Water spots on paint....

[byronsky]

So i took the Sky out of town on business this week and parked it at the hotel. In the middle of the night, the sprinklers came on. I had water spots all over the hood. I thought, no problem, I will wash it today. After the wash today, spots still terrible. So then I thought, I will just rewax the hood....

Tried it...Still have water spots. I know some have used vinegar on the windows. What removes the spots from the paint?????????????????

[RedRav4]

I'll second this question, my car got splashed in a parking lot, and I waxed off most of them off but in the right light you can still see remenants...

[Asucar]

check out autopia.org, the detailing forum.....no question you'll find the answer...and you might get hooked on another forum...

[Gunny's GXP]

Bug and tar remover or liquid clay bar have both worked great for me.

[Valistener]

Originally Posted by byronsky

So i took the Sky out of town on business this week and parked it at the hotel. In the middle of the night, the sprinklers came on. I had water spots all over the hood. I thought, no problem, I will wash it today. After the wash today, spots still terrible. So then I thought, I will just rewax the hood....

Tried it...Still have water spots. I know some have used vinegar on the windows. What removes the spots from the paint?????????????????

You kind of went the wrong way on it. By waxing the paint you have effectively sealed in the spots. What you need to do now is wash the car in dawn dish soap 9maybe twice) to removed the wax. Now you can use a paint cleaner or a clay bar to take off the contaminants (water spots), then wash the car again then wax it again to prevent water spots from staining it again.

[Rick Tinley Park]

Originally Posted by Valistener

You kind of went the wrong way on it. By waxing the paint you have effectively sealed in the spots. What you need to do now is wash the car in dawn dish soap 9maybe twice) to removed the wax. Now you can use a paint cleaner or a clay bar to take off the contaminants (water spots), then wash the car again then wax it again to prevent water spots from staining it again.

Sadly
I would have washed the car with dawn first. Used any of the means available to get the marks off and then rewaxed. However, before doing that; I have found for small marks that if I just use Meguires detail spray -- let it sit a bit -- it takes the spots off! -- However Chicago water is not too hard or spotty.

[usmc]

I had to use a very fine polish (used my orbital buffer) to get some water spots off the trunk lid. worked great. Just don't forget to re-seal or wax it afterwards

[byronsky]

Well, I went ahead and washed the hood twice with Dawn. Came home and used a clay bar for over 20 minutes just on the hood. Dried it down and spots still there!!!!

I then called the local detailing shop and he suggested using vinegar on it. He said to immediately wash the car afterwards to remove any vinegar. So, I tried it and spots are still present....

I give up. I am taking it into the detail shop tomorrow to take care of this!!

[cerberus]

It all sounds so painfully familiar. If you go the detailer route, be careful. After I went to a local detailer on a bad reference, and got the swirl job from hell, I noticed I still had the water spots!! From detailing forums I read about Meguiars ScratchX for the swirls. While prepping to deswirl, I tried this stuff lightly with an applicator pad on the remaining water spots. They came right out, lol. I coulda skipped a step. Ya might want to grab a tube of ScratchX and see how it works for you. Prior to that, I had tried vineagar, clay, paint cleaner, and swearing, but none cut the water spots.

[Valistener]

Originally Posted by byronsky

Well, I went ahead and washed the hood twice with Dawn. Came home and used a clay bar for over 20 minutes just on the hood. Dried it down and spots still there!!!!

I then called the local detailing shop and he suggested using vinegar on it. He said to immediately wash the car afterwards to remove any vinegar. So, I tried it and spots are still present....

I give up. I am taking it into the detail shop tomorrow to take care of this!!

If you don't want to go that route, I would go with Meguires 3 step system. Step one is a paint cleaner, if that doesn't work go to step 2 the polisher, if that doesnt work, go to a pro. (step 3 is a sealer so don't do that if step 2 doesn't work)

http://www.meguiars.com/?auto-paint-...-Paint-Cleaner

[byronsky]

Originally Posted by cerberus

It all sounds so painfully familiar. If you go the detailer route, be careful. After I went to a local detailer on a bad reference, and got the swirl job from hell, I noticed I still had the water spots!! From detailing forums I read about Meguiars ScratchX for the swirls. While prepping to deswirl, I tried this stuff lightly with an applicator pad on the remaining water spots. They came right out, lol. I coulda skipped a step. Ya might want to grab a tube of ScratchX and see how it works for you. Prior to that, I had tried vineagar, clay, paint cleaner, and swearing, but none cut the water spots.

DING! DING! DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!

Did 2 coats of Scratch X and then a nice coat of wax! Shines like a baby's ass!!!!!!!!

THANKS, CERBERUS..........

[MidniteBlues]

Yea I have a bottle of that stuff in my collection of stuffies-- Glad you got that crap off--PS: didn't know a babies ass shined--to me they usually stink awful bad--

[BlueSkyRL]

I have been using plan old windex for the water spots on my deep blue and it works perfectly. I also use the ScratchX for swirl marks to get that better then show room shine

[usmc]

Sounds like scratchx is just a polish or very light compound... is that right?

[cerberus]

Originally Posted by byronsky

Did 2 coats of Scratch X and then a nice coat of wax! Shines like a baby's ass!!!!!!!!

Glad it worked out for ya!!

Originally Posted by usmc

Sounds like scratchx is just a polish or very light compound... is that right?

Yeah, basically a light compound. It's a light abrasive tube of gel which is supposed to be clear coat safe. I still wouldn't use it without a reason, as I figure you dont get something for nothing, but after every other effort has been tried, I'd go to it. I prefer the least amount of force to get the job done. It worked pretty well with a DAPC on my swirls, although I didn't hit it as hard as I could have and can still make some of them out in the right light. I'd rather take a couple of passes at a detailing problem, working my way up then stumble into another problem by going to far.