Morning Dew... *sigh*

[HoOn]

Hi! I think this is my first post in your wonderful site and I have a question about maintenance. :) Today I spent a couple of hours detailing my car. Wash (meguires Deep Crystal Car wash), clay bar (Mothers), Pre-Wax (P21S) and wax (Meguire`s NXT). Tiring but worth it. :)



Well, in the past when I washed and waxed my car I would lose the the clean look just after a couple of days. Let me try to explain.



Here in Florida it gets really humid and when morning comes my car is just full of Morning Dew. I don`t really have the time to dry off the whole car before work and by lunch time the dew has dried up which causes dirty spots. It`s hard to explain. Anyhow, do you guys know what I`m talking about and have any tips for me or is my only optionto dry off the morning dew before I leave for work?



Any suggestions would be appreciated.



- JOhn



sidenote: Today was also the first time I have ever tried using a clar bar. It definitely made the paint smoother but I noticed I couldn`t get ALL of the Industrial Fallout (Thanks to OCdetails.com for making me realize the ugly spots I saw before were IFOs). Are clay bars supposed to be able to clear ALL IFOs or not? Sorry for the Two questions in One thread. :)

[White95Max]

IFO = imbedded foreign object? or something else? Clay usually can remove most everything that is stuck in the paint.



I would recommend you set up a car shelter/canopy to park your car under. Otherwise your only option is probably to wash your car every morning.

[Mad iX]

IFO = Industrial FallOut



What clay bar did you use?

I just keep going over the paint (with no pressure) until all the contaminants are removed. I rarely notice any spots that the clay didn`t remove.

If you`re going to do a full detail including swirl removal then you can try a stronger clay bar like Claymagic Red or Meguiar`s Aggressive overspray clay.

[imported_themightytimmah]

Consumer grade clay won`t always get rid of everything, but you should be able to get it 90% or so. If you want to get it better, you have two options - decontamination, or overspray clay. Finish Kare makes a pretty user-friendly decon kit, it`ll literally "burn" the ifo out of the paint with acid (sounds scary, don`t it). Given your level of experience (no offense), I`d suggest the more aggressive clay. Decon kits aren`t too hard to use, but they do involve some pretty nasty chemicals, which you usually have to buy in bulk.

[JamRWS6]

A couple years ago when I had to park outside I had a huge comforter that after I washed the car I would drape it over the car and tuck it into the hatch/door and shut it to hold it in place.



Only problem looking back is was it worth it for possible chance of scratching? On a white car it was worth it and it kept the car clean.



Just an idea.:)

[Mochamanz1]

The dew must trap pollen and dust, when it evaporates, you are left with the residue. IMHO, the best thing you can do is to keep some QD with you.

[HoOn]

Thanks for all the replies! As expected early today my car was just covered with dew. It was nice and uniform though, thanks to the detail I did yesterday. ;) I guess I`ll just have to clean it off at the end of the day to minimize the dirty spots which are left when the water evaporates.



As for the clay bar, I will definitely get a much more aggresive clay. If I use the new clay which I will be ordering shortly ;), will I need to wash, dry, prep and wax again the whole car or just the part I will be claying?



- JOHn

[maecrispy]

Just the parts you clay will have to be re-done. I`d be safe and on the parts you caly, re-do the whole panel.

[imported_Jinba ittai]

Originally posted by mochamanz

The dew must trap pollen and dust, when it evaporates, you are left with the residue. IMHO, the best thing you can do is to keep some QD with you.



I have this problem many times on my trips to the mountains. I`ll clean the car the night before and in the early morning the car is covered with dew. If I don`t wipe the car down it drips all over the car and leaves streaks and water spots.



I spray the car down with QD and wipe it off. The only other suggestion I have is that you use a car cover like the Weathershield or Noah, which keeps moisture off the paint. The cover will be wet but you can hang it to dry and drive off in a dry, clean car.



Good luck. :)

[WrxRob513]

Good luck HoOn! Your car is beautiful! My favorite color combo!