Water Spots

[titchy]

So I washed my car last night. I first covered it with Avalanche snow foam, rinsed off and washed with Meguiars NXT 2.0 shampoo, so all decent stuff, and still there are water spots all over my car, particularly on the bonnet and roof. Maybe I didn't do a good enough job of washing it but how do I get rid of them now? Is the only way to polish it because I'm reluctant to do that given that I've only had wax on for a fortnight.

[Booth11]

If you have hard water, the key to minimising water spots (aside from using a water filter as I do) is to get the car dried off as soon as posibble, especially if it is in direct sunlight which will dry water spots on very quickly.  To aid faster drying, leaving the minimum amount of water on the car at the rinse stage, make sure the final rinse is done with an open ended hose. rinsing from roof down.  This is an important step and will  makes the water sheet of the car and that means less standing water on the car to dry off as opposed to a spray rinse which leaves lots of droplets all over the car, each one a potential water spot. 

Before I got a water filter, in summer I used to rinse a few panels at a time then towel dry, starting with those panel in the sun.  Takes longer but does reduce the risk of water marks.

To get rid of the ones on your car, first give it another wash, open ended rinse and towel dry as quickly (but carefully) as you can.  Also look at a product such as CarPro Spotless which can be applied to reduce/rid water spots.  Additionally you might want to think anout using a rinse/dry aid product such as DoDo Juice Time to Dry which speeds up the drying process.

Unfortunately very stubborn water marks may need to be polished out if another wash and the suggestions above don't work.

[titchy]

If you have hard water, the key to minimising water spots (aside from using a water filter as I do) is to get the car dried off as soon as posibble, especially if it is in direct sunlight which will dry water spots on very quickly.  To aid faster drying, leaving the minimum amount of water on the car at the rinse stage, make sure the final rinse is done with an open ended hose. rinsing from roof down.  This is an important step and will  makes the water sheet of the car and that means less standing water on the car to dry off as opposed to a spray rinse which leaves lots of droplets all over the car, each one a potential water spot. 

Before I got a water filter, in summer I used to rinse a few panels at a time then towel dry, starting with those panel in the sun.  Takes longer but does reduce the risk of water marks.

To get rid of the ones on your car, first give it another wash, open ended rinse and towel dry as quickly (but carefully) as you can.  Also look at a product such as CarPro Eraser which can be applied to reduce/rid water spots.  Additionally you might want to think anout using a rinse/dry aid product such as DoDo Juice Time to Dry which speeds up the drying process.

Unfortunately very stubborn water marks may need to be polished out if another wash and the suggestions above don't work.

Maybe I should have explained how the water marks appeared in the first place. It's nothing to do with the drying stage. Both my place of work and home are quite dusty as there is building work nearby. Earlier this week it pee'd it down and as my car is waxed the droplets formed and stayed on my roof and bonnet. Then the weather improved and it dried. I remember going to my car that night and there were dusty water spots all over my car.

I washed it last night in cool, overcast conditions and used the techniques you stated, dried it instantly with a microfiber towel etc. so I can't really do anything to improve that and as I say the spots weren't caused by my washing/drying technique anyway.

Darn it. I haven't got the time to wash it again so will have to wait until one night next week and hope that I can give it a more thorough wash. Just reluctant to go through the polishing and waxing stage all over again so soon after I've done it. Plus it's just as likely to happen again. 

[titchy]

Is a rapid detailer such as Auto Glym Rapid Detailer likely to have any effect? It's only really the bonnet and roof that are affected so it'd be a lot quicker than having to wash the whole car again.

[Booth11]

Those are not 'water spots' - water spots are formed from the lime in the water and are very difficult to remove as thy etch the paint.   From your description, if they are just a combination of dust mixed with rainwater (which is soft without lime) then another wash will bring them off.  Where there is dust in the air and then it rains you will find that on a waxed car, where the rain beads on the car, because it has dust captured in it, when the rain dries just the dust spots are left behind - this is only temporary until the next wash.

You could use a quick detailer in the interim if you don't have time to do a wash.  However I would urge caution as you will essentially be rubbing the dust into the paintwork.  It's not something I would recommend in this case. A full wash is the better way to get rid of them, but you will probably get them again when it next rains if the air is dusty.  Sadly just the way it is if you are parked in a dusty environment.  Ironically this is where wax actually works against you because of the water beading you get, which is normally welcome but not so much when there is a lot of dust present in the air.   

When we had the Sahara sand/dust in the atmosphere here last year - the same problem occurred every time it rained. Rain captured the dust, beaded on cars (especially well waxed ones), when dry, dust remains on the car - little you can do about it.    Have a look at the pics in this thread for how it settles on a waxed car.

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=273473.0
 

[titchy]

Those are not 'water spots' - water spots are formed from the lime in the water and are very difficult to remove as thy etch the paint.   From your description, if they are just a combination of dust mixed with rainwater (which is soft without lime) then another wash will bring them off.  Where there is dust in the air and then it rains you will find that on a waxed car, where the rain beads on the car, because it has dust captured in it, when the rain dries just the dust spots are left behind - this is only temporary until the next wash.

You could use a quick detailer in the interim if you don't have time to do a wash.  However I would urge caution as you will essentially be rubbing the dust into the paintwork.  It's not something I would recommend in this case. A full wash is the better way to get rid of them, but you will probably get them again when it next rains if the air is dusty.  Sadly just the way it is if you are parked in a dusty environment.  Ironically this is where wax actually works against you because of the water beading you get, which is normally welcome but not so much when there is a lot of dust present in the air.   

When we had the Sahara sand/dust in the atmosphere here last year - the same problem occurred every time it rained. Rain captured the dust, beaded on cars (especially well waxed ones), when dry, dust remains on the car - little you can do about it.    Have a look at the pics in this thread for how it settles on a waxed car.

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=273473.0

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

I can only see the photo of the mk2 in that thread. Mine are like that, but no longer have the dust embedded in them.

I noticed last night as I was cleaning the back window cos I had a spare 5 minutes, that it too is covered in them. They're no longer dusty, just look like water spots. I tried cleaning them off with a household glass cleaner before going over it with Auto Glym Fast Glass but they're stubborn futhermuckers. I'm not sure a regular shampoo wash will get rid of them. They're not that noticeable until you get up close, but it's bugging me. It is 100% caused by rain as I don't leave water on the car after washing long enough.

[Booth11]

There are some pics of mk6 just after the mk2 in that thread, but no matter.

Something very similar came up on the vwroc forum yesterday.  A member describing marks possibly left by rain.  As with yours, first thoughts were water marks left from a wash, but it seems not.  Have a read

http://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/13422-help-needed/

If not caused by hard water, then must be something carried in the rain and interesting that someone else experiencing similar. As in that linked thread, would suggest a decontamination of the car to see if that gets rid of the marks.

[titchy]

There are some pics of mk6 just after the mk2 in that thread, but no matter.

Something very similar came up on the vwroc forum yesterday.  A member describing marks possibly left by rain.  As with yours, first thoughts were water marks left from a wash, but it seems not.  Have a read

http://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/13422-help-needed/

If not caused by hard water, then must be something carried in the rain and interesting that someone else experiencing similar. As in that linked thread, would suggest a decontamination of the car to see if that gets rid of the marks.

I have some Iron Out in the garage so I'll try that for nowt (as we say in these parts).

If that fails I'll try the clay bar and polish.