How to avoid water spotting?

[tay97gst]

I always wash my car by hand but no matter what i do I cant avoid the water droplets from drying on the car and looking terrible. I have a chamois but even then there are still droplets that dry on the car. What are some techniques you guys use?

 

[KBasham03]

Use a inline water filter, the spots are from minerals in the water

 

[slayer450]

I always wash my car by hand but no matter what i do I cant avoid the water droplets from drying on the car and looking terrible. I have a chamois but even then there are still droplets that dry on the car. What are some techniques you guys use?

Get a water softener. I could wash my car at the car wash my place or my friends with no issues but if I went to my parents it would be covered with spots. They had well water.

Or you could just wax after

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

Wash and dry in the shade with a cool car and the water spots won't have time to dry as quickly.

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

before you dry each part of the car off respray it down to get it wet then dry it off that should work thats what i do when it happens

 

[Bricktop]

waterblade followed by a absorber.

 

[tay97gst]

huh, i havent tried a squeegee yet . I might just get a squeegee and do all the other things mentioned. Thats should probably take care of it.

 

[Spoolin92GSX]

Also try a microfiber drying cloth, when I had a shiny car it dried the clearest of any other cloths I tried.

 

[slayer450]

waterblade followed by a absorber.

Almost forgot about that, absorber ftw.

 

[perks563]

Dry it off best you can then go over it with a quick detailer.

 

[H@xtGSX]

Almost forgot about that, absorber ftw.

Heck yea. The Absorber works real well. Just keep the car wet until you're ready to dry it off and that should keep the water from spotting. That's what I do, and I have water so hard you have to chew it.

 

[MiroDSM]

I just use the absorber brand dryer, never left a spot. Unless your talking about water spotting from when you drive off and it comes out from all the nooks and crannies. Then I use a a leaf blower to keep that from happening.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

The Absorber rules; I'll never go back to a leather chamois cloth again!

After you wipe the car down, go for a quick spin around the block and stab the brakes a couple times to dry the rotors. When you get back wipe all the drips that blew out of the nooks and crannies.

 

[Spoolin92GSX]

...and I have water so hard you have to chew it.

I almost choked laughing

 

[H@xtGSX]

I was cracking up at the use of a leaf blower for detailing... Not saying I wouldn't do it myself, I just don't own a leaf blower. I could see the look on my neighbors faces though: ---->

 

[TheFallenJosh]

I use the leaf blower method most of the time, and then wipe the car down with a shammy just in case I missed something However, most of the time I don't have the time to do this anymore...

 

[MiroDSM]

Lol I thought I was crazy myself but even the plug in types are powerful. It pisses me off when I wash my car and drive home and see water on the back bumper or right under the mirrors on the door So this helps that.

 

[edsgst]

+1 on the waterblade followed by the Absorber. To make it even easier though, when you have finished rinsing the vehicle, remove the nozzle from the hose, and starting from the roof of the car, let the water 'cascade' down over the vehicle. That will cause a 'sheeting' action, and it easily cuts down on the number of droplets.

....and if you really want to be anal like me, after you have done the 'cascade' rinse, open and shut both doors firmly a few times to force the excess water out of the seems. Then use the blade/Absorber.

One more thing...take your driver license, credit card, or something similar, fold the Absorber around it, and insert it into the gap on the side mirrors. That will dry up most, if not all the water, and keep it from spraying droplets on the side of your car while you drive.

Sorry for the novel, but I really dislike water droplets and road spray on a clean car!

 

[H@xtGSX]

At least I am not the only one that jams the absorber into the mirror gap... I have a paint stirring stick in the trunk specifically for getting the water and crud out of the nooks.

 

[AwD4g63TsI]

I agree with the water cascading method as a technique. The 'larger' amount of water you can get to rinse over your car at once, the less droplets you'll have to deal with.

The number one thing you can do to avoid to prevent water spots, and the thing almost no one does(and it was mentioned)..don't wash and dry your car in the sun or while your car is hot! #1#1#1#1. If you have a garage, do it there. The same goes for polishes, waxes and buffing compounds. Applying these things in the sun will ruin your day.

Here's how I do mine with and it leaves no spots ever. 1. In cool area cascade water from the top down for final rinse. 2. Water blade or chamois dry entire car to get the large remaining wet areas. 3. Squeeze dry chamois and go over car again getting the areas you missed because they are small and you just wanted to get the large water areas off as quickly as possible. 4. Then squeeze dry chamois again and go over all the seams like mirrors and trim with an air nozzle----soak up all the water that comes out of these areas with dry chamois. You will never have water spots if you do this no mater how hard your water is.

If you've got stubborn old spots that always come back after a fresh wash...well that needs to be polished out. You may want to google clay bars as well if you're going down that route. It's a lot of elbow grease that's involved and you'll need a polisher(NOT a waxer like you get at walmart) to fix what a clay bar does, but the results are second to none

 

[Black Widow97]

Get yourself a water blade. My car is black and I don't have problems with water spots thanks to my water blade.

 

[boostlife7]

I use a spray wax detail, goes on quick and looks nice.

 

[99gst_racer]

I use a waterblade too. That along with a healthy coat of wax, and I don't have spotting issues.

 

[Blue Talon Boy]

and I have water so hard you have to chew it.

Lol. Love that one.

 

[GsxAZman]

Man i love this thread..my black cars were always the worst to wash. Been getting lazy on my gold yukon since the spots dont show but will definately use the credit card and shammy technique in cracks.