How do I remove and prevent water spots?
Water spotting is one of the most frustrating things to happen on a freshly cleaned car. Water spots can be tough to remove and are very unsightly. There are two kinds of water spots. The first are those that are caused by “hard” water drying on the paint. Hard water contains minerals, like calcium, that are left behind when the water itself evaporates. A common scenario is a parking near a sprinkler that wets your car when it runs. These kind of water spots deposit minerals on your paint and your vehicle looks like it has white chicken pox.
It is very important clean water spots as soon as you notice them, the longer they stay on the paint the more damage they do. That’s why we always keep a bottle of our Quick Detailer & Spray Wax and a cloth in our vehicles. When they are fresh, water spots are easy to remove. It’s when water spots are ignored and allowed to occur time and again that you are most likely to run into the second kind of water spot, etched-in spots. Click here to learn more about our Quick Detailer & Spray Wax.
Water spots caused by water that has some kind of caustic component, such as so called acid rain where the rain is contaminated with pollution, if ignored can actually begin to etch into your vehicle paint. If your vehicle is dirty and gets water on it (even “clean” rain) that dirt and dust can contain caustic substances which can lead to etched spots. This is why it’s important to keep your vehicle clean in the first place, and to clean water spots as soon as you see them.
You can also cause water spots when you wash your car. We see people use ordinary dish soap when they wash their vehicles and we shudder. ALL dish soaps are highly caustic, not only do they strip and dry out your paint over time, any water spots that are left when you’re done washing are automatically the dreaded etching kind. That’s why it’s important to always wash your vehicle with a purpose made car wash soap. Our Car Wash with Carnauba Wax is pH balanced so it reduces water spotting and doesn’t hurt your paint. It also contains genuine Carnauba wax to nurture and protect your paint while you wash. It is biodegradable and its high suds formula suspends dirt away from your paint as you wash. Click here to learn more about our Car Wash with Carnauba Wax.
If you live in a hard water area, it’s important to not let water dry on your paint while you’re washing. Don’t try to wash the entire vehicle at one go and then rinse it off, inevitably some of the soapy, hard water will dry while you’re washing other parts. Wash part of the vehicle, and rinse the whole car quickly. Then wash more of the vehicle and quickly rinse again. The idea is to keep the car wet until you’re finished and then dry the whole car quickly.
Water spots don’t stick to wax so after drying your vehicle give it a quick misting and wipe down with our Quick Detailer & Spray Wax which contains gentle cleaners and genuine Carnauba wax. If there are any water spots from washing your car, Quick Detailer & Spray Wax will remove them as it waxes and prevents further spots from sticking. Regularly polishing and waxing your vehicle not only makes it look beautiful, but maximizes the paint’s protective shield.
If you have stubborn water spots that are still there after washing, then you need to use something like our Quick Paint Cleaning System. This very easy-to -se system will pull all of the mineral build-up off your paint, chrome and windows while it polishes and waxes at the same time. It also removes pollen, sap, embedded contaminates and oxidized paint too. Nothing cleans paint as easily and quickly as our system, click here to learn more about our Quick Paint Cleaning System.
If after using our Quick Paint Cleaning System you still have water spots, it’s likely you have etched in spots. The last thing you can try is to polish the paint. Our Glazing Polish produces a wet, deep looking shine. Remember, polish doesn’t contain protective waxes, so following up with our Sealant Wax not only adds a brilliant shine but its combination of genuine Carnauba wax and synthetic sealant provides long lasting protection. Click here to learn about our Glazing Polish and here to learn more about our Sealant Wax.
If you’ve tried all of this and you still have water spots, we’re sorry to say that they are probably seriously etched into the paint or clear coat. At this point, it’s best to take it to a professional detailer. The tools and products needed to correct water spots this bad can harm your paint if you don’t know how to use them.