^ i tried that once, unfortunately during pollen season and i just had to wash my car again

not to mention all the dust your rear bumper picks up and streaks from the water that leaves your outside rear view mirrors.

im happy with my white Z :D lol but had the same problem with my black 350z

Towels wont leave streaks if they are microfiber, they are clean, and you use some quick detailer and a light hand. I always towel dry my car and use canned air to spray out the water from the side mirrors, and i have 0 streaks on my black Z

^^again this is something that the leaf blower will take care of, same as your tail lights the leaf blower does wonders cuts the drying time/# of towels used in half!

Everytime I use a leaf blower it kicks up dust and gets on the finish.... wiping it off may put swirls in the finish?

but I agree, it DOES make drying way faster!

Swirl marks suckkk loool :)

:koolaidwall:

thanks!
 

I need to get educated-that is for sure! I love learning new things and I look at this as another adventure. just dont want to damage the car's paint. I will be very very careful.:excited:

You won't damage it with a good DA machine and the correct polish and pad i.e. Meguire's m205 on a LC White pad. Finding a good combination is key to success and there are plenty of resources out there that will help you out on this. GOOD LUCK!

Give the car a final rinse and use the California Water Blade to cut down your drying time, then use a towel to wipe off remaining water.

That water blade just seems like it would scratch the heck out of your clear coat if any bit of dust catches on to an edge.

yikes! that is what i am afraid of. So far no swirls thanks to advice from all of you great people! :tiphat: I have no problems listening to people who know so much more than i do on a given topic.:icon17:

if you have wax or sealants on your car you can sheet most of the water off by not spraying water at the car during your final rinse. some folks like to take their hose nozzle off, but i usually just put it in the 'flush' mode and let the water flow out without spraying.

i use my shopvac in blower mode to rid water in the nooks before doing a blot dry. if you are working in a dusty area dont use the blower.

blot dry is you place your towel on the damp area of the car and just gently press the towel, dont drag it on the paint.

blot drying takes alot longer and a bit more difficult on the vertical areas of the car.

Yeah I can't imagine blot drying the entire car....seems rediculous. I take very good care of my car and paint but the extremes that some people go to, blows my mind. I'll keep my car well waxed and polish once or twice a year to remove any minor swirl marks that I might make with MF waffle towels

sandra, how did your wash go with the tips i gave you?

it is a quandry to me-but somehow I still have spots. I am wondering if this "etching" has gotten to the paint and I have to polish it or something. gosh-I am thinkin about getting a detailer to fix it then I can go from there. I am getting a used polisher soon for myself. The spots are not coming off....
Bottom line is I dont have all the experience but I am doing my best. I take advice seriously and try to follow-maybe I need a visual...I dont know.I watched junkman on his video and am planning to watch autogeek videos too.
cripes...:(
thank you for taking time to write to me-I appreciate it!

yeah-i am afraid to do the leafblower since i am in my driveway and it has been dry here-dust galore.
I was using the Mr. Clean apparatus for just the filters(wolfgang auto bath) but I still have spots. I did not get the water softener yet to go on my hose-but taking the nozzle off might be better for right now.
i still have spots and cannot get them off. i am wondering if this "etching" you all talk about has damaged the surface ? i prob ahve to polish it to get them off at this point...
oh brother...

i think your washing temperture is too high (you are washing under a shade, correct?) or you just need to wipe as much water as soon as possible using drying MF waffle weave towels.

you can try products like wax as you dry sprays and with these, you can drag your towel with minimal swirl damage.

personally i wash my dd's whenever i have time (which sometimes mean under the sun) and in order to not get water stains i use Prima Hydro to wipe the car while i wash sections at a time to keep the surface temp as low as possible.

you can get Hydro from amazon

the polymers in there will last a good 3weeks. you can use it over glass, rubber, and plastics too so no need to worry about white marks from typical sealants and waxes.

if the water spots are persistent, you probably need to clay/polish to get them off. this doesn't mean you have to do a full detail though, just do it on the big areas problem sections for now

yeah-I have decided i have to seriously do something else. I wash the car at night when the sun is down-try to wash sections and dry quickly. i am going to polish the car to get these blasted spots off. I will have to do it when I have some time-like over the weekend. :ugh2:

While the car is still wet try spraying with quick detailer section by section as you dry. That should help your spotting issue as well.

like it shows in the Adam's car wash video! lol

I think I've watched them too many times because now when I wash the car, I end up talking like Adam and start saying stuff like, "Outstanding," "...and now im going to rinse this beautiful 370Z," or humming the intro song :ugh2::wtf2:

ha ha!!! I have to watch the video...
i still have spots. had the car washed with filtered rinse water and blown dry.:eek:

i am going to prob have to polish it at this point-am getting a package soon with a poisher etc.
starting to wonder if I should have gotten the black cherry-darker color than what I had before-Daytona Blue. oh well-I just have to outwit these damn spots with your help.:tiphat:

my polisher should be here next week! yah!
I need to go to detail school lol

you'd be proud of this girl-I ordered a whole GALLON of detail spray from Adam's...:tiphat: and watched the video on water spots. getting a polisher too.
how about chamois? I bought like 12 microfiber-does chamois compare?

i watched the water spot video-that guy amkes you want to spend allll day rubbing and polishing...

^ waffle weave are better for drying, the other kinds are better for wiping stuff away and polishing small sections

ok-will waffle weave then
i like the interior of your car-cooolllll

For fear of putting fine scratches on the car, i've tried to hold off as long as I could to wash the car.... until my shipment of Adam's comes in with the waffle weave drying towel! .... But I couldnt wait... washed the car and used some other MF towel and lightly wiped. No swirls!

you guys should watch the rest of the videos... there are some classic lines in there! lol

ha ha i cannot wait! starting to sound like an addiction....:excited: I ordered a GALLON of detail spray today !

Yeah, unfortunately i think it can turn into an addiction once you've seen your car swirl free!

Maybe i shoulda ordered a gallon of that detail spray too, but with my last order i got another free bottle of detail spray so i think im good till the end of the year at least!

Next time, i'll consider ordering the focus pads... easier and faster to paint correct problem areas, i predict.

thanks!

yeah-I cannot wait to get rid of these spots-the black cherry is soooo pretty when it is clean and shiny like it should be.

thanks I just ordered this!:tiphat:

i see alota waterspots and lots of swirls... but whats that white milkyway looking stuff? lol

reflection of sun coming up -tried to take a pic quickly before driving to work.