's an interesting problem.

Luther