how do you get rid of water spots?

When I've had that happen, I re-washed the car with that Mr. Clean system that has the de-ionized water rinse. That seems to leave the car pretty spotless and takes care of all that mineralization left behind. I don't have the problem anymore since I moved to a different part of town where the water must be different enogh to make the difference. Hope this suggestion helps.

enzo

 

There's a big difference between a bit of deposit on the surface of the paint and the etched-in variety that comes from acid rain spots left to dry.

If it's the former, you will need to buff the car, preferably with a dual orbital, but the damage is usually just in the clearcoat (on metallics) or the surface of the paint (red/white/black/yellow).

 

I usually go see a paintshop and they buff them right out.

 

The detail guy that used to do my cars uses this "putty" like glob and he just "erases" the hard water spots (that usually comes from a jealous neighbor's sprinkler system) off. He says that regular waxing somehow protected the paint and that made it easier to just rub the spots off. If the spots were a nuisance, he just went ahead and buffed it with an orbital machine. Good luck!

 

Step 1: Wash your car, pull it into your garage immediately, and dry it immediately.

Step 2: Wherever you have water spots, rub them out by hand with Meguiar's Clear Coat Body Scrub (safe on both bc/cc and single stage paints).

Step 3: Reapply wax wherever you used the Body Scrub.


You're done.

Meguiar's Body Scrub chemically disolves mineral deposits, oxidation, stains, tar, etc., but won't dissolve, swirl mark, or otherwise harm modern paints. Modern is defined as enamel, urethane, imron, and polyurethan paints from the 70s-onward. Even on fragile old paints, like nitrocellulose lacquer, it is no more harmful than anything else you can put on it.


If you now have slight, smooth/shiny pitting where the water spots were, then the acid or minerals ate into your paint, and you will have to have it buffed/compounded to make it mirror perfect again. But personally, I try to avoid doing that at all costs because having your car buffed is always essentially removing thickness from your paint. If I get imperfections, I wait a couple/few years until I have more, and in the mean time just use a wax that has good filling properties, and sometimes a glaze under the wax.

 

+1 on the Mr Clean...

 

There are two types of "water spots" as they can look very similar.

The first type, which is above the surface contamination in the form of deposits left behind the where in suspension in the water itself. As the water evaporates, the minerals are left behind. In areas of high heat the minerals can lights etch the surface be very stubborn to remove. To remove above surface water spots, wash the car and dry it. Then spray the car down in a 50 percent solution of distilled water and distilled white vinegar. Vinegar itself has a pH of 2.4, and mixed with water about 5. This will neutralize the caustic elements and loosen the mineral deposits. After letting dwell for several minutes rinse off then rewash the car. If the spots have lessened or are gone then you are on the right track. At this point, if the spots are visible or appear 3D you have the second type of water damage which is actual etching of the clear coat.

The second type occurs when the minerals left behind from the first type are allowed to sit on the paint for any length of time. The minerals form a reaction to the paint and begin to burrow in, so to speak. This type of damage is similar to scratches in the paint, and the only way to remove them is to actually remove all the paint around them, so that the bottom of the water etching is even with the rest of the paint. So the paint must me re-leveled by machine buffing or for more severe (deep) etchings, block sanding the finish and repolishing. If this is the case, I would recommend bringing a car to very qualified detailer who can measure the thickness of the paint and try to safely polish the etchings out. It is important to remember that all modern Ferrari's (from the 456 up) have a two stage basecoat/clearcoat paint system. The total thickness of the basecoat/clearcoat is about 2.5 mils, or a sheet and half of paper. Of that sheet and half of of paper, the clearcoat comprimises roughly half of that. To make matters worse, when the car is painted and the solvents are outgassing, the UV protection in the clearcoat is "pushed up" to the upper 1/4 of the clearcoat, which is about .4 mils, which should never be thinned by more then half. That means over the life of your vehicle, the most you would ever want to remove in terms of paint is .2-.3 mils.

Most wateretchings will run .05 of a mil deep, which .06 needs to be removed to reach perfection. Research and find a detailer whose reputation is stellar, and who you feel comfortable will take every step and precaution necessary to "restore" your baby with out over aggresively polishing the paint and removing too much of the precious clearcoat.

So we have established that water damage comes in two types, above surface and the more severe below surface. Each can present problems, but the goal is to avoidwaterspotting in general and eliminate the source of the problems, minerals in the water. The most effective way to prevent water etching is to use de-ionized water to mix the soap with and in the final rinse. The best way to do with is too use a dedicated water de-ionizing system such as the CR-Spotless. It is expensive (about 400 dollars) and refills are not cheap (60-80 dollars) but it the best system out there. Water hardness is measure in PPM, or parts per million. The general rule of thumb is any thing less then 20 PPM will produce spotless results. In Orlando, we are at about 1400 PPM, which is very hard. Systems like the Mr. Clean may work well in the areas with softer water, but they cannot filter the water effectively if you live in an area with extremely hard water (which is why you need the 20 gallon tanks of the CR system).

The other area to look at is how do we dry our cars to avoid waterspotting (with our with out a de-ionizer). First, you never want to wash in direct sunlight, and never when the body panels are hot to the touch. You must stack all the cards in your favor. After rinsing the car off, remove the nozzle from the hose and let the water run out. If you place a kink in the house enough to reduce the pressure, you should be able to flood the paint with water. This flooding action will cause the water to grab on to itself and pull the majorty of the water off the surface as it sheets aways. By flooding the car with water, you will remove 80-90 percent of the standing water, as well as eliminate the tiny dots which dry quicker and are more likely to spot.

