Why am I getting these water spots?

J

Jayfro

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I’ve noticed the last couple of times that I’ve washed my car with Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo that I’m getting these dark water spots.

When washing, the car has been in the shade, mild temps (around the 60’s), using approximately 4 gallons of water with just under one ounce of product, and using ten to twelve Forrest Green MF towels. After washing, I use a leaf blower to blow off the excess water and followed by a MF drying towel, the amount of time between washing and using the blower is anywhere between one to three minutes and from blower to towel is about one to two minutes.

To remove spots, I have to either go over it again with a towel with much harder pressure a couple of times or using Pinnacle Crystal Mist.

Any ideas?

Thank you
Jay
ecd70b56e912df421bcdfc070a5394e7.jpg



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Looks like water is drying on the vehicle and leaving spots. With the environmental conditions you've described, as well as your speedy drying process, I can't imagine why they are drying on the vehicle so quickly. You may want to try doing a flood rinse to remove most of the water from the vehicle prior to doing your "blow dry" phase. Also, while using the blower, only focus on removing water from crevices and between body panels, mirror housings, etc. and mop up the rest of the water with a good quick detailer or your favorite drying aid and you should have no issues with spotting.
 
Yes definitely looks like water drying but I suspect it’s from between washes. After a rainfall and the water spots dry, or morning dew that’s dried as the day warms up. The dew or raindrops likely contain some level of fallout, chemicals, dust and/or minerals, which is left behind once the water evaporates.




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Your water is hard..lived in Texas for over 10 years.

Washing in the shade is fine, but if you've been driving all day in the sun and then immediately begin to wash, the surface is still hot.

Like suggested, trying using a drying aid.
 
I have hard water as well and deal with the same challenges. Now I wash 90% of the time with Optimum No Rinse. What a game changer!
 
Thank you for all the comments. It's probably a combination of the car being warm and of course hard water! When I started washing the car, the sun had just gone behind the house across the street so it was probably still warm but not scorching hot but obviously warm enough to cause the spotting...never thought about that! I meant to put a cap full of ONR in the wash to help combat the hard water but for some reason I didn't...next time I will!

Has anyone had any experience with Optimum Car Wash, not ONR? Acura's have very soft paint so I try to do RW sparingly but when it rains during the week I try to do a 2 BM Wash instead of RW. I currently use Pinnacle RW just to keep the synergy of everything else on the car but I'm starting to look at other alternatives than their RW and normal Shampoo.

Again, thank you for the comments.

Jay
 
I've tried adding a cap of ONR to my bucket wash to help combat hard water but I quickly learned that the real problem is with the rinse water. The wash water is usually already conditioned from the soap. Just wanted you to know that if you have hard water for rinsing then you'll always be battling that problem regardless of your wash water.
 
Jayfro said:
Thank you for all the comments. It's probably a combination of the car being warm and of course hard water! When I started washing the car, the sun had just gone behind the house across the street so it was probably still warm but not scorching hot but obviously warm enough to cause the spotting...never thought about that! I meant to put a cap full of ONR in the wash to help combat the hard water but for some reason I didn't...next time I will!

Has anyone had any experience with Optimum Car Wash, not ONR? Acura's have very soft paint so I try to do RW sparingly but when it rains during the week I try to do a 2 BM Wash instead of RW. I currently use Pinnacle RW just to keep the synergy of everything else on the car but I'm starting to look at other alternatives than their RW and normal Shampoo.

Again, thank you for the comments.

Jay
Click to expand...

I have and use Optimum CW. It is a very good, clean rinsing car soap.

And about the ONR in the wash bucket: I too had this brilliant idea years back. (Hey! I can add a little ONR to soften the water and have the best of both worlds!)

Well, I immediately found out what the flaw in my plan was: The ONR (by nature) knocks the hell out the suds of a car soap.
I essentially made just a "souped-up" bucket of rinseless wash. ;)
 
If your rinse water is hard, you could always get a 3 gallon pump-up sprayer and fill it with distilled water to use as a "final rinse" before drying. I did this for a while when we were living in an apartment waiting for our house to be built.
 
Hi everyone,

I am having this same issue BADLY, but it's not because I'm trying to wash and not have to dry, it's because the soapy water is drying before I can get to it with a wash mitt and then rinse it off.

I am washing/rinsing/drying in the shade on "cool to the touch" cars and am fighting water spots on the paint and glass all the time.

I am filling my mobile detailing water tank with water from my home (which is well water) but it is going through the in-home water filter before coming out of the hose.

It is not cost effective for me to buy 50 gal. of distilled water at the store every day for my business and I want to believe that there is something else I can do other than spend $400 on a mobile deionizer.

Someone please help me! This is driving me crazy!
 
