OK. Ive read a number of threads regarding this but Im still on the fence as to what is best way of going about removing these stubborn white spots all over my new '09 Clubman! Theyre especially noticable on my Mini's glossy black roof. I've used a couple different car wash products to no avail. Using Hydro does seem to make them much less noticable, almost gone, but they always come back and FORGET using a car wash's "spot-free rinse"...thats a bunch o' junk! Thats how I keep gettin em I think...no matter what car wash I use!

Of course if I can get rid of the spots I wanna keep 'em gone!

So Ive read what I think are maybe the 2 most viable solutions. The first is to use a white vinegar to distilled water solution (1:1 or 1:4?) soaked on clean towels, lay them on the car for 30+ secs then rinse. While I know vinegar will dissolve hard water deposits couldnt it potentially harm the paint as well? Seems kinda scary!

The second is to use claybar on the car which I dont know a thing about.

Then if one of these (or another idea) actually does work how then do I keep it from happening again? Ive read about the Mr Clean system but none of the big box stores Ive been to carry it. Ive also read where folks rinse with distilled water. I imagine I could buy an inexpensive pump sprayer from the hardware store and fill it with distilled water and after I use regular water to wash and/or rinse the car I could do a final rinse with the distilled water. Would that work???

First things first things first though. I'll just be glad to get rid of the buggers at all!

All info I can get from you all will be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

I am biased towards Klasse because I have been using it for... going on 18 years now. I would suggest trying out a small bottle Klasse All In One polish to get out the spots, and basically clean your clearcoat. You can stop there, do a coat of wax, try out Klasse High Gloss Sealant, etc. But, if you are just trying to get the spots out, the All In One will do the trick for you.

http://www.autogeek.net/klasse.html

If you are trying to stay closer to home, try a cleaner wax of some sort.

Gluck!

 

try some clay first. that would be my first weapon of choice. followed by the vinegar/water 50/50 concentration. but that's more work than clay so that's why i try clay first.

if the vinegar/water solution doesnt work you'll need to polish it.

 

So are you all saying that the 1:1 vinegar to distilled H2O wont hurt the cars paint/finish? What if I leave the wet towels on longer than 30 secs...does it matter?

Is there a brand of clay I can find locally thats of decent quality? Do you have any tips or instructions to give regarding using clay, what equipment etc do I need?

And what about the ways to avoid these white grey spots from hell in the future? Did my distilled water in a sprayer idea have any merit?

 

you dont need to use distilled water if you're mixing vingar. it's a waste. just use regular tap water unless your water is super hard. you'll need to leave the towel on the car for more than 3min. that's why you use a towel so that it doesnt evaporate.

also why it's a pita process and recommend trying clay first.

you can probably find meguiar's or mother's clay at most autoparts stores. just get a quick detailer spray, squirt, rub the clay back and forth, wipe off with a clean mf towel. you only need like a silver dollar sized clay so just yank off a bit from the chunk and use. if you drop it on the ground, toss it.

btw, you'll need to wash your mf towel at least once before use. virgin towels dont work real well.

for preventative action you should first wax the car.
also be careful not to wash the car/air dry in the sun unless you can wipe down quickly with some Hydro.

distilled water as rinse will have many benefits if your tap is super hard. even so dry your car with a towel, dont let it air dry. even if the water is pure there is crap in the air that will eventually settle into the droplets and dry leaving a ring behind.

these areas have been already posted... where are the parrots when you need them?

goodluck.

 

All good stuff. I'd start with clay. If that doesn't work, go to the vinegar.

As far as not getting them in the first place, spend $15 on a Mr. Clean Auto Dry and just use it for the spot-free rinse. It works!

 

OK OK OK. I'm going to use what seems to be the overwhelming advice and go with the clay first! Though I'm not exactly sure about how to use it, it does seems easier than laying vinegar soaked towels all over my car! I'll certainly make sure the car is very clean prior to using the clay.

As far as preventative care: I've looked at both Walmart and Target plus two different auto parts stores and havent found the Mr. Clean Auto Dry.
With that said, I dont mind using distilled water as the final rinse if it will make a difference.
The culprit in this scenario has been me, I now realize.
After work I've been swinging by the do-it-yourself carwash and doing a quick rinsing job and not drying.

This leads me to (hopefully) my last question. The reason I havent dried after rinsing is that I feel that simply rinsing isnt actually cleaning the car and if I start wiping a waffle-weave towel over the car I will end up scratching the paint. Maybe I'm wrong. So far Ive only used my drying towels only after a thorough double wash using a wool mitt. Therein lies my question: Can I do those after work rinses? Can I do a rinse with regular water and then a final rinse with distilled or using something like the Mr Clean and not drying? From what Kenchan says even residue falling onto distilled droplets will end up leaving water spots.
What, do you believe, is the best trade-off??

Thanks all!

