HARD water...what is the cure

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

You should be able to dry it quickly if you rinse properly. You have to take the sprayer off of the hose and then rinse with the hose close to the car. This causes a sheeting action. Then a small towel will dry the entire car.

Yeah, I've read about using that technique. I tend to do the opposite: As I progress with the car washing/rinsing, I keep wetting down the areas that I've already rinsed, so that it doesn't dry. When I'm done, I use a chamois---a technique that some advocate and some (including our resident expert in the area of detailing, Perfectlap) condemn. As long as it's a quality chamois (and replaced from time to time), I've used them year after year with (far as I can tell) no adverse effects on the finish. I don't seem to have water spot problems. Two things that might come into play in my case: (1) I live in Ohio, and it's obviously not as hot and dry as it is in southern California; and (2) while our water is moderately hard, it may be less so than yours.

Though there's clearly more work involved, I would also think that you could do the following after washing: Take a quality microfiber towel, spray it with a quick detail product (I use Optimum No Rinse) to the point of being moist, and quickly wipe down the finish. I would think that would remove spots as long as they hadn't baked in the sun for too long.

Also, regarding claying. There's a clay made by Sonus (don't remember the name of it, but it's light green in color) that is soft/gentle enough not to adversely affect the wax. Ie, one that would remove the spots without removing the wax.

[blue2000s]

CLR and Limeaway will remove hard water spots. You might try a final wipe with some of the product.

[mptoledo]

Just google "hard water car wash". I found thousands of responses. Here is one.

"I went down to Home Depot and picked up a 3-gallon commercial spray bottle. I filled it with distilled water, and I used the distilled water as a final rinse after rinsing the car with tap water. I used about 1 1/2 gallons (about $1.50 worth of water) and there was not one water spot on the whole car!"



http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6928

[Lobo1186]

Thanks all for the advice there is definitely some good stuff in this thread. As far as water softeners I'm not sure I can afford some complex system but the distilled water idea may be a good. Route along with someclr to remove spots alread there

[Perfectlap]

try washing with optimum no rinse instead of a hose wash. You'll unfortunately need to go down to wal-mart and get some of that cheap water they sell to you where you fill up your own container. I guess you'll need to be a little more economical with the amount of water you use. Generally two ounces of No Rinse solutions is used with one gallon of water. That's plenty to wiped down the car.

as far as rain, that could be tricky but I recommend the following:
after claying the car use an acrylic paste wax. I use FK1 1000P. It dries like cement. I use at least two coats for max coverage. Once it dries use a polymer spray like FK1 #425 frequently. It provides a very slippery surface that might be tricky for droplets to bond to.

here's another Optimum product

LINK

[thehighheelsgirl]

How bad is it to take my car through the laserwash?

[der Geist]

2 weeks ago Big Lots had shelves of the Mr. Clean starter systems for 4 bucks each. I used one in Sedona on my black benz and didn't have a spot for 6 washes. Just let it air dry too. And Sedona has the hardest water I have ever seen. I cleaned off an entire shelf at big lots. Hopefully a 10 year supply.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by thehighheelsgirl

How bad is it to take my car through the laserwash?

if it has the jets that spray directly at your doors you might want to stuff a towel in the slats of the air intake to keep any soap and water out.

car wash detergent is really not good for the canvas top. You have to use Raggtopp cleanser for that. The car wash soap attracts dust and breaks down the canvas.

[SeanZ4]

Use a diluted amount of CLR on your spots and problem areas. Spray it on and just rinse it off. I don't know if you have that product in your area. It's common here. We have high levels of lime in our water. I use it for lots of different applications. I found out that it rinses off hard water spots 10 years ago. If anyone else has used this with success, chime in!

Sean