ACK!! DAMN WATERSPOTS!! how do i prevent em??

[pepe_la_pew15]

I have a well, and our water is "hard water"...

Whenever i wash my car, I get what is known as "waterspots"...how do I prevent these whenever i wash my car? Am i supposed to mix my water with something?? will mixing it with vinegar work??

Does anyone else have this problem??

Thanks a million

www.cardomain.com/id/hollywood_nyman

[Orange97GTVert]

After you wash your car take the sprayer off the hose and let the water run over the surface of the paint, it will take most of the spots off, then dry with clean towels, a chamois or a synthetic shamois. If you have water spots that don't wash off you need to use some clay bar system or a cleaner wax to get them off. Never wash your car and not dry it off, water spots are hell to get off.

My black truck sits on my driveway and gets watered by the sprinkler system and I had spots that didnt wash off, in fact you could feel them. I used Maguire's cleaner wax on it and most of them came off the first time, almost all came off the second time. I now rearrange cars when I water so none of them get watered!

[mustardjohn]

After you wash you can also use a pump hand sprayer and spraty down the car with distilled water. Mr. Clean makes an ion exchange system that takes out the salts that cause water spots. You hook it up to your hose afor the final rinse. I think a hand sprayer and distilled water is cheaper.

And as said above a good waffle weave MF towel or two used to dry after the wash works well and is lint free. That is what I use.
The micro fiber towels are the best thing you can ever buy for detailing cars. There are some previous posts on this site about them.

[Longball]

Thats great info thanks guys.... actually I found my wife washing the car last week with Dishsoap!!! She said we had run out of carwash soap and she needed something.....


thank god it was just the Focus she was washing!!!


Lb



is there acutally a web site of sorts that is just mainly geared towards car detailing... someplace where I could find the microfiber towels..... maybe.....

[mustardjohn]

Top detailing site is

http://www.autopia.org/

These folks are serious........also lots of product info on the site.

Lots of detailing jargon used in the posts so you will need to bone up on your products to follow all that is said. Overall a great site for detailers. Take a look and let me know what you think.

[mustardjohn]

A guy on here Stang Crazy recommended this site for MF towels to me. I ordered and got great service. I recommend the site and highly recommend the towels.

http://www.pakshak.com/

I am surprized Stang Crazy has not commented on this thread. He is the most knowlegable person on this site about detailing. Also XXXBlakeXXX details his cars a lot and recommended the distilled water (you can buy it at the grocery store) or ion exchange to get rid of water spots.

You might scan the old posts here and look at the ones that got several responses for more info. Lot of subjects covered but not like the detail site in the last post.

[mustardjohn]

On the MF towels Pakshak used to offer an assortment set but I did not see it on the site this time. I recommend for first order

5 - medium size blue (waxing, polish, etc.)
1 - large yellow (finishing towel)
2 - waffle weave (drying towels) They are out of stock but should be back next week.

I don't like the mits.

They are a bit pricy but worth it. If you don't use them on really dirty things like tires, engines, etc. they will last a long time. They are not a subsitute for shop rags they are for detailing only.

[Longball]

WOW thats all great info!!! I will definitley check the sites out. If things are alittle on the exspensive side thats okay... its all worth it in the long run!!! And your right, about Stang_Crazy, I have spoken to him a few times out how clean his engine is. Its amazing, I even have a picture saved on the computer to show it off!!! I'm sure he'll pop in and give us his 2 cents!! I just don't have the car yet, but I would like to get all my ducks in a row and cleaning and keeping it clean is going to be my number one priority!! Ehhhh so what if the car doesn't run, it'll still look good!!! hehe


thanks again for the info!!!


Lb

[Stang_Crazy]

Originally posted by Longball
I'm sure he'll pop in and give us his 2 cents!!

$.02



I think John has already covered the basics. Microfiber is the way to go for a scratch/swirl free finish. PakShak is the place to buy them from. www.Autopia.org is the best detailing site I've found. Lots of non-biased info to read through.

[Stang_Crazy]

Originally posted by Longball
actually I found my wife washing the car last week with Dishsoap!!!

Bye bye wax! Dawn and other dishsoaps work as strippers on a car's finish. They will strip any wax/polymer sealant that is on the paint leaving your paint with no protection. If you haven't already done so, get some wax on that car!

[Stang_Crazy]

Originally posted by Longball
keeping it clean is going to be my number one priority!!

It's never clean enough.

[xxxBlakexxx]

Yeah, dish soap has its fit! Not bad to use before you wax if you ask me to get the car clean and it will dry great because of the surfactants that they use. Actually, Mr Clean uses some of these same surfactants in their car wash, just w/o the stripping capabilities.

OK, John already said it, but the best way to AVOID water spots is to rinse the car with demin or distilled or deionized water when you are done. Mr. Clean Car Wash is good or you can buy distilled water at the store. If you get enough of it on the car, you can get away w/o even drying.

Getting spots off, can be a pain in the azz. Don't wax over them, though, remove them first.

I have really grown to love the following procedure:
1 - Maguires #1 Cleaner
2 - Maguires #2 Sealer
3 - Tech Wax....two coats.

I do this every other month and hit it with Tech Wax Booster Wax whenever I wash it...which is 1 - 2 times per week. My black GT looks like glass. I also use Maguires Quick Detailer too from time to time. Hey, I've done it all. My bud brought his new BMW Vert over the other day and I schooled him big time on washing the thing....showed him all my tricks.

I also used PS215 over the top of the Tech Wax if I am feeling crazy.