Learned a Difficult Lesson

Rob Tomlin

Rob Tomlin

Lotus Exige S
I learned a difficult lesson last week. Actually, I think it was more a case of just not thinking things through than it was learning something new.



Last week it rained like crazy here in SoCal. I had to drive to the desert, which is known for flash floods. Sure enough, I had to cross over numerous areas that had mud washed over the road. It was up to 7-8 inches deep in some parts.



Needless to say my car was a huge mess, with mud and dirt all over it. A car going the opposite direction also shot mud across my entire car.



When I got home, I decided that it would be a good idea to take the hose and spray as much mud off the car as I could. It was still pouring rain when I did this. When I was done hosing off as much mud as I could with just the pressure of the hose (I didn't use a sponge/mitt or soap), I pulled the car in the garage and left it as it was...which was wet.



Now, like I said, it had been raining for several days straight, and I had left my car in the garage soaking wet in our previous rain storms without issue. When I would wash the car, it would come out looking great.



This weekend I washed my car for the first time since the rain storm and the water rinse to get the mud off. UGH!



I had water spots/etching throughout the paint! All over the entire car! I was confused at first, and very disappointed that my wax didn't hold up better than this. Then I realized that this was actually my fault. Why? Because I have HARD WATER. I know I have hard water, but I failed to take this into consideration when I made the stupid decision to simply hose off the mud on my car without drying it and getting the hard water off.



I would have been better off just leaving the mud on the car until I got the chance to do a proper wash than to do what I did.



The etching/water spots would not come out with washing or with a follow up of QD.



Now I find myself needing to polish the entire car (and probably clay it) again, after just having done so last month. :sosad



Bad decision. Lesson learned.
 
Thanks for sharing Rob. I'm wondering if people with water softeners did the same if it would leave spots replacing calcium and the other minerals with sodium/potassium.



I'm certainly going to go to the trouble/expense of hooking up the CRSpotless to rinse it.



Unless I hear otherwise from soft water owners, I'll leave my mud as well.
 
Rob, that is a Cadillac problem as they say. Poor baby! You had some rain. :D:D:D:D:D:D :funnypost:funnypost:funnypost



You should see my car sitting out 24/7 in the rain with no protection on it.
 
after you hosed off the mud , you should have put it back in the rain to wash off the hard water.

Its supposed to rain tomorrow.
 
I've done something similar but not as bad. I had jut finished giving my DD a spring clean-up when an evening shower hit. I thought to myself, what's worse-beading rain droplets drying in the morning OR can I run the hoze with no nozzle (flood) where most of the water should sheet off vs the beading.



Well, it seemed like the sheeting was a better option but I found out the next day that the small amount of water that didn't sheet off left some nasty water spots.
 
jb1 said:
Thanks for sharing Rob. I'm wondering if people with water softeners did the same if it would leave spots replacing calcium and the other minerals with sodium/potassium.



I'm certainly going to go to the trouble/expense of hooking up the CRSpotless to rinse it.



Unless I hear otherwise from soft water owners, I'll leave my mud as well.
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Yeah, something like the CRSpotless would have prevented this.



tdekany said:
Rob, that is a Cadillac problem as they say. Poor baby! You had some rain. :D:D:D:D:D:D :funnypost:funnypost:funnypost



You should see my car sitting out 24/7 in the rain with no protection on it.
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That would be better than what I did!
 
zoraduntov said:
after you hosed off the mud , you should have put it back in the rain to wash off the hard water.

Its supposed to rain tomorrow.
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Exactly. That would have been better. Like I said, I basically completely forgot to even consider the fact that I had such hard water. I almost always wash with ONR now, so I had forgot how hard my water is since it had been so long since I had used a hose.



dublifecrisis said:
I've done something similar but not as bad. I had jut finished giving my DD a spring clean-up when an evening shower hit. I thought to myself, what's worse-beading rain droplets drying in the morning OR can I run the hoze with no nozzle (flood) where most of the water should sheet off vs the beading.



Well, it seemed like the sheeting was a better option but I found out the next day that the small amount of water that didn't sheet off left some nasty water spots.
Click to expand...



Interesting. That is a close call, but after what I went through here, I would go with leaving the beads of rainwater on the car.
 
craigdt said:
What LSP did you have on at the time?
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Several different ones (been experimenting with lsp's). NONE of them held up to the hard water. There was no noticeable difference in the spotting, and no areas came off better than others.



I had Dodo Supernatural, Colly IW 845, Natty's Red, and Victoria's Chaos on different areas of the car.
 
Sorry to hear that. Did this happen on the Exige?



I wash my car with filtered soft water. I usually rinse my cars and have no problem with calcium etching. The only water spots I get are from the stuck on dirt, not water deposits. Depending on the severity of hard water in your area, a water softner may not completely remove all the mineral content from the water. The brands and age of water softner also determine how much mineral is removed. Your results may vary.



It's probably better to leave the mud on until you get to wash and dry the car properly, I guess.
 
We don't drink our water here, we CHEW it, it's so hard. LOL I have gotten water spots from sprinklers with even two fresh and even coats of M21 2.0.



What I'm wondering is why did you take the Exige knowing about the flash floods out in the desert, or maybe it was another car?
 
lol.



No guys, it wasn't the Exige! The Exige has never seen a drop of rain, and probably never will.



This was on my yellow Mazda Protege 5.
 
Rob Tomlin- Are you sure the finish is actually *etched*? Maybe you could resolve a lot of the problem with an acidic decontamination process. I'd probably decontaminate it before resorting to abrasive polishing, maybe you'll get lucky.



jb1 said:
.. I'm wondering if people with water softeners did the same if it would leave spots replacing calcium and the other minerals with sodium/potassium..
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My experiences are similar to those of the_invisible; the calcium/potassium deposits left by softened water aren't *NEARLY* as big a deal, and almost always wipe off quite easily with some (moderately potent with regard to cleaning) QD. But it's almost certainly gonna depend on the water as IIRC ion-exchange softeners replace one thing with another and the amount of that "one thing" is probably significant.



I have some too-nasty-to-remove etching on the A8 from some awful TN municipal water (long story involving in-laws :rolleyes: ) and the deposits left by soft water are nothing like that.



But yeah, in the absence of a CRS/etc. it's best to just leave things alone until you can do a regular wash.
 
Accumulator said:
Rob Tomlin- Are you sure the finish is actually *etched*? Maybe you could resolve a lot of the problem with an acidic decontamination process. I'd probably decontaminate it before resorting to abrasive polishing, maybe you'll get lucky.
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Can you be more specific? What exactly do you mean by "acidic decontamination process"?
 
Accumulator is on the right track as usual.



FK1 USA's Steel/iron/rust remover (step 2 of the decont. system). Is a similar product that works well for dissolving mineral deposits.



The whole decont. line is good, but I've never found a need for anything but the 2nd step. Wash the car, use the acid, re-rinse w/soap and then rinse with plenty of clear water.
 
mblgjr said:
..The whole decont. line is good, but I've never found a need for anything but the 2nd step. Wash the car, use the acid, re-rinse w/soap and then rinse with plenty of clear water.
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Heh heh, whereas I usually only need the *first* step :D The FK1119 (I think that's the right number) is nasty-smelling stuff, but it sure does get things squeeky-clean.
 
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