Hard water, rust stain removal advice
 

Hi guys, I was on vacation last month and when I returned, I found that a rusty pipe in the garage had leaked water down the passenger side door of my silver 370z. It had been waxed, but when I washed it, the stain persisted. Needless to say, I was pretty unhappy!

Anyone know how to remove the stain safely? I've heard that a solution of vinegar and water can take care of it. There's also a product called 'Rust-Off' that might do the trick. My main concern is to remove the stain without damaging the paint

Thanks in advance!

Ask an advance auto to do a demonstration on their demo board.

Vinegar and water should do the trick. I use it to take hard water spots off. You can also try something like Meguiars Swirl-X (a mild polishing compound).

Ask the Junkman if the water and vinegar doesn't work.

I've had success with vinegar in that situation.

the interior fabric is called Alcantara, there website has cleaning instructions but it is currently not working I just tried it but couldn't get it to load otherwise I would've posted the link sry....

The site had lots of instructions for a whole variety of stains and spills you may have had. Hopefully it is back up soon.

This is good to know. I would have went straight for the polishing compound.

If the vinegar solution fails, try a chemical paint cleanser. You can start with a basic over the counter paint cleaner such as Meguiar's Deep Crystal Paint Cleanser. If that fails to work or only improves the stain so much, you need to use some abrasive polish. In that case, start with a fine polish and work your way up if that does not work. I recommend grabbing some Meguiar's Ultimate Compound as it is not very aggressive but has a decent amount of cut, finishes very well and is easy to use by hand.

Good luck!

A clay bar works well to remove particles from the hard water too.

This..if that don't work I use polish like luna mentioned. :) vinegar can work but depending where it is I don't want vinegar running inside the door as it is corrosive if on metal for a long time and tuff to get the stink out. ...

It was on there heavily enough that the vinegar didn't do anything, but a clay bar and some quick detailer took it right off.

No offense meant but eHow has some of the worst possible advice on detailing than I have ever seen anywhere on the Internet. They flat out suck at advice.

Agreed, they have some horrendous "guides" that should be removed from the web.

lol!

I think that's where the Formula 409 car wash guy posted his video. The horror...