What the hell is in our water?

[scootr]

Same alkaline problem with our ground water here in the SW USA. Seems most the whole world has this problem. I bought one of those canister water softeners for car washing. It's expensive to buy the canisters, they don't last long enough, and the filtration process reduces the water pressure to ...minus ugh, so good luck rinsing any soap away :headbang: Needless to say, I hate it.

 

[Jl-c]

If you have a resin filter then don't forget to make up screen wash with it , it doesn't leave water marks on the screen and doesn't clog jets or tubes!

 

[Russ59]

Same in Somerset.
Marks come off easily with Poorboys polish and sealant and off windows with Invisible Glass.

I’ve used Poorboys Blackhole polish tonight and hasn’t removed them.

 

[Russ59]

What I don’t get, is that I’v often just rinsed the dust of the car and left it to dry, but it’s never left marks like this before.

 

[Old-Duckman]

What I don’t get, is that I’v often just rinsed the dust of the car and left it to dry, but it’s never left marks like this before.

You said in your original post that you had recently treated your soft top, correct? Had you only used the cleaner or had you also used the sealer?

The reason I ask is when I messed up the Z3's paint I had rinsed off the cleaner and let it dry in the sun. Big mistake. I'm thinking that if you had recently used a soft top cleaner...maybe the top still had enough cleaner in it that rinsing the car released that and you got the spotting similar to what I had...Just a guess.

I tried just using wax by hand and a few other products as I recall (it has been awhile). I did use a PoorBoy product eventually but I don't recall what exact product or what color buffing pad I applied it with.

However I did claybar the car first, and whatever PoorBoy compound I used I applied it with a Flex orbital polisher...I don't think you will have satisfactory results using the compound hand applied only. There are less expensive orbital polishers out there other than the Flex but I think you'll either have to go that way or have a pro do a paint correction detail for you.

I would also investigate that acid product I eluded to. I heard about that in a YT vid done by a pro detailer. He did not give any product name but he did say it was an acid and it was used for removing water spotting. It may be one of those products you can't get unless you are in the business..??

Good luck, let us know what eventually worked for you.

 

[BRC]

I too have exactly the same problem here in Surrey. More recently I have applied Gloss No 1 paint sealer to my cars and this seems to prevent stickage by whatever is in the water. Previously I used Sonax but No1 is far superior.

 

[MHZ4C]

I use this https://www.finerfilters.co.uk/8-x-...MI-rWXnI7c6QIVkuvtCh3V0wtlEAQYEyABEgKJH_D_BwE with this https://www.windowcleaningstuff.co.uk/water-fed-pole-systems/1117-tulsion-resin-mb115-25l.html
And yes it has gone up since I last bought it. Still worth doing though.

Edit:- it appears I lie I have just checked when I last bought resin 50 litres and it was 2014 so it lasts longer than I thought! I have 4 cars and they are usually washed and rinsed weekly, at the most fortnightly so it works out even cheaper.

Thanks for this info. It’s cheaper now than when I last looked a few years back. With that amount of use from it I can justify the cost.

 

[Russ59]

Here in Yorkshire the water is soft so it’s not a problem. At out home in France it is extremely hard and is a nightmare. The XF is dark coloured (Caviar) and the first time I washed it it was a disaster zone. The only way I could get rid of the spots was to do it with a white vinegar and water mix and then polish and wax the whole car. I’m very careful how I wash the car now.

.


What ratio of white vinegar and water did you use? I might give it a go.

 

[Russ59]

What I don’t get, is that I’v often just rinsed the dust of the car and left it to dry, but it’s never left marks like this before.

You said in your original post that you had recently treated your soft top, correct? Had you only used the cleaner or had you also used the sealer?

The reason I ask is when I messed up the Z3's paint I had rinsed off the cleaner and let it dry in the sun. Big mistake. I'm thinking that if you had recently used a soft top cleaner...maybe the top still had enough cleaner in it that rinsing the car released that and you got the spotting similar to what I had...Just a guess.

I tried just using wax by hand and a few other products as I recall (it has been awhile). I did use a PoorBoy product eventually but I don't recall what exact product or what color buffing pad I applied it with.