After flooding the paint, I prefer to use a high speed leaf blower (200 mph) to blow the remaining water off the car. Assuming the paint is smooth and has a good coat of wax, a high speed blower will remove the majority of the remaining water quickly. However, don't get too caught up in blowing every area out and spending forever blow drying the car, as water will get stuck in the center of the hood/roof/trunk as it is blow back and forth. This water can still spot. So quickly go around the car with the blower and remove as much standing water as possible, then remove the remaining water with a microfiber "waffle weave" towel.

Never use a chamios or absorber when drying the paint. While both are very effective at absorbing water, the problem lays in the fact that any grit, dust, or grime that may have landed on the paints surface can be rubbed across the paint, which is one of the major causes in "swirl marks." The use of a dedicated microfiber waffle weave towel helps prevent this, because they have nap that will "catch" the smallest particals. Even then, I don't recommend wiping the water off (which there should be very little of anyways). Instead lay the towel flat on the paint and "blot" the remaining water. You should be able to blot the majorty of what is left of the wate off very quickly. It is important to remove the water from the horizontal panels first, as this is where it can stand and is most likely to etch. Then if you wish you can take out the leaf blower again and blow out any remaining water from the detail areas like the taillights, door handles, mirrors, etc... Then blot these dry as well.

Lets say your technique was perfect and you did a great job removing all water dropplets, but still have some light water spots in areas that you just couldn't get to fast enough. This is why I always recommend wiping the paint down with soft, plush microfiber towel and a "quick detailer" type spray. Not only will you remove any light spots that you might have forumed, but most quick detailers will add slight protection and lengthen the life of whatever wax or sealant you have on the paint. My personal favorite over the counter detail spray is Meguiars Ultimate Quick Detailer, which does a very good job of "dilluting" any remainig standing water, cleaning off the fresh spots, and increasing the gloss of the paint. The best I have ever used is Zaino Z8, which does an amazing job of removing any spots and standing water, and leaves behind a synthetic polymer that will greatly increase the protection quality of whatever wax you have on the paint.

So flood, blow dry, blot, then wipe with a quality quick detailer. With quick detailer, do not go crazy spraying the whole panel down and saturating the panel with product. One to two squirts should be more than enough per panel, then spread with a plush microfiber, flip, and wipe dry. This, IMO, is the most effective way to not only prevent water damage but also prevent marring that induces swirl marks into the paint's surface.

 

Hi Jon, I am not trying argue with you, just want to point out a little misinformation in your post to keep this thread educational. 95-99 percent of modern cars have a basecoat/clearcoat (two stage) paint syste regardless of if they are metallic or solid. I have probably polished out 50 or so Ferrari's in the last 3 months, and my findings are as such...

3x8's/355's all seem to have single stage paint.
360's/430's all have a more modern basecoat/clear coat. In 2005, Ferrari switched to PPG Ceramaclear paint, which was orginally developed by PPG for Mercedes Benz.
BBi's/TR's all seem to have single stage paint. The only exception was a 512M that I did, which has basecoat/clearcoat.
550's/575's all seem to have basecoat/clear coat.
F40 is single stage.
I am unsure of the F50.
Enzo is basecoat/clearcoat, but seems different the most other Ferrari paint. I believe it the flex agents required becaues of the carbon fiber that make this paint a little more difficult to polish.

I think part of the confusion lies with the fact that BMW used single stage paint on there solid color cars (red, yellow, black) and a two stage (basecoat/clear coat) on their metallic paints up until the mid to late 1990's. (Lexus did this as well). Modern VOC regulations and the use of water based paints have lead to almost every single car on the road being a two stage paint job.

 

clay bar works sometimes.

 

No problem. Mike has a 308, so my response was based on his car (which is probably red).

 

I think if someone is into water sports...that's their own personal business. No need to get rid of the practice altogether.

 

+1. Claybar and elbow grease. And keep the car out of the f______ sprinklers!

 

If it's just the water spots from not drying the car fast enough, relax. No big deal. White vinegar will take them off with little to no elbow grease. We use vinegar on our boats all the time. Dried water in 110 degree heat will leave spots. And vinegar will literally let you wipe them off. I've parked my black Navigator too close to the sprinklers from time to time. And I simply put the vinegar in a bottle and spray it on, then wipe it off with a soft sponge. Do small areas at a time. After that, I wash and wax like normal. No need for orbitals and buffers ect....And before people get all excited, no it will NOT hurt the paint.


Darrell.

 

When you lick the car it tastes crappy, though.

 

I've found the easiest fix ... get a good leaf blower and blow the water off. Cool shade is always preferrable and w/ a good wax those drops should run off the car. Blow the water sitting under your door seals, blow the front grill, blow the rear grill and blow around your mirrors. Start at the top and work your way around the car from corner to corner with a back and forth motion chasing the drops all the way to any seals or creases. Now when your done, you'll be left w/ a few areas a few micro-spots - just take a slightly damp terry-cotton cloth, wipe and their gone.

Remember blow from top to bottom and work it around the sides and this should fix you right up or the car that is...

 

http://www.universalwater.net/spot_not.htm