Water Spots
 

What is the best way to deal with removing water spots? The spots are not from car washing. I have to park near the sprinklers at work, and my car gets wet at night.
Black 2009.

try to avoid that area from now on if you can.

When I get water spots on the black parts of my Z I just give them a chance to dry out for a day, they wipe right off with spray detailer the next day.

Or you can just give it a little waxin'

Dura Gloss Pre Cleaner no 2

car quest should have it :tup:

http://duragloss.com.au/Products/ima...eaner-no-2.jpg

Claybar and QD. If that doesn't work polish.

seriously look into the Dura Gloss Pre Cleaner no 2.

its a one step process...

i wouldnt steer you wrong...

that stuff is polish. if you use soft clay it wont remove your clear but remove contaminants.

rule of thumb for detailing is to use the least abrasive tools first.

:iagree:

I would definitely try claybar first.

doesnt matter...

dura gloss removes water etching spots...plain and simple

I use Meguiar's quik detailer. $4 at walmart and is great in between washes/waxes. Keep that and a terry cloth in my car with me.

your first problem is that you are probably using hard water to wash your car. we both live in south texas..... you need soft water!

he mentioned on his first post that he needs to park near sprinklers and gets wet at night.... (?)

For a minute I thought this thread was titled "Water Sports" :eek: must be my dirty mind playing tricks on me. :p

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled programming ...

So does sand paper.

Think that's what kenchan was getting at when he said use the least abrasive tools first.

Duragloss PreCleaner #652 polishes your vehicle to a bright, smooth shine in preparation for the application of wax. The special abrasives level the edges of swirls and scratches, and remove water spots to create a smooth, uniform shine.

Then apply your favorite wax!

Is this a "polish" type of compound, contains abrasives? Or is it a chemical compound?

polish type...

my brother is in paint and body and has been for 30+ years...he uses it and says its the best thing out there for hard water spots and etching...

Depending on the make up of the water in your area, you might need a light polish to remove them. I had a sprinkler I didn't even know was there, hidden in the bushes at a resort hotel years ago spray my car, then baked it dry in the sun...... etched the clear coat. If your clear coat is etched, you may need a light polish. Ideally, an orbital buffer like the Porter Cable and the right pad and polish would do it. I just did my semi annual polish and wax to remove the acid rain etchings off the hood. The Z is garaged, but during the day I am parked outside at work..... impossible to avoid it on a DD.

John

:iagree:

you can also use this one, its basically for newer cars but has the same effect as 652...

http://duragloss.com.au/Products/ima...nd-cleaner.jpg

You probably have a jump on a lot of people then, with your brother in the paint and body business. I learned how to buff with a random orbital machine, but would never tackle a circular machine. I had acid rain etchings on the 350 that were so bad I could never totally get them out...... I think the car sat outside at the dealership for about 3 months before I bought it, and they had to get it from 400 miles away from another dealership, or I would probably not have taken it. I got the majority of them out, but you could still see some of it. The 370 I bought right after it was delivered, and took home and immmediately put on a coat of Meguires NXT, been much easier to maintain getting it right from the delivery.

took home and immmediately put on a coat of Meguires NXT,<<that's is what everyone should do, but they don't!

I am going to have to check this stuff out :tiphat:

i have been using the meguires regular red can wax...

i will be making the swithc to nxt the next waxing...

one thing i miss is the nxt car wash, i use to be able to get in auto parts stores and sometimes walmart...now the only place i have been able to get it is online...

It made most of the rain beed right up, so even though I am parked outside during the day, very little etching occurs. They make a good spray wax for inbetween touch ups after washing, that is designed to go over the NXT. After the hassels with the 350, I never want that to happen again :p

my brother used the 652 on the 2004 mustang i gave him...he said it had etching pretty bad...guess i never payed enough attention to it to see the etching, it is a white car so hard to see water spots...

but he used 652 on it and waxed it and said the paint looked brand new again

Do you have a Pep Boys there? They have it here.

LOL, you have been hanging out with Frost and me too long :p

That sounds like one of our jokes! :tup:

nah, closest one is 65 miles away...lol

Did he use the 652 by hand? Or a buffer?

i need to ask him, but if he did at his shop, im sure he used a buffer...

Any consensus over here? I discovered I have the same problem from my sprinklers - I have no option but to park there. So after I get rid of this "somehow", then I need to make sure there;s a regular coat of wax which will make iteasy to remove the spots in the future right?

Again, the thing is, the sprinklers are going to mess it up every night.

yah, good coat of polymer sealant will help get the stains off easier next time you wash.

for you, you may want to keep applying spray as your dry type waxes/sealants after each wash such as Prima Hydro. you can get it from amazon.

But what should I use to remove them... I see people talk about two separate methods and not a lot of threads discussing this.. is this like a generic well accepted standard?

Damn I wish I had a garage now, I didn't realize this would be such an issue, I don't see the spots on my house mate's cars, the paint on the Z must be inferior..

you want to start with the least abrasive option which is clay, but use the Griot's yellow clay (aka mud). ive tried Meguiar's soft blue clay and it scratched the nissan paint. no issue for me cause i have a random orbital and different polishes in my detailing cart,

if that doesn't work you can try mild polishes such as ScratchX on a foam pad. you'll need to put some elbow grease into it unless you have a random orbital. if that doesn't work ideally you want to try a firmer pad before switching polishes, but you can go to a slightly more coarse polish such as Griot's Polish3 or Prima Swirl using the same pad.

work the product in a circular motion until it is dry to the touch. there are diminishing abrasives in there so you need to make sure you work it in until all the abrasives are ground up nicely. wipe off with some quick detailer spray, inspect, redo as needed.

wax afterwards cause clay and polishes will remove wax/sealants.

Hey kenchan, honestly thats going a little over my head. Can I just try vinegar and water?
Someone told me to try (guy from Autozone) dishwasher soap and water, and I tried that on a little corner, it seemed to work but I had to wipe REAL HARD for them to go.

dont wipe anything REAL HARD on the nissan paint cause you will end up with damage to the paint. especially if you are wiping back and forth it will generate heat and cause permanent damage depending how deep the damage is.

vinegar and water does work. you will have to douce a towel and keep it on the paint for good 5min. keep spraying water over the towel so the vinegar does not evaporate....but it's A LOT of waiting... and it stinks. :icon14:

Wouldn't the stink go away if I put regular car wash soap on it after? I guess it is supposed to have a nicer smell?

Or should I just go to a detailer - I'm just worried because they may not know that the paint on the 370z is much sensitive than other cars they're used to working on..

yah, washing off the vinegar will definitely help. it gets into the seams and into the doors and channels so this is why the smell remains. since you dd your car im sure it will go away faster though.

try that first and if it still doesnt come off consult a local detailer.