Fresh Water Spots post wash

markesc

Since moving to Arizona, I'm often torn between washing the car vs. simply doing the quick detail wipedown.

After washing, invariably I end up with some nasty water spots. If you don't get them IMMEDIATLY, you're then forced to break out the polish as they are just on there.

Recently I did some experimentation with those tub-o-towels wipes, and they take the water spots off instantly, but they leave kind of a haze on the paint. Obviously I'd like to find a better solution that's easier on the paint and works with a ceramic coated vehicle.

In a perfect world if we had a quick detailer that can remove water spots and work on ceramic, that would be wonderful.

Looking around online, it sounds like vinegar removes water spots, has anyone tried vinegar wipes?

Again, I'm talking about water spots that appear after washing, NOT the ones that would need to be buffed off because they sat on the paint for months/years.

old guy

Go to autogeek.com and jump on their forum, you’ll find all the information you need.

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JARblue

You may want to revise your routine and/or products if you're getting nasty water spots. Check out Junkman's youtube channel to verify you're doing it right. If you still have issues, you can try a few things.

Deionized wash and rinse water is the best solution. Another option is a hydrophobic coating like some of the ceramic coatings that are available. Or you can use a leaf blower or Metrovac product.

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sportsman2003

I see you are in AZ. be sure to wash your car early enough to beat the heat.
If you are washing when its 110* out you will never win. I live in Commiefornia and have to wash early the goal is to get the car dry before the water dry's by its self.

SouthArk370Z

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The Weapon

Buy a water softener system and when they install make sure they leave a connection for you in garage for car washes. AZ has extremely hard water. Even beating the heat isn't always going to help and you'll spend more time claybaring and polishing out water spots after every wash.

It will save your plumbing as well and make cleaning your home much easier. Without it expect your hardware to turn white and green and possibly lower the lifespan of your water heater.

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Cyber370

I use a leaf blower to dry my car as quickly as possible and it pretty well eliminates water spotting. However, I do not wash my car in the hot sun and I apply TW Seal and Shine spray wax after every wash. Don’t know if this helps Arizona folks though.

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markesc

Thanks everyone for your help!

Just moved into a new house since that post, and I believe there's a hard water filter here. Will likely invest in something to blow the water outta the car here soon as well.

SeeThruHead

rag company gauntlet towels work very quickly to get all the water off my car.
And you can use beadmaker as a drying agent with the towel. Works fine on top of ceramic coating.

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willdoms

You may want to consider having a water filtering system like the CR Spotless.

mikeb

I’d suggest spraying a quick detailer on the wet car after washing, before your final drying. I use chem guys synthetic this way and noticed a couple things
- water is disperse by the detailer, reducing spotting
- product spread easier than spraying direct on dry paint
- lubricate the drying process

I can’t state this would help with hard water conditions or that it is effective with any detailer as the chem guys (wac21116) is good stuff, but it’s quite easy to add this step to the drying process. In some way I find this method is faster than detail spraying a dry car

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Sierra

How about getting a rainwater tank with a household pump and that way you can just blow the water off without leaving any marks from what gets missed.

My water supply is from a 135,000L rainwater tank and there is zero spotting.