mikeb

what is the best way to get hard water spots out of your cars paint?

Bad_Karma_RX8

Did you already clay bar? Worked for me.

mikeb

no i didnt
I just used a quick detailer

Bad_Karma_RX8

I had some nasty water spots. Did some research and ended getting a Zaino kit. The clay bar got rid of most of my spots. The local Zaino sales guy even helped me detail my car the first time through.

Kings8

Clay bar should be perfect for that.

mikeb

you guys are right
i dont have a clay bar yet though

Vertigo-1

iTrader: (3)

I've tried clay barring and water spots are still there. I don't know that they'll ever come off. I am debating investing in one of those purified water nozzles out there that purify the water coming out of your hose specifically for rinsing the car off with.

yiksing

vinegar soak for few minutes

Bad_Karma_RX8

Clayed mine yesterday got most of the spots off, but there are some hard ones mostly on the hood area not too many though, I am going to clay again 3 months. Vinegar huh? That's interesting.

staticlag

First of all, you should make sure your are not washing your car in direct sunlight. Number 1 cause of water spots.

Then try a dawn wash.

If that doesnt work, try claybar.

If that finally doesn't work, your going to have to polish the car.

mikeb

dawn wash?

i got mine from parking by a sprinkler

Razz1

That's white distilled vinegar boys.

An old trick from old school hot rodders.

Bad_Karma_RX8

Should rewash the car with dawn to get all the wax off first or just bath the car in the vinegar?

mikeb

I would seriously be nervous about using vinegar

Bad_Karma_RX8

Tha's why I am just going to clay bar again. Just spend a little extra time doing this time.

yiksing

Don't worry too much about it, sometimes it only takes 40 seconds to get the white stain off. Water at my place are really "hard", vinegar always worked and so far there doesn't seem to harm the paint work anyway. If you are paranoid, just wax the spot after you remove the white stain.

mikeb

yeah I might do wax first

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

I'd be scared shitless to put vinegar on my car.

Here's what I would do:
1) try a quick detailer like Meguiras. If the water spots aren't super bad, it might take them off.
2)Claybar
3)Dawn soap wash
4) Polish
5) High Speed Buff (as a last resort)

Astral

http://autopia.org/forum/showthread....rd+water+spots

legokcen

The Mr Clean Auto Dry works alright. You have to make sure you COMPLETELY rinse it though. Any place where you have nonn-purified water will spot.

-=Rowdy=-

That's because you are ignorant to some tried and true methods. Those who mention white vinegar are absolutely correct in their recommendations.

Umbra

Works well here too. Make sure car is out of the sun when drying, and that the filter gets changed often enough.

Spots from a sprinkler shouldn't be an issue if you wash your car regularly. I suppose it could be a problem if you don't wash it for months at a time.

Budweiser8Jr

I have been cleaning my car like a madman as I have only had it for a few weeks. I had alot of contamination on the hood, so I decided to claybar it. I was able to initially remove water spots with a quick detailer, but they still left their "shadow" in the finish (only sat for a few hours). After claybaring and using Meguiars 3 stage wax, I can still look close and see quite a bit of small spots, even though the minerals are out of the spot.

My car has a pretty fair amount of orangepeel as well and the claybar did not remove all of the contamination as I can still see it yet not feel it. What should be my next step?

tiggerlee

I use the Mr. Clean Autodry only to rinse the car. I've heard from some that the soap is ****. I've never had an issue with water spots.

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

A 30% distilled vinegar/water solution is less acid then the rain here in DC.
Just wash the car normally and then again with a solution of 1/4 pint vinegar to 1/2 gallon of water. Then rinse and get the car out of the sunlight! Use a leaf blower to get the excess water off.