Water Spots

[Slight515]

Just curious on what you guys use for those water spots that just wont go away. There is nothing worse than having a nice freshly washed and detailed truck and seeing those water spots. It makes it look dirty. So lets hear the ideas.

[MuskyHunter]

Try some Turtle Wax Ice car wash next time, which is to have a better sheeting action. I didn't like it at first as I was washing in the hot sun and it spotted. At lower temperatures in the shade, the product works as advertised.

http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,1,3

[Arachnid]

A good clay bar should remove the water spots.

[poker_irwin]

try mother car wash and wax that is all i use.

[TYTAIN]

The key to water spot is prevention. And it's simple at that. Keep your vehicle wet until your completly thru with the wash job. Then dry it off with household towles. Calicum in water cases the spots, when you dry it off no spots and it will saves alot of elbow grease trying to get those annoying spots off. Take it to a care wash and that's exactly what they do.

[Skyboi]

Lets breakdown what causes water spots in the first place.

First you start with the actual droplets



Then, the evaporation process removes the water and leaves behind the concentrated chemical compounds. Like calcium



If your vehicle is left out in the sun to dry..The sunlight is magnified by the curve of the bubble and really starts to work on pitting underneath the paint by evaporating the water and concentrating the leftover chemical compounds...especially acid rain.. This is where you want a good wax job but no beading.

So how do you help get rid of them.

1. try to prevent them from happening before hand by using a water softening rinsing agent or spray that reduces beading. I put some in a spray bottle and after a rain I squirt 2 or 3 times over the top of my truck and BAM...the water lays down and rolls off.

2. If you have spotting already...Start light and work towards heavy meaning...try wax then move to clay then move to machine.


Hope this helps...Good luck!

[harrolldean]

I wash the whole truck, then go back and spray the truck w/ my hose on the "mist" setting. Then dry using a household bath towel (the towel usually gets pretty wet, so I'll use 2 or 3).

[Buildwonder]

I use a squeegie as I wash and rinse. After the roof is rinsed, I squeegie. After the driver's side is washed and rinsed, I squeegie. So on and so on. Then I rinse the whole truck again, squeegie, and LIGHTLY dry with 2 microfibers; one to soak up the remaining water droplets and one to "buff", so to speak.

I then go over the whole truck with a "quick detailer", of course only using microfibers.

Household bath towels are a NO NO! I think they're much too rough. I use microfiber and microfiber only. I wash them together with nothing else. I use minimum detergent and NO fabric softener. I dry them on hot and store them in a sealed container, i.e. a Rubbermaid container. I buy the 18 gallon ones at Wally World.

Sam's Club has the best deal right now on microfiber towels. They're about $10 for 20. I buy 2 packages at a time. I'll use them for a few months and throw them away.

[Skyboi]

Guys...Use a leaf blower to dry

Not wet towels....no scratches from squeegies...and it gets the water out of the little crackes and hard to reach areas.

[Yellomantis]

Originally Posted by Skyboi

Guys...Use a leaf blower to dry

Not wet towels....no scratches from squeegies...and it gets the water out of the little crackes and hard to reach areas.

Any suggestion on which one to get?

[Skyboi]

Originally Posted by Yellomantis

Any suggestion on which one to get?

Hey Mantis...

I use my craftsman shopvac with detachable leafblower.. But really any one will do.

Clearcoat is like a lens that shows the crisp picture of the paint underneath. Think about it. The more you touch it, the more you micro scratch it.
The less you touch the clearcoat surface of your paint...the less you cloud it.

I wash my Titan, plug in my leafblower and grab a beer and dry....When dry...I wax, grab a beer and look at it.

[Slight515]

These are great ideas. I dont have visible water spots on the paint but I have some on the windows. It was there when I bought the truck like it was parked next to a sprinkler. I always rinse my truck excessivly when washing my truck, and I always dry completely.

[Yellomantis]

Originally Posted by Skyboi

Hey Mantis...

I use my craftsman shopvac with detachable leafblower.. But really any one will do.

Clearcoat is like a lens that shows the crisp picture of the paint underneath. Think about it. The more you touch it, the more you micro scratch it.
The less you touch the clearcoat surface of your paint...the less you cloud it.

I wash my Titan, plug in my leafblower and grab a beer and dry....When dry...I wax, grab a beer and look at it.

Reason I asked is because I actually have a shop vac with 2X filtration. But I don't think it can put out the air volume needed.

[Skyboi]

Originally Posted by Slight515

These are great ideas. I dont have visible water spots on the paint but I have some on the windows. It was there when I bought the truck like it was parked next to a sprinkler. I always rinse my truck excessivly when washing my truck, and I always dry completely.

Check your PM I sent you a technique for the window spots...Good luck and let me know

[Skyboi]

Originally Posted by Yellomantis

Reason I asked is because I actually have a shop vac with 2X filtration. But I don't think it can put out the air volume needed.

I like the craftsman cause I get double duty for my $$$. For $130.00 i get a helluva vac and over 200mph of wind with no exhaust or fuels to screw up my paint. I replaced the power cord with a 50 foot heavy duty one.

Can't beat it for drying though...Wet towels are a thing of the past...No touch drying is the way to go.