I’m sure this has probably been beat to death. I’ve looked in the search and don’t see anything about washing these cars with hard water. So what exactly is the answer here. I’m thinking about picking up a car but I’m pretty sure the water in my area is so f:::ing hard our wash rags stand up on their own. It wouldn’t take long to destroy the paint on my new plastic car!

 

Is getting a "water softener" an option?

 

many hard water filters for car washing are available… Do a search

https://www.autogeek.net/cr-spotless...ystem-100.html

 

I well has extremely hard water. So hard that a salt-based water softener did not help much. I don't have a problem with water spots as long as I wash in shade when it is cool outside AND the car is cool. I use a foam cannon with Adam's Mega Foam when the car is mostly clean and just needs to be wash to remove road grime. I keep the car whole wet while I was it with microfiber towels and soap. Then, after I do the final rinse, I get out a blower to blow most of the water off the car. Then I get a big drying towel and dry the windows first then the rest of the car. No hard water spots so far....

 

I have hard water that’s barely drinkable, and all my vehicles are black, but ceramic coat certainly helps.

 

I applied ceramic on my car (Adam's kit on Amazon) and it beads like crazy. After washing I use a Ryobi leaf blower and drag a towel over the rest, no hard water spots.

 

Rinseless wash also works. The wash doesn't leave spots and you just wipe it off without using rinse water.

 

What brand do you use, or recommend?

 

Duragloss 932:

931 is the smaller pint size if you don't want to buy a gallon.

 

I would guess, .. and it's only that .. A GUESS.. that even using the techniques listed above, eliminating the spotting, that over time there is a build up on the surface, wash by wash. It may take years, but simply wiping it dry when wet will NOT remove the contaminants. Iron remover won't get the calcium. ..

Removing calcium, magnesium, and iron from the surface will be a PITA. .. Most likely needed are both a water softener AND filter..

I feel for ya. A sprinkler system at a motel sprayed my car once and left spots that took days for me to remove.

I'm curious... .. for those above who have had success in keeping their cars spot free (and have hard water) .. Are you willing to dry some diluted vinegar in a small discreet area to see IF there is indeed build up? .. Only IF your car is ceramic coated or PPV!!!!!..

 

Here's a Deionizer that you place inline with your garden hose.



One other advice is to hand wash your car in the shade as much as possible. If it had been sitting out in the sun, try to let the exterior cool off in the shade first.

 

I wash the Vette and Ferrari using a waterless wash using two gallons of distilled water.

 

If you are really worried about it you could use distilled water with the rinseless wash. Two gallons is more than enough to do the car. Water spots are caused by letting the water evaporate on the car's surface and the calcium precipitates out of the drops leaving a ring. If done properly rinseless wash never has a chance to evaporate on the car's surface. Softened water will also leave spots but they can just be wiped off.

I have a softened water outlet by my garage. My problem is my well water is slightly acidic (pH around 6) so if I let water drops evaporate it can etch the surface.

 

Ooh. I'm so glad to hear that. I've got a black Eray at 3000 and we are on hard, well water also. My plan was to ceramic coat and do the leaf blower drying method in hopes of avoiding spotting.

 

That’s what I do too. The water is super hard at my house as well. I dilute “Adam’s Rinseless Wash” with distilled water, per the instructions, to create a waterless wash. I spray it on with a spray bottle and wipe it off with a microfiber towel. Adam’s had an instructional video on YouTube describing how to use the Waterless Wash products. I put Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating on the car when it was new in early 2021 which also helps.

 

1) Cheapest solution is going to be to apply a ceramic spray sealant consistently (think Turtle Hybrid Ceramic Wax) to get very good hydrophobic properties on top of your paint. Then just dry the car ~95% of the way finished with a battery powered leaf blower and do a quick drag of a large twist loop car drying towel across to finish (with no pressure applied). You won't get any water spots if you don't allow the water to dry on the car.

2) The more expensive (and convenient) way is to invest in a true deionizer solution but that's going to cost hundreds of dollars a year and usually has the highest cost to get the starter kit in the beginning. "OnTheGo" is one of the most budget friendly plans with a number of consumer options. https://www.portablewaterdi.com/

You will need to monitor the performance of the filter with a portable TDS meter over time and replace the resin inside every time the PPM starts to increase again. If your water is very hard to begin with, this needs to be replaced pretty often. Some people will use a bypass valve and do their whole normal wash process with regular hard water and then switch to valve to use the deionized water filter for the final rinse off. As long as only deionized water is on your car at the end of the process, you don't need to dry it.

 

There are plenty of good advice from the forum members so far... and here's my contribution: 1) Get a Ceramic coating from a detailer / shop - this is the most important & effective step; 2) Wash & rinse the car using a de-ionizing water system (they sell direct & on Amazon too); 3) Take your car on a sweet / fast drive to dry it off. Also and in addition, consider installing a home water softener.

 

I have very hard water also and purchased a drying aid to spritz on the car for the final dry. Of course if water is permitted to dry on the car then it will spot regardless. Keeping a coating of wax or ceramic coating protecting the surface is key in this situation but it is still a race to get the water off.

 

I use an inline filter for RV's attached to the inlet of my pressure washer for the final rinse. Along with a ceramic coating, haven't had any issues. If your water is really bad, the inline filter may not work as it may not have enough filtration capacity. You would have to go with a larger filter setup or do a rinseless wash or distilled water as suggested above.

 

I have used a whole house water filter and it didn't seem to help much as the lime particles are too small and pass through. I might try that again and see if the difference is worth the effort. Perhaps the filtering will improve as it becomes filled with sediment. We can hope.