Hi - I live in an area where there are a fair amount of minerals in the water. I prefer to handwash my car using Zymol car wash. When I am done washing, there are always dried mineral deposits that showcase themselves on my black 928-S4's paintjob. I have heard people say to use a chamois and to dry the car afterwards using the chamois, but my experience has been that the chamois gets saturated with water quickly and then I'm just sorta swirling all the water around on the car. It doesn't seem to work so well.

When I go to the spray wand style car washes or the laser wash drive thru washes (all touchless of course), I notice that the water quality at these places is no better than home.

So, what I'd like to know is if anyone out here on the rennlist has found a way to overcome this problem with water quality, and if so, could you give me a few tips on how to deal with this.

One final note: I am *not* interested in buying distilled or filtered water for my car. I love my car, but I draw the line at ridiculous measures. And for me, that is an impractical, ridiculous solution to a problem.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Rob <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

 

Before I dry my car, I remve the nozzle from the water hose, and rinse the car with slow running water. That eliminates most of the water bubbles right there, and saves a lot of drying time.

Then I use clean and soft terry towels - chamois or similar matierals have the tendency to also remove the wax.

 

Ditto Nicole. Keeping wax on really helps here, where we have extremely high sodium along w/ minerals
Donald

 

928 Specialists sell a large, very soft silicone squeegee that does an excellent job of removing the standing water, thus preventing water spots. You might also be able to find one locally, but be very cautious - there are some cheap, stiff ones out there, and I wouldn't want to use one of them on my car.

David uses the one that he sells on his show cars.

 

Use a ShopVac with a leaf blower attachment to blow it off. Works better than anything that comes into physical contact with the paint (blows water out of the cracks, no fine scratches, no wax removal).

 

Wally, if you have a link to that product at 928 Specialists, feel free to add it to your post. Sounds like just the thing we may be looking for.

 

David has decided that they sell far too many products to try to show tham all on the web site, and this silicone squeegee is one of the many that aren't shown.

Basically, you will have to call Jeannie at
(828) 766-9280 during East Coast business hours and tell her that you want one.

 

I'd guess it's probably kind of expensive to produce a catalog, but any chance of 928 Specialists coming out with one if all of their items aren't on the web page? From the sound of it, they're selling items that people would be interested in, but don't know they carry.

 

Great thread on a problem topic, especially for us owners of dark-colored cars.

Let me preface my response a little by sharing that I only have black cars. Tried other colors, but they are just as hard to keep clean. Why not enjoy the best?

When I added the 928 to the fleet of other black cars, it was pretty obvious that we needed to do something about the water spots. Too many cars to dry, too many spots. The compromise is a water softener. Takes most of the minerals out, and leaves the car a lot more black after the wash now. Seems that all but just-waxed paint has micro scratches and haze, and every one of those holds water long enough to crystalize the minerals out. Dropping the mineral content saved the day. A fringe benefit is that the shower is a lot easier to keep clean, since soap scum (calcium stearate) doesn't happen without (drum roll...) calcium. Use this as a tactic to sell the project to the SO.


On the squeegee-- the local Costco store sells a silicone squeegee branded as the "California Water Blade". Does make quick work of the big stuff on the car, but still takes a bit of chamois and turkish towel to get all the drops out. The original message states that the "chamois gets saturated with water quickly and then I'm just sorta swirling all the water around on the car." Consider wringing the water out.

A new chamois comes with a lot of the tanning oils still in the hide, so the logical first step is to wash the chamois in a mild detergent, rinse thoroughly, and then put it to work. Next time you go to use it, the leather will be stiff. Soak it in clear water until saturated, then wring it out thoroughly. Now, starting at the top of the car, drag the open chamois across the roof, and work your way down to the other panels. As the chamois gets a littl soaked, stop and wring it out. The idea behind the chamois is that it does absorb so much water, and it's soft, and easy to get a lot of the water out by wringing. When the chamois isn't getting thos last filmy bits off, hang it to dry.

After the chamois pass, try a final dry with some good clean cotton towels. Much as I hate to throw old bath towels away, I do, and then go find some inexpensive new bath towels on sale someplace. I think a $4 towel is fine, on sale at Linens-n-Things. Just make sure it's all cotton, and keep them clean. Afterthe chamois, the towel doesn't have much left to lift off the paint. Just make sure there's no water film left.

The car dries much faster when the wax is fresh. Big water beads are easier to lift than a sheet of water.

Resist the urge to use the fake chamois products. Not the same, don't dry as thoroughly, etc.

Black cars always get washed out of the sun. My neighbors think I'm a little crazy when I pull the cars into the garage for a bath, but so what. The floor gets washed this way too.

Be sure to get all the drops and spots from the door jams, edge of the hood, rear lid, etc.

 

Chamois!

Like Dr Bob said, chamois have a lot of tanning oil still in and this makes it VERY difficult to dry your car. The chamois seems to stick to the surface so hard you cannot remove it!

As he said, chamois need to be washed with a mild detergent several times before they work right. Frankly, I like to call it "breaking in" a new chamois. My technique is a bit strange, but effective. I take it in the shower with me for a few days and wash it with baby shampoo! 3-4 washes and THOROUGH rinses later, it is ready to work.

One more technique that I employ to combat water spots is to always wash my car at night, preferably just after sundown when there is no direct sunlight. This is very important, as the drops can, in the right circumstances, act as lenses and focus the sunlight into a tiny point which will burn the finish. Also, sunlight tends to dry the water before the chamois has a chance to remove it.

-It is just my technique, but I do not use soap on my car unless I am about to wax it. I think the detergent removes the fine film of oil that your wax deposites to protect the finish and can lead to drying/sun damage. I wash the car with nothing but my finger over the hose end and a soft shaggy mit- one mit for the wheels and lower [read: very dirty] section, and one mit for the higher sections.

I also prefer some tunes and a beer nearby too--

Normy!

 

Wow... thank you all for the excellent advice.

So, here's what I got out of it..

1. Check out the squigee device at 928 International
2. Use Wax (I do - Zymol Carbon Wax)
3. Consider a water softener for my house
4. Use low pressure water for final rinse - no nozzle attachment
5. Clean and rinse the chamois before using
several times to remove the oil
6. Use only the real chamois products, accept
no imitations! (-:
7. Wash after sunset
8. 100% cotton towels
9. Dirty mitt for dirty stuff, clean mitt for topside (clean stuff)
10. Use a leaf blower to blow the water off (good idea Ron!)

You folks are the best... you make light work of a touch problem. Thank you.

 

There is a difference between 928 Specialists and 928 International.

 

I use a thing called "The Absorber" which is a synthetic chamois kind of thing. It works great and doesn't leave water spots. I used it when I washed the 928 yesterday. Then I use compressed air to blow out the side mirrors, fog/driving lights, rear spoiler, misc nooks and crannies.

Bryan

 

I have to say that of all the ideas given, I think the Water Softener is the best. If you don't want to plumb the whole house with soft water (and I can't think of a reason you wouldn't want to) then just get a little cheap one for washing the car. You will notice the difference immediately. Ever since I got one for my house, water spots have become a thing of the past.