Stephen Porter

Hi again,

My current dilemma about getting my car washed brings up a question about how well those gizmos that you attach to a regular hose and then rinse your car with work? Is there one or the other that the pro detailers here recommend? Do they even work? Having one of those would ease the burden of washing the car myself by about 1/2--if they work as advertised: just "rinse & go"!

TIA for input.

TOGWT

As with most things you get what you pay for, the hose attachment filters they work up to a point (that point is not the total elimination of water marks though)

The system that I’m familiar with that will provide zero water marks (subject to filter maintenance, changing, etc) is the CRSpotless system (I believe MoMistry is a supplier)

The CR Spotless DI100WM provides approximately 100 gallons of mineral-free, de-ionized water based on your water input quality. It consists of two 10-inch de-ionization housings that feature replaceable cartridges that simply slide into the watertight tubes. This unit can be mounted next to your hose bib and comes with pre-drilled mounting holes.

The unit has a water purity indicator light that, when plugged into any normal (I would advice the use of a TFI) AC outlet, illuminates when the de-ionization resin is still active, when the light no longer activates, it's time to replace the resin. (Includes two 10-inch cartridges, unit weight 30 Lbs.- http://www.crspotless.com/index

cdodkin

TOGWT - given that you can use the nozzle-less sheeting rinse method when doing the final rinse of the car - is a spotless rinse system really necessary?

Here in SoCal, I get so little water left after the final 'smooth' rinse, that I can remove it all in 2 minutes without spotting - even with hard water on a black car.

Seems a lot of money to spend if you can use free techniques to achieve the same goal?

Or am I missing something about the application?

TOGWT

Dependant upon initial water quality, in FL the water quality is pretty bad (lime) along with heat it dries with water marks (spotting) even sheeting to ‘dry’ the surface. In London the water quality is good/fair so no problems with spotting

For a professional it would be nice to wash and not worry about getting the surface completely dry (allowing 'time' for other things)

MoeMistry

The CR Spotless is a great unit for the DIY detailer. It truely does work and the results are short of astonishing. In SoCal, I've found the readings of water to vary from 200 ppm to almost 800 ppm. The CR Spotless, and other units, are limited to the PPM readings going in. You can expect to get anywhere from 500-100 gallons of DI water. Once the unit's output reads over 30, you need to change the resin. Very simple to use and a lot of fun. When I'm busy but my truck is dirty, I simpply wash the whole truck and then do the final rinse with CR and park it outside. In the morning, the truck is dry and spot free. The glass, chrome on wheels and front grill, etc. are spot free. Really a time saver.

MoeMistry

I use to not believe in DI, I used soft water filtration before, and thought it wasn't really much of a difference. Once you use it, you won't do it any other way. It just saves a lot of time by you not having to wipe down windows, polish the tips of exhausts, no spots or light water streaks on chrome, etc. In the door jams and along the seams of the hood and trunk will only have the dust or dirt accumulated from the driving since the last wash. My detailing routine usually callls to do those areas last. If I'm polishing or waxing, the nooks and crannies are usually dry and spotted by the time I've finished polishing and waxing if I used soft water. By using the DI, all you have in the jams is the dirt, and any dust from the polish. A QD and microfiber will take care of that. Just a different way of washing and rinsing I guess. I just recently started using DI, so it's not like you absolutely need it; it's just another way of making the job easier so you can use your time wisely elswhere on the car.

RallyJon

Is the Griot's in-line softener similar in function to the CR Spotless (other than being smaller)?

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....1001&SKU=37244

ekeeton

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but the way I understand it, water softeners, like Griot's, replace the calcium and magnesium ions (which make the water "hard") with sodium ions. De-ionizer units, like CR Spotless, get rid of the ions altogether. (At least to a minimal level.)

With a water softener, you still have dissolved mineral salts in the water which will leave spots when the water dries. De-ionized water has virtually no minerals so no spots.

MoeMistry

EXCELLENT RESPONSE!!! DI systems are spot-free. Soft water merely removes the hard particles but you still get spots when dry. As far as I know, DI systems are the only true spot-free systems.