I rinseless wash my car 75% of the time now, because of those kinds of issues. Got tired of dealing with wind, hard water, certain areas drying too fast etc.... With rinseless washing, I have so much more control over what I'm doing and the results I get are just fantastic. If my car gets horribly dirty for some reason (especially in winter) I drive to the coin wash and spray it off before rinseless washing in the garage. Or, I hose it off at home and rinseless wash in the garage.
 
damonb10 said:
I rinseless wash my car 75% of the time now, because of those kinds of issues. Got tired of dealing with wind, hard water, certain areas drying too fast etc.... With rinseless washing, I have so much more control over what I'm doing and the results I get are just fantastic. If my car gets horribly dirty for some reason (especially in winter) I drive to the coin wash and spray it off before rinseless washing in the garage. Or, I hose it off at home and rinseless wash in the garage.
Click to expand...

There’s something peaceful about knowing you can stop if someone needs something and not come back to a mess of water spots to remove.


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Finick said:
There’s something peaceful about knowing you can stop if someone needs something and not come back to a mess of water spots to remove.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Bingo! When my young daughter just has to show me something or play with me, then it is no big deal to step away and enjoy that :-) I can start washing the car, stop part way thru to eat lunch with my wife and daughter, and then go back out and finish up.
 
Rinseless car washing sounds like the way to go, but to be honest, I know nothing about it or how it works.

For those of your who do rinseless washing, would you mind sharing what you use and your technique (how it works)? I realize that I can google this, but figured I would get better and more reliable information from you guys.

Anything you can share with me on this subject would be much appreciated!

Cheers!
 
My process is spelled out below and keep in mind I wash my car about once every 1-2 weeks thru all seasons (including Minnesota winters).
1. If car is extremely dirty (usually after bad run of weather in the winter), I'll do a quick spray down at the coin-op and then drive the car home wet. Otherwise, skip to step 2.
2. I use Optimum No Rinse (ONR). I mix about 3 gallons of rinseless solution.
3. For wash media, I use 4-6 Rag Company "Creature" towels. Throw them all in the rinseless solution bucket.
4. I always use a small pump sprayer (Solo brand). I dunk the small sprayer container in the rinseless bucket to fill it up.
5. I have on-hand and use Meguiars Synthetic Xpress Spray wax as a drying aid or Meguiars Last Touch detailer as a drying aid.
6. I'm now ready to start washing. I pick a panel or section and first spray a light amount of ONR on the surface I'm going to wash with the pump sprayer.
7. Then I grab a towel that was soaking in the bucket and proceed to wipe/wash the panel. The first time you do this you will be paranoid about scratching, but will learn quickly just how well this works. If I washed my section and I didn't use all 4 sides of the Creature towel, then I hang the towel on the edge of an empty bucket (this bucket used for ringing out the used up towels before I throw them on a hanging line to dry).
8. Then I grab my drying aid and lightly spray the washed panel.
9. Then I dry the panel with a twist loop towel such as Griot's PFM towels or Rag Company Double Twistress, etc.... Note that I'm not aiming for 100% dry here - only 90-95% dry.
10. Last step, I take a buffing towel, such as Rag Company's Eagle Edgeless and give the panel a final buff and that dries any last drops here and there.
11. After I washed all the panels, I do the wheels last. Usually a simple spray of ONR and wiping with dedicated wheel towels that are now in the bucket works for the wheels. Tires I sometimes pre-spray and scrub with APC then spray and wipe with towels in the ONR followed with a final drying of the wheels and tires with non-paint dedicated towels.

That is my process and I get fantastic results. It might seem like a lot of steps, but I'm just being detailed in what I laid out above. It actually goes pretty fast. The best part is I do this in the controlled environment of my garage.
 
damonb10: Thank you for your very detailed reply! This is great info!

In your opinion, would this process be cost effective for a mobile detailer? I have heard of detailers that use this method, but thought I would get your opinion as well.

I guess my last question would be how dirty (or what kind of dirty) can a car be to safely perform this process without pressure washing it beforehand?

Thanks again for all of the details about your process. It is a tremendous help!
 
JJackson1313 said:
damonb10: Thank you for your very detailed reply! This is great info!

In your opinion, would this process be cost effective for a mobile detailer? I have heard of detailers that use this method, but thought I would get your opinion as well.

I guess my last question would be how dirty (or what kind of dirty) can a car be to safely perform this process without pressure washing it beforehand?

Thanks again for all of the details about your process. It is a tremendous help!
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that I'm not a paid detailer. Just a weekend warrior.

That was just my process that works awesome for me. I did learn how to do all of that by reading about what other detailers do here and watching some of the "youtubers." The professionals here should be able to give you better guidance on being most efficient and effective as a mobile detailer.