However I did claybar the car first, and whatever PoorBoy compound I used I applied it with a Flex orbital polisher...I don't think you will have satisfactory results using the compound hand applied only. There are less expensive orbital polishers out there other than the Flex but I think you'll either have to go that way or have a pro do a paint correction detail for you.

I would also investigate that acid product I eluded to. I heard about that in a YT vid done by a pro detailer. He did not give any product name but he did say it was an acid and it was used for removing water spotting. It may be one of those products you can't get unless you are in the business..??

Good luck, let us know what eventually worked for you.

I cleaned it and sealed it. After I cleaned it I gave it a real good rinse till all that was coming off was clean water. I did wonder if it was from all the dirt and gunge that I washed off the roof and ran down the car, but I did wash the car afterwards and dried it straight away, plus the spots have appeared on parts of the car where the dirty water wouldn’t have reached.
I did mask the whole car off when I applied the sealer.

 

[Tinker15]

What ratio of white vinegar and water did you use? I might give it a go.

From memory I used 50/50 mix but it was pretty bad. You could try a lesser mix and see if it works. I used a hand spray and micro fibre cloth. It removed all the marks for me but of course removes he polish as well. Good luck.

 

[Tinker15]

Mind you the water marks where as nothing compared to the over 180 dents the Jag suffered in a hail storm. Fortunately the French are used to this type of damage and a specialist firm did a great job in removing them all.

 

[Rucky]

- or go old school - you could just buy a Chamois and wipe off the excess water after washing / rinsing.
Even better if you keep rinsing and wringing your leatther
I mean buy a Chamois Leather - not the actual goat.

 

[Bombardino]

Mind you the water marks where as nothing compared to the over 180 dents the Jag suffered in a hail storm. Fortunately the French are used to this type of damage and a specialist firm did a great job in removing them all.

Strange you should mention this, I’ve just had a couple of small dents done the company that did them spend most of the autumn in Europe working on hail damaged cars.
A friend of mine had a Nissan patrol written off due to hail damage in the French Alps.

 

[Tinker15]

Strange you should mention this, I’ve just had a couple of small dents done the company that did them spend most of the autumn in Europe working on hail damaged cars.

Yes it’s good business for these specialists in France. The storms are very localised but are common enough but fortunately not normally in the same place. We’ve had two in our 14 years in France. We live at the southern end of the Correze and at the same time as our damage those in the north had hailstones the size of golf balls with shattered car windows and huge dents. Many of the cars would be written off.

 

[mjennings23]

Same in Somerset.
Marks come off easily with Poorboys polish and sealant and off windows with Invisible Glass.

I’ve used Poorboys Blackhole polish tonight and hasn’t removed them.

Black hole is a filler glaze, not an abrasive polish, so it won't remove anything.

 

[groovy_hippy]

I always use a bucket of water with a good glug of Optimum No Rinse, with a micro fibre mitt. Then dry with a microfibre towel/cloth. Works a treat and doesn’t use much water for those on metered water! No idea if we have hard or soft water. It’s just sort of wet water ;-)

 

[GAZA62]

Same in Somerset.
Marks come off easily with Poorboys polish and sealant and off windows with Invisible Glass.

I’ve used Poorboys Blackhole polish tonight and hasn’t removed them.

Pop along to Halfords some AG SRP should sort it that's what polish I have always used it got rid of the waterspots on mine plus I clayed it first but the SRP alone should do the job

 

[Russ59]

Well I think the fairies where out last night
I went out all armed up with cloths and abrasive polish to try and have another go at getting rid of the leopard water spots on my car from the other day and can I f##k as find one
Not one water spot noticeable on the whole car.
Yesterday it was riddled with them and I could feel them with my nail. I’m gobsmacked

 

[Old-Duckman]

Well I think the fairies where out last night
I went out all armed up with cloths and abrasive polish to try and have another go at getting rid of the leopard water spots on my car from the other day and can I f##k as find one
Not one water spot noticeable on the whole car.
Yesterday it was riddled with them and I could feel them with my nail. I’m gobsmacked

Yes they do disappear...well dependent on lightning and the angle you are viewing the surface at. I currently have a couple of etched in bird poop spots on the hood of the Z4. They are hard to notice until I open it, to check oil or whatever, but once at the different angle...ya can’t miss them. The Z3 was the same, the water spots didn’t really go away until I polished them out.