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with being stuck inside the house for 2 weeks I started to clean my 2017 vert. I know its been on this forum several times about water spots, If I remember there is a way to remove the wax by washing with ?????
Dawn dish soap is one of the easiest ways to remove most superficial wax, but clay barring works best for water spots. Polishing compounds and/or a DA buffer/polisher would be progressive steps...
Went on Amazon to place an order. Said it would ship in 1 to 3 months. That's right months. Placed an order any way. Not sure if it is related to Amazon being very busy or a problem with availability of this product. Amazon has seen a big increase in demand with the virus issue. I did place an order with them for other items about ten days ago and received all the items in about a week. No issue.
Clay bars mar the finish - don't use unless you are going to polish.
Besides, a water spot is a chemical reaction, claying something is a mechanical means of dealing with something - those two don't really jive in my book. I'd never clay a water spot, there are chemical processes to deal with that rather than mechanical processes.
Here is what I know works 100% of the time - for me, chose one:
CItrol 266 - spay on a small circular area of a microfiber towel, agitate into the paint gently and immediately flush with water-less wash or a detail spray to remove any of the remaining product. Repeat if necessary
Meguiars Wheel Brightner D140 - same as process as above but DO NOT GET ON GLASS. This is an acid based product will etch glass if not careful. I like it @ 4:1 for this application
Get yourself a Groits Portable Water Deionizer $ 299. I think. It's really heavy to move around (28-35+/- lbs) Dry vs filled, it takes hard water minerals out of the water stream BEFORE you get water spots. Not 100% but IMHO 80-85% of spots do not occur, so you don't have to deal with them later. I've gotten 25-28 washes out of the filter before I needed to pull it out and install a new one. Too many chemicals really scare me on my cars finish. I did go the Ceramic Coat "Gold" Pkg. with Ceramic Pro last spring, so that eliminated 30-40% of spots right away.
I was going to respond here but after reading all of the responces, I decided not to since I would only see arguments. Clay bar is used with a lubricant to float over the clear coat and grab anything stuck to the surface. clay bar does not remove wax. Dawn will do that.
Water sports are etched into the clear coat . the reason is the water is a bubble that turned into a magnifying glass and etches the perimeters of the spots into the clear.. Etches, that means into the clear not on top of it. the etching is microns small. but there. They have to be rubbed out with an aggressive polish. Having a protectant that is UV stable like Zaino will insulate your clear from water spot etching.
Ive already said more than I wanted.
Bill aka ET
I was going to respond here but after reading all of the responces, I decided not to since I would only see arguments. Clay bar is used with a lubricant to float over the clear coat and grab anything stuck to the surface. clay bar does not remove wax. Dawn will do that.
Water sports are etched into the clear coat . the reason is the water is a bubble that turned into a magnifying glass and etches the perimeters of the spots into the clear.. Etches, that means into the clear not on top of it. the etching is microns small. but there. They have to be rubbed out with an aggressive polish. Having a protectant that is UV stable like Zaino will insulate your clear from water spot etching.
Ive already said more than I wanted.
Bill aka ET
No disrespect meant here, and I'm not looking to cross swords but not all water spots permanently etch into the clear coat and need to be polished out. It really depends on how hard (mineral content) the standing water is and how long it sits on the clear coat.
Sure if left for a week in blazing sun and heat, hard water water spots could easily permanently etch into the clear coat and at that point you're spot on correct, polishing is the only salvation.
However, many times, the chemicals I mentioned above - especially the Megs wheel brightener (an acid based product) do the trick quickly and efficiently. It's all pretty much a chemistry equation. Again, it depends on how quickly you catch them.
so...regarding washing and water spots. I thought I read on here that if we could wash our cars with filtered water, we'd get zero water spots if the water dried before we got to the drying part of washing our cars. I've seen some filters you can buy to attach to your hose bib for this very purpose.
What if one doesn't have a hose bib. I'm in an apartment complex. I have an attached garage to my unit and get shade practically all day just outside my garage. I use a 5 gallon battery pressure washer using water from a sink inside. Is there a filter system I could use in the apartment? It can't be a permanent install.
so...regarding washing and water spots. I thought I read on here that if we could wash our cars with filtered water, we'd get zero water spots if the water dried before we got to the drying part of washing our cars. I've seen some filters you can buy to attach to your hose bib for this very purpose.
What if one doesn't have a hose bib. I'm in an apartment complex. I have an attached garage to my unit and get shade practically all day just outside my garage. I use a 5 gallon battery pressure washer using water from a sink inside. Is there a filter system I could use in the apartment? It can't be a permanent install.
if you could always have demineralized or distilled water (not just basic filtered) fall on your car from the sky, a garden hose or wherever, there would be no spots at all..ever.
you could do a waterless or rinseless wash with a few gallons of distilled water from CVS if you don’t have hose access or live in an apartment.
this is a portable solution to a hose/pressure washer setup
I just keep wetting my car during the wash process never letting it dry and then immediately hit it with a leaf blower to blast the water off asap. After that I used a few products to add gloss and slickness and such.
again, not letting the water sit for long periods of time is your friend and can be forgiving.
I was trying to get away with washing the whole car then one rinse. It was a little breezy that day and it dried fairly quick.
After that wash, I was already thinking of changing the plan...wash a section, rinse, move, re-wet...and so on. I dry with my shop vac
Thursday...we'll see how apartment wash style 2.0 goes.
While the car is still wet, after the wash, try using a drying aid like bead maker or a quick detailer sprayer on the panels and a few good drying towels.
There are a bunch of products that you can use as an "LSP" last step product that can aid in the drying and spotting process whilst imparting some gloss and mild protection. Do a quick google search and see what strikes your fancy. Beadmaker is a good one, Elixir is another.
Best of luck and let me know if I can help you in any way.
It would be cool and make someone rich if they made an adapter that would connect the pressure washer to a gallon jug of distilled water.. maybe... Someday.. someone.. some day
The way I deal with the water spot problem is that I just wash my car with auto washing soap, rinse with regular water from the hose and them use a leaf blower to remove most of the water. Then I pull the car into the garage and finish drying using a spray bottle of distilled water and microfiber cloths. I never have any water spotting problems doing it this way. Also, to let you know, I wash the car outside my garage, even in the hot sunny days and dry it in the garage out of the sun.
The way I deal with the water spot problem is that I just wash my car with auto washing soap, rinse with regular water from the hose and them use a leaf blower to remove most of the water. Then I pull the car into the garage and finish drying using a spray bottle of distilled water and microfiber cloths. I never have any water spotting problems doing it this way. Also, to let you know, I wash the car outside my garage, even in the hot sunny days and dry it in the garage out of the sun.
This works for me, and hope it works for you.
LVV
Sure, that's the trick as I mentioned above its all about timing....if you can get the car dried-either with blower or towel before the sun dries the water on the panel, you won't have to worry about spotting. This is why I'll continue to spray the entire car down if I'm not ready to dry it but still need to work on an area while the entire car is still wet. Using a PH neutral soap helps so should it dry on the panel, blast it with water and it comes back to life and won't leave any problematic traces to deal with.
Once the car is water free, you can put whatever LSP products on the car and not have to worry about spotting, even in direct sunlight which is NEVER recommended in detailing.
Water spots
