Been trolling here looking for a straight up answer on this one. What is the best way to remove water spots on glass and/or keep them from appearing. When I wash I sometimes get water spots as I usually do my glass last. After washing and drying the car I go after the glass but by that time, especially on a sunny day, I have spots on the glass. Any tips for removal and prevention?

Thanks, Brian

 

I have a similar problem on my other vehicle (Land Rover Discovery). It sits on the edge of the driveway, and gets hit every other day with the sprinkler system. I have significant spotting on the passenger side of the car.

I purchased the 3" buffer from Griots along with their Glass polish. Together I thought that this would do the trick. As it turns out, the spots must be harder than the polish, because I can't get them to go away.

I will be watching this thread for additional ideas.

 

white vinegar + water 50/50 mix in spray bottle.

keep it wet for 5min or so. just keep spraying it. wipe off stain.
wash car afterwards.

also try RainX. it does wonders to clean contaminants off...plus beads water well.

 

oh yah, clay works too sometimes..

 

To keep them from appearing, try using distilled water and a Nomad pressure washer. Wash in direct sunlight, no water spots.

See it here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...re-washer.html

 

i dont spray my rinse at the end. just pour it. works best to sheet water off the glass and panels in once large 'piece' of water.

 

The Nomad washer looks nice, but a bit rich for my wallet. Will just any distilled water work or should I use European distilled water? Can't imagine domestic would work as well. Just kidding...

Keep the tips coming all, I'm looking for a clay bar this weekend. Any recommendations on where to get one at a retail outlet? I'm in the Bay area, just south of SF.

Thanks,
Brian

 

autoparts stores, walmart, etc.

 

I think the simplest thing you could do is not to wash the car in the sunlight. I usually wait till I get a nice shady spot next to the house around 7-8pm for me. After I wash the car I pull out the California water blade or you can use a other type of squigee that is ok for car paint, try and get the most water off as you can. Then pull out a waffle weave towell or a high quality microfiber towel and wipe the remaining water off especially around the windows and side mirrors. I have some hard water and this works for me.

I guess if you have no option than to wash it in sun then I would say wash it quickly and then I would try to drive it into the garage and dry it there. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks all for the suggestions. I guess like a lot of people I just wash my car when I can and when I must. I wish I had 6 hours a week to wash and detail my car, but sadly I don't. Seems like there ought to be a way to prevent them to begin with, so I'm going to start by clay-ing the glass and hitting it with RainX or something like it. I just ordered some Prima Mystique car wash, some Hydro and some Slick. We'll see how that goes. I tried some very fine steel wool and it works great on the spots, but leaves little tiny steel threads laying around. Figured that can't be good. Don't know why water spotting is such an issue here. We don't have that much direct sun (SF Bay coast) but the water is real hard, very high mineral content. The Mini does deserve the best I have so we'll see what works...

Brian

 

yep, my dd's get washed on saturday am if it's going to be nice out (meaning, washing in sun is ok, washing in rain is not). if not, then it wont be washed until next weekend. i too dont have time to offset my schedule just to wash the car. i use to... long time ago before kids and when i had so much free time.

when your month goes by in what feels like a week, waiting a week to wash the car dont mean anything these days.

another thing to try is Griot's SprayOn CarWash. you wont get any spotting cause you dont use water. and it works great. just use a lot of product and a lot of MF towels.

 

How about this http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...th+fittings.do

I have no idea how it works but you could give it a try. Maybe Kenchan could chime in on it.

 

my water is pretty soft already (Lake Michigan water) so ive not used those but imho, you'll want to use the deionizer or just use a couple jugs of distilled water for your rinse.

i suppose those filters are 'better than nothing' but you'll still get water rings depending on how hard your water is.

 

I have a detailing client with 9 high-end cars, and he's almost as picky as I am about keeping them clean. Two of the cars are black (750iL, and an E63 AMG) and one is dark brown (MB 500E). The others are various shades of grey.
I bought a product called "Water stick" (Google it) for this problem, as the water where they're kept is very hard.
Absolutely terrific. It consists of a 3' length of 2" PVC, with fittings to connect with a hose on one end and a spray nozzle on the other. It's filled with 2 different granular chemicals, and works like champ.
Cost me about $160.00, I think, and came already filled, and with 3 refills.
Money well spent.
Another alternative; after washing and drying the car, spray the windows with the cleaning solution of your choice (I use Invisible Glass), and rub the windows with detailing clay, followed immediately with paper towels, or the micro-fiber you prefer.
Works for me. Besta luck!

 

I never, ever wash my car in direct sunlight.

And even in the shade, after I wash each section of the car, I re-rinse the entire car again to keep any one water bead from sitting its fat *** on my paint or glass for very long.

Never have had a water spot on any of my MINIs yet. And the water here is relatively hard.

 

I agree with most of the suggestions so far. The most reasonable (and the ones I use the most) are to avoid washing in sunlight, and just make sure to dry your glass FIRST, as soon as you are done rinsing.

 

Living in the SF Bay are and right on the water, we really don't have direct sunlight that often...

 

Straight white vinegar took stubborn water spots off my black vinyl stripes,glass ,and bonnet followed by a spray of distilled water as recommended by Octane Guy.

 

The best way is to not get the water spots on the windows in the first place. Keep the glass wet when you are washing the car and wipe the windows first when you are done washing. Should take care of your spotting problem.

I never park my cars by a lawn sprinkler, even my 10 year old one. Spots the paint and glass.

 

This is my Cheapo-extraordinaire way of disposing water spots:

If there are limited water spots you could get a can of Comet cleaner it is a really fine powder. No need for water. Wait for the car and windows to be completely dry. Put a little powder on the end of your finger and rub the water spot with the powder and wipe off with a clean soft cloth. You can try it on your bathroom faucet if you are worried about it leaving marks. Don't rub too hard and the spot should come right out. Obviously this would take a while to do if there are a lot of water spots so first and foremost I would use a squigy immediately after washing to minimize spots. I do this a lot and I have had no problems whatsoever.

 

RainX or Aquapel is the best preventer as they don't allow much water to stay on the glass and it makes it very easy to clean

 

+1 on RainX. it works great as exterior windshield cleaner too.

i dont use too many off-the-shelf products but RainX has been one of the products ive been using on occasion for quite some time with success.

 

White binegar does work, but sometimes it needs a little agitation to help. I have been successful with the addition of a Magic Eraser, or one of the cheaper competing products would work just as well. And have also used a one edged razor blade, just go over the entires glass surface after the vinegar has softened the deposits a little.

If you are really having trouble with getting the vinegar to sit on the glass for a while, then you can put a layer of paper towel down on the entire surface and wet it with the vinegar. Just let it sit there for as long as you need, and the paper towels will ensure 100% of the surface is staying wet with vinegar. Just peel back the paper towel for the magic eraser or razor blade agitation, not working well??, then just lay the paper towel back down and let it soak a little more.

RainX is a great product to use after the glass is clean.

Good Luck.

 

i now know how OG feels when he says people keep repeating wat he said over and over through the many threads.

 

Huh. Me too... I have a couple of parrots in this thread as well.