Hey guys....this is somewhat embarassing since I detail cars, but my Evo recently got a bath from some sprinklers and for some reason I can't get the damn hard water spots to come off. I've waxed it twice, used a light rubbing compound, and even tried some clay....nothing is working. Any ideas or tricks? Thanks!

 

I know exactly what you're talking about, but I would think that just scrubbing it with soap and water would be enough... If it's that bad, maybe you should take a buffer and try that. If it still won't clean off, I think your problem is not hard water, but something else.

 

Yeah i took an orbital buffer to it with a very light rubbing compound....it didn;t work very well....i think my buffer isn;t getting enough pressure down to get it off....the cleaner wax i used seemed to help too, but in certain light you can still see where the water was.

 

ahhh you sealed it with the WAX!!! Your screwed. You should have washed the car thouroughly than use a clay bar. Same thing happened to me a few months back. but I got them out. Also depends on how long your car was sitting in the sun with the spots. That can really do some damage because hard water etches the factory paint. Good luck I hope you get them off.

 

pee on it

 

nah i didn;t rewax it....i used rubbing compound that doesn;t contain wax or silicone.....i think i just need to take it to a body shop and have them buff the crap out of it...the spot on showed up on the hood, roof, and trunk....where the water sits. It sat in the sun for like a day while I was at the Indy 500....some stupid sprinklers got it while I was gone.

 

lol pee on it?

 

city water or well pump

well pump water causes my driveway to be yellowish

dont know what effects it could do to a car

 

killa... please don't take me seriously when i say pee on it...

although... **** is acidic... i wonder if it's strong enough to take off those spots...

 

lol i know you weren't being serious....i was going to try vinegar....that only works on glass though

it was city water by the way

 

An orbital buffer is definitely not powerful enough to remove hard water spots. You'll most likely need to upgrade to a more powerful machine polisher such as a Porter Cable unit. Worst case scenario is using a rotary if the spots are realy etched in the paint.

Here is some good info from Meguiars:

There are two kinds of water spots,

1) Above Surface Mineral Deposits
2) Below Surface Water Spot Etchings


Type I Water Spots

Type I Water Spots are what Meguiar's refers to as Above Surface Bonded Contaminants. A Type I water spot is some type of deposit, often times a mineral deposit that was in the water source, sitting on top of the surface.

If you have Type I water spots, you can use either a clay bar or a paint cleaner like ScratchX by hand. Clay bars are for removing above surface defects and will typically do a good job of remove Type I water spots/deposits from off the surface. Sometimes you may have to follow the claying process with a paint cleaner like ScratchX to completely remove all traces of where the mineral deposits attached to the finish.

Type I Water Spots






Type II Water Spots - Deposits on the surface
Type II Water Spots are what Meguiar's refers to as Below Surface Defects. A Type II Water Spot is actually an etching in the surface where whatever was in the water was strong enough in it's chemical composition to actually eat or dissolve the paint and thus etch into the paint.

If you Type II Water Spots, you can use a paint cleaner by hand such as ScratchX, or a machine applied product such as a compound, paint cleaner, or cleaner/polish to machine clean the finish, removing a small amount of paint in an effort to level, or smooth out the finish. The goal is to remove just enough paint to level the surface with the lowest depths of the defect.

Just to be clear, removing Type II Water Spots means removing paint. As such, you are limited as to how much paint you can remove. In some cases you may want to check with a seasoned professional for their advise before attempting to remove below surface defects like Type II Water Spots.


Type II Water Spots - Etchings below the surface

 

thanks for the info! I think i might just stop past the body shop and have them use their special buffers and compounds and what not

 

Go with the pros

 

Clay Bar
go pick one up at the auto parts store.

 

GOOD stuff bro......this should be added to the HOW-To section...its so well written...