 

I've said this over and over and over. Water spots are mineral deposits from your water. If you have them on your paint, you MIGHT be able to dissolve them with vinegar or by buffing them with a polish. Other times, the water deposits actually etch the paint, and you may have to resort to other things like hiring a pro to compound or wetsand the spots.

To prevent water spots on your paint in the first place, reduce or eliminate the minerals from the water using a filter or washing with distilled/deionized water. And not just the rinse phase, for all phases of washing because if at any time the water dries while washing, you'll be left with water spots.

Not all people are this **** and will prefer to just use the filtered water during the final rinse.

You should NOT be rinsing the car without soap. Of course, towel drying it will scratch the paint.

Here is one way to wash your MINI using distilled water. Although I'm using a battery powered pressure washer, any pressure that can draw water from a siphon could also be used.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvit-8guaxE

Here is how to properly wash a MINI using the two bucket wash method
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...owcardetailing

 

realistically you'll still end up with spots/streaks if you let it just air dry watever you use.

doors and hatches have drain holes and that's where a lot of the remaining water, soap with some grit remains for most people's washes. and if you're washing on a windy day (i dont recommend it) your car will have spots from the dust drying on the car.

minerals from the tap is your primary source of stains but the soap and others that are inside the doors and panels after the wash will also spill out when you drive and without you knowing, it will leave behind spots and streaks under sidemirrors, rear bumper at the corners of the gate, etc.
you have to wipe down the car (blowing water out with a blower + blot dry recommended).

ok, ill let the parrots respond to the rest.

 

Hey, hey, hey! Went to "big" Wally World and low and behold they had the Mr Clean AutoDry. It really does work. After the first wash, rinse and hydro the old water spots were very feint and no new ones! Washed again yesterday and are nearly all gone. I also bought some Meguiars clay and Scratch-X 2.0.... I gotta say that the clay is a bit of a chore and while it helps it didnt fully remove spots however yesterday I tried a few of the tougher ones with Scratch-X and they were completely gone! It makes me think the stuff is pretty powerful....hopefully not too much so!

Anyway thanks for all the help....and patience!

 

All that top notch advice and you used a Mr Clean AutoDry, Hydro, followed with Scratch-X?

The point that was made, and I totally believe to be true... is if you let water stand on your car, either by not drying it or using Mr Clean AutoDry, you will get the spots. What you should have said was that you are too lazy to dry your car, which is why you got the spots in the first place. I LOL'd really hard when you said that clay was a chore and scratch-x was better.

I will, however, thank you for this thread simply for its teaching me about the Nomad washer... another one of my "must have's" that I must run by the finance committee!

 

It's one of the best solutions and with distilled water, I don't towel dry in the sun. It's the ONLY solution I've tried that leaves 0 water spots after a wash.

Course it doesn't have the power of a gas or non battery operated pressure washer, but then again, it isn't using the same amount of water. Those usually do about 2 gallons a minute. With a 3 gallon tank, that would only allow you 3 minutes, so the flow is lower, but the PSI is still high enough to be effective.

Using it on a recent job.

 

Hmmm.... I think you sound like a $^!#%....hmmm. I DID try the clay. It did not work very well and BEFORE trying the next idea which was to use vinegar&h2O. After claying didnt work so well I bought some scratch-x on a whim. On the spots I tried it took out the water spots with almost zero effort compared to the clay and did a MUCH more thorough job. Hey I DO dry my car after I WASH it. If you read my posts you'll see that I correctly did not towel dry my car after simply rinsing it...of course I admitted to being the culprit. (This forum and thread have schooled me greatly) Maybe you're too lazy to actually read & think before you criticize? I understand that using scratch-x is probably much more harsh as compared to clay and I probably shouldnt use it over wide areas (which I havent yet) but this is simply my god honest experience. Im not lying. Claying (remember, obviously Im a newbie) WAS a chore to me and the Scratch-x WAS better and certainly easier and faster. You can LOL all you want to but that was my experience.

Its been raining here quite a bit since this past weekend. I WAS planning to do a real thorough wash soon and then hit a lot of the tougher water spots with scratch-x because it worked so well. I get from Mr. Hmmm's response that maybe thats not a great idea? The truth is since I washed then rinsed with the de-ionized/filtered water the pre-existing spots are very feint now.(and no new ones!) Im actually expecting after the next wash for them to be even lighter so maybe I should just stay away from the scratch-x? Its fairly harsh stuff eh? Maybe this time around claying will work better if the spots are lighter?

As before any additional advice is greatly appreciated and I wont let "Sir Hmmm the Newbie Heckler" deter me!

Thanks!

 

CR&PW&JB- see wat i mean about the same ol' same ol'?

 

I would never heckle you because you are new, you took me the wrong way.

I wrote a bunch of witty replies to your post, but decided that I am glad you found solace in the Mr Clean product and ScratchX. I am sure they will fill your MINIs car cleaning needs.

Gluck!