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aray
03-16-2012, 11:18 PM
Does anyone have any rules of thumb about water spots, besides just "get them off the car as quickly as possible?"

I have a new Metallic Black BMW. It had a Sealant with a Carnuba topper on it. It rained earlier in the week, and there were a couple water spots left over. I didn`t think much of it, given that I had 5+ coats of protection on it, I figured I could take my time.....wrong. I ended up having to polish the suckers out using a D/A. I am now paranoid about water spots......

1) Are certain LSP`s better protection against water spots?

2) How many days does it take a water spot to eat through a LSP?

3) Any tips for "diffusing" water spots? I`m trying to figure out if the car is dirty, too dirty for a quick waterless wash, do I go ahead and take that swirl risk to avoid the water spots? Or could I possibly just soak the spots with some sort of waterless/rinseless mixture to dilute them without touching the car, until I could give it a proper wash?

My concern is that I may have to wash this thing daily in the summer, it rains every dang day! :wall

szjalo
03-17-2012, 02:44 AM
would like to know too.

you are lucky you were able to polish if off. Last time I tried to wet sand the water spots on my car(DA didn`t work out), 3-5 gentle passes with 2500 grit already sanded thru the clearcoat. unbelievably how fast and deep the darn rain can etch through. Break my heart till today

I m still looking forward to a better way to prevent rain etching. but for now I just try my best to wash the car ASAP after rain. A quick method of mine: prespray the whole car with ONR or other QD-kind of thing, then just rinse the whole car with hose water. then hit the highway, and let it air dry. Not recommended if you have very hard water, but this seems OK to me since the water is pretty soft in my area. I would rather have hard water stain on my car than acidic rain

BobbyG
03-17-2012, 06:20 AM
I would say that a properly polished surface topped with Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 or Element 119 would be your best defense. Both are hard coatings and should provide the best protection against water spots...

aray
03-18-2012, 07:30 PM
I`d rather not go with a coating, although I probably will Opti-coat my truck in the next month or so.

On this car I`m sort of playing in the `beauty wax` on top of sealant arena. The car is garaged, and generally kept clean. I guess I thought I had a couple days `grace period` on those water spots. I could swear that in the past I didn`t have much of a problem, maybe they were some sort of fluke. But, recently with a new car I`m paying much more attention...

ca.detailchick
03-19-2012, 01:36 PM
Maybe a LSP that sheets rather than beading would help out .

I dont know what to recommend though,hopefully someone eles will.

ECONORAM
01-28-2014, 10:29 PM
Being green to the forum, I don`t know if this is a good remedy or not. I have used Windex to take water spots off before. Have no idea on the impact to wax or polish or sealer jobs...

glen e
01-29-2014, 01:35 AM
Sonax Netshield polymer is pretty damn good.....also carpro Reload silica spray is tough too.

Mr. Gloss
01-29-2014, 06:28 AM
Wow! I can actually log on today. Mercy. The Webroot virus scanner forbids me to come here. :(

I like to use a one rinse soap to avoid water spots. Not that I`ve had an opportunity to wash my car at -14....the new house doesn`t have a floor drain or heater...:(. Some city codes don`t make sense to me.

Anyway, here`s how I avoid water spots. I wash the entire car with either Adams or Auto Finesse and rinse once, followed by a sheet rinse and dab dry. Works great on my black cars.

Todd@RUPES
01-29-2014, 08:50 AM
Does anyone have any rules of thumb about water spots, besides just "get them off the car as quickly as possible?"

I have a new Metallic Black BMW. It had a Sealant with a Carnuba topper on it. It rained earlier in the week, and there were a couple water spots left over. I didn`t think much of it, given that I had 5+ coats of protection on it, I figured I could take my time.....wrong. I ended up having to polish the suckers out using a D/A. I am now paranoid about water spots......

The two main factors that effect water spotting are the amount of minerals in the water and the amount of heat/sunlight (evaporation rate) the water droplets are exposed too.

Usually rain is fairly clean (assuming the surface of the paint is clean) so you shouldn`t get too much in the way of water spots. If you have some fresh ones, let the soap sit on the surface for a few minutes, then reaggitate to rinse clean.


1) Are certain LSP`s better protection against water spots?

Yes and no. Remember when we are talking about spots (just deposits sitting on top of the wax/sealant/coating/paint), the only real factor is if the water beads roll of the paint before the water evaporates. While some LSPs produce flatter beads which may limit the concentration of the minerals, I have not seen one LSP which "just sheets".

However, different LSPs will have difference resistances to when the water spots become etchings (begin to eat into the paint).


2) How many days does it take a water spot to eat through a LSP?

This depends on the concentration and type of minerals/chemicals in the water as well as the LSP. High sulfur water, from water sprinklers, can begin to eat into most wax/sealant/coating and even paint fairly quickly. High calcium water can leave very stubborn water spots in a matter of days.


3) Any tips for "diffusing" water spots? I`m trying to figure out if the car is dirty, too dirty for a quick waterless wash, do I go ahead and take that swirl risk to avoid the water spots? Or could I possibly just soak the spots with some sort of waterless/rinseless mixture to dilute them without touching the car, until I could give it a proper wash?

I would give my car a quick rinseless wash (using BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Rinseless Wash) every couple of days when it was a daily driver. Again, I never had an issue with etching because it was mostly "clean" rain water and the surface of the car was kept clean.


My concern is that I may have to wash this thing daily in the summer, it rains every dang day! :wall

Same here in Florida. Again, for me, rinseless washes every couple of days and never had etchings on my paint :)

Zefer
08-26-2021, 02:47 PM
RO-DI water

Older
08-26-2021, 07:38 PM
RO-DI water

I wouldn’t be without DI water again. It’s like magic.

rborge729
07-08-2022, 05:47 PM
Gotta give credit to Scott from Dallas Paint Correction for this tip. After washing and rinsing the car, mist with a 1:10 solution of Superior Products Formula 4 Spray Wax. Immediately re-rinse. An immediate increase in water beading/sheeting will occur. Blow dry the car with a leaf blower and then towel dry the remaining water. Absolutely no water spots. Although the product name states that it is a wax, the website clarifies that it is a drying agent. The stuff is super cheap ($20-25/gallon, then cut 1:10). One of the best detailing tips I have ever received.

Accumulator
07-11-2022, 12:18 PM
I`ve never had any problems with any kind of spotting (or etching either, for that matter) on anything LSPed with FK1000P.

But in the shop/when washing, I only use softened or DI water.