One last comment I would add is that I'm very surprised just how effective rinseless washing can be, even for vehicles that are pretty soiled.
 
damonb10 said:
My process is spelled out below and keep in mind I wash my car about once every 1-2 weeks thru all seasons (including Minnesota winters).
1. If car is extremely dirty (usually after bad run of weather in the winter), I'll do a quick spray down at the coin-op and then drive the car home wet. Otherwise, skip to step 2.
2. I use Optimum No Rinse (ONR). I mix about 3 gallons of rinseless solution.
3. For wash media, I use 4-6 Rag Company "Creature" towels. Throw them all in the rinseless solution bucket.
4. I always use a small pump sprayer (Solo brand). I dunk the small sprayer container in the rinseless bucket to fill it up.
5. I have on-hand and use Meguiars Synthetic Xpress Spray wax as a drying aid or Meguiars Last Touch detailer as a drying aid.
6. I'm now ready to start washing. I pick a panel or section and first spray a light amount of ONR on the surface I'm going to wash with the pump sprayer.
7. Then I grab a towel that was soaking in the bucket and proceed to wipe/wash the panel. The first time you do this you will be paranoid about scratching, but will learn quickly just how well this works. If I washed my section and I didn't use all 4 sides of the Creature towel, then I hang the towel on the edge of an empty bucket (this bucket used for ringing out the used up towels before I throw them on a hanging line to dry).
8. Then I grab my drying aid and lightly spray the washed panel.
9. Then I dry the panel with a twist loop towel such as Griot's PFM towels or Rag Company Double Twistress, etc.... Note that I'm not aiming for 100% dry here - only 90-95% dry.
10. Last step, I take a buffing towel, such as Rag Company's Eagle Edgeless and give the panel a final buff and that dries any last drops here and there.
11. After I washed all the panels, I do the wheels last. Usually a simple spray of ONR and wiping with dedicated wheel towels that are now in the bucket works for the wheels. Tires I sometimes pre-spray and scrub with APC then spray and wipe with towels in the ONR followed with a final drying of the wheels and tires with non-paint dedicated towels.

That is my process and I get fantastic results. It might seem like a lot of steps, but I'm just being detailed in what I laid out above. It actually goes pretty fast. The best part is I do this in the controlled environment of my garage.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much my method, just with a few different products.

Great post. :)
 
Rinse less wash is great for maintenance but... if a vehicle is really dirty then a contact wash is ideal. If I was to planning to polish the car afterward then a rinse less wash makes sense especially if one is in a water restricted state like CA.

Hard water is the source of most water spots issues providing one takes the usual precautions (shades, heat from the sun, cool car panels, etc). A water softener is best but it is $$$. Here are some tactics that I employ to minimize water spotting on black cars.. Not saying this is the best but it works for me.

If your power washer can siphon from a water tank ... add some ONR to the tank just for rinsing but set up your soap bucket without ONR first.

Instead of soaping up the entire car... do a section at a time then rinse off.

After rinsing off a section, mist the entire car lightly to keep all panels moist until you are ready to dry. This is easy to do if you have a power washer. Just aim the washer about 2 to 3 feet above the vehicle.

As a side note... I noticed the foam from a foam lance dont dry up as quick as soup from a bucket. When I use a foam lance, I dont use the soap bucket but I would still do one section at a time (the section tends to be much larger versus if I was using soup from a bucket). I would still keep the entire car moist until I am ready to dry. To be fair, I do have a water filter and softener but I still employ the same tactic when I am dealing with with a dark color vehicle.

I am sure others might have a different approach and I am always open to learn.
 
psnt1ol: Thanks for the info.

You mentioned that you have a water filter and softener. What ones do you use? I'm open to purchasing these in order to eliminate my water spot issue. It is really driving me crazy!

I would love to be able to reduce my water consumption, however, the quality of my work is more important to me, so however I can eliminate water spots I'm open to exploring. Now being a small business, I don't have much money to spend right now, so I can't go out and buy the best water filter and softener, but hope I can find something that is affordable and effective.

I have seen people online that are using RV water filters that they can hook up to the water hose. They are much more cost effective than the professional filters I am seeing for mobile car detailing. What are your thoughts about that? Would that be effective?

Also, I feel like an idiot asking about this, but I have also tried washing one panel at a time with my foam gun. I have also tried the two bucket method and am finding myself chasing my tail. As you mentioned, I am continuously spraying the car with water to keep it wet, I am working under a canopy and using canopy panels to block the sun from coming in from the side, but since I am the only one working on the vehicle, I am finding that the soapy water is till drying faster than I can get to it. Keep in mind the weather here is still very cool (between 40-55 degrees). When we start getting into the warmer weather, the soapy water will be drying even faster. UGH!

Thanks again for your help.
 
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