Waxing leads to bad waterspots - what am I missing?

A

ahheck01

New member
It rains pretty regularly in Iowa - rarely do we see 5 consecutive dry days. Any car that I wax causes the rain to bead up very nicely... then to sit on the paint until it dries, leaving dirty, ugly water spots all over it. I compare it to the waxless car next to it, which looks dramatically cleaner than mine.



This doesn't make sense - I'm protecting the paint by causing it to get dirtier? Will moving to a sealant topper cause water to fall off more easily and not leave this mess?



Sorry for the rant, but open to thoughts or ideas.



-Evan
 
I have noticed this phenomenon, also. I suppose it has to do with the beading that the fresh coat of wax generates. The beads don't sheet off the paint and end up drying up on the car, leaving behind the minerals. I don't know if this is right, but that's what I'm thinking. If I'm on track, then this would mean that a sealant that is designed to sheet water might have an advantage over most waxes, in this one respect. I'm not sure what protectants are designed to sheet water, though.
 
Hmmm, it's an interesting thought, however, leaving water to dry on your paint, in beads, puddles, or what have you is going to leave behind some sort of residue. I guess I've never compared the 2, though. Obviously something designed to make the water roll off your paint is going to be your best bet to avoid spotting.
 
Waxing does not make or cause the paint to become dirtier but waxing can cause the surface to attract dust. Darker colors such as black, dark blue or green "show" the dirt whereas colors like silver or white do not, but they're just as dirty.



Water beads on a freshly waxed surface caused by something called surface tension. Water adheres weakly to wax and strongly to itself, so water clusters into drops. Surface tension gives them their near-spherical shape, because a sphere has the smallest possible surface area to volume ratio....Cool Huh!!



Tap water contains all sorts of impurities; minerals, chemicals etc and when the liquid evaporates what's left are those tiny particles previously dissolved. To make matters worse the air is full of dust particles. As it rains, droplets of water cleans the air and guess where they ended up; on your car.
 
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