Todd@RUPES
Just a regular guy
Water makes up over 70% of The Earth. Some might even say it's necessary for life... As a car lover, water serves two purposes... One - It provides part to the equation so I can safely clean dirt off of my bay. Two - It pools up into tiny little beads and runs off the paint, providing me with joy and smiles.
Unfortunately, the supposedly amazing substance is also responsible for creating one our car's biggest hazards - water spots. Water, itself, isn't responsible, but it acts like a transport device. It carries minerals, calcium, metals and other things we don't want sitting on our surface. Once the water evaporates, the minerals deposit on the surface and become very difficult to remove. Given enough time, some of these deposits will react chemically with your paint and begin to eat it, creating etching marks.
Traditionally, the way to remove mineral deposits has been to grind them off by polishing the paint. While this works great on paint, glass and coated metals, it does nothing for vinyl trim, plastic or textured surfaces. It also reduces paint thickness.
Another alternative is to use something like distilled white vinegar. Unfortunately vineager is only effective on about 30% of the minerals that can cause water spots. Enter CarPro Spotless Intense Water Spot Remover. Spotless is effective on almost all types of water spots (not etchings) and is safe for any material on the exterior of your vehicle - paint, plastic, chrome, aluminum, faux trim, rubber, wheel finishes.. you name it, it works.
When ever I test a product, I like to push it to the extremes. My recently acquired 2006 Tahoe spent the last 4 years parked under a tree, blasted daily with sprinkler water. The entire side (both sides), wheels, trim, windows and plastics are covered in a noticeable film of water spots.
Here is a picture of the door:
And the glass:
To get the best results from CarPro Spotless, you want to follow the directions closely.
First, spray it onto the section to be cleaned.
Second, spread with an applicator. CarPro recommends either a sponge or one of their microfiber squeeze applicators. I found that using a Orange Light Cutting CCS Euro Foam Hand Polish Applicator wprked best. It provided some agitation to the surface, working the Spotless against the water spots, without scratching the paint. If I was working on delicate paint, I would switch to a White Applicator.
Third, wipe the surface with a microfiber towel. This step is vitally important!! Do not let Spotless dry (if it does, mist a little more). I believe the application softens the spots, but the wiping is what actually removes them.
Repeat Steps 1-3 until you are satisfied with the results. Stubborn water spots, such as the 4-year old build up on the Tahoe, can require multiple applications. In this case, it took 3 applications to fully remove the water spots.
Finally, rinse the surface clean. I used a Supreme 530 towel, soaked in water, to flush and wipe clean. I followed this by drying with a Cobra Guzzler. I would recommend washing the entire vehicle after it is done.
The Results:
The door, in the same spot as before.
The glass (the right side had been completed, you can still see spots towards the left.
The changing cloud cover and silverish color of the Tahoe made it hard to document the results the way I wanted (blue or red would have been ideal). So I taped off a section and repeated the steps above on the right side.
After experimenting with a few different angles, this is the best before/after shot I could get.
Here is a cropped image from the above photo. I added a faint line for reference.
The results on the chrome-like door trim:
The bumper...
And here is a 30/20/50 shot of the front bumper. To the left is the untreated side, in the middle is a spot that had been protected by a front license plate, and to the right is the bumper after two treatments of Spotless. It appears that one more treatment will finish the job.
Conclusion:
CarPro Spotless Water Spot Remover is one of the best water spot removers I have tried. It does (as does any wsr) require some agitation and reapplication on neglected surfaces (like the 4 years of neglect on this Tahoe). Ultimately, it removes water spots without having to polish the paint. On fresh water spots it should work much faster.
I add additional photos as I work around the Tahoe and the lighting conditions become more favorable (gray spots with a gray overcast on a gray truck..)
