Stupid mistake on rims

[Igovert500]

So we are doing a full detail, and 2 of us are working on this car. So somehow through miscommunication, acid gets sprayed on the rims and not washed off quickly enough. So we wash the engine and clay the car and as we are drying the car a bit later, we see these cloudy white splotches where the acid had begun to eat away at the rims. So are solution was a brown wax/mild compound that we had in our shop. I spent 15mins at least per wheel just rubbing this stuff in, it did wonders and restored the rims pretty well. However it was still a tiny bit cloudy where the acid damage had been, so I sprayed on some windex and made it shine. My question is how long of a fix do you think this is...permenant, semi, or very short-lived?

[mike@af]

What kind of acid were you using? Nastic?

[Igovert500]

Honestly, I have no idea. I'll try and check today. Problem is, barely anything in our garage is labeled, for who knows what reason. When I was trained, they told me to go by color and smell (no joke).

[mospeed1]

go by smell?you should fire your boss

[Igovert500]

Ok, this happened again last night with another guy. Both times it has happened on Ford rims, the compound worked wonders again.
As far as it being the bosses fault, I don't blame him, it is just too many stupid people working in one place, they always say play it safe, dump any bucket/spray bottle etc that you aren't sure about. It is just that there are so many chemicals in the shop, and they are bought in bulk, then put in smaller bottles and such for individual bays, that you never know what the person before you was using/doing. So it is better to go by color and smell and when in doubt dump it and refill.

[mike@af]

You guys need to figure out exactly what metal the rims are made of and exactly what chemical acid you are using. Certain acids eat certain metals. You really need to know EXACTLY what your dealing with. Nitiric acid is probably the safest but it still eats some metals.