Water spots and sealant observations

Bill220

New member
Last week I had to drive my garage queen Mustang in the salt and slop of South Western PA. Over the course the three days I drove it, the car became covered with salt, dirt etc. I usually wash with ONR Rinseless without a pre rinse but didn't feel comfortable doing that this time because the car was really dirty. So, off I went to the quarter car wash where I proceeded to blast off what I could with the pressure washer (hot water only, no soap). It got some of the crud off but not as much as I expected. I then drove the ½ mile back to my house and parked the car in my garage. I got a call from a client (work from home) and had to attend to some business, which meant that I didn't dry the car right away.



I went down to the garage some time later and found that all of the horizontal surfaces were covered with water spots. First thing I did was wash with ONR Rinseless and very hot water. The spots remained. I have some CG Waterspot remover but wasn't able to use it because it was too cold outside to run the hose. So I jumped on here and another forum and searched. To no avail I tried vinegar/distilled water. I also read that claying the paint should take them out but then I'd have to polish anyway so I opted to skip the clay and lightly polish with M205 and a white LC pad. It worked and worked well.



I need to drive the car briefly today (sunny and clear), don't have time to apply Blacklight and Lava, so I used CG V7 Spray Sealant on the freshly polished areas. I was amazed at how great the paint looked from using only the V7. The V7 only panels look just as good as the rest of the car that I had previously sealed with Blacklight & Lava only a few weeks ago.



If the Blacklight/Lava isn't going to protect from water spots, make it easier to spray off dirt with a pressure washer and doesn't make the car look any better than V7 alone, then why even bother sealing or waxing? Has anyone ever done this or thought about doing this? My car is never parked outside overnight, isn't exposed to pollution fallout and is washed regularly (probably too much) and I use V7 after wash.
 
Certain sealants are much more prone to hardwater spots. I'm surprised the vinegar didn't remove it though, did you use straight white distilled vinegar and let it soak for a bit? Real carnauba waxes seem to be much less prone to hardwater and acid rain spotting for me.
 
Dan said:
Certain sealants are much more prone to hardwater spots. I'm surprised the vinegar didn't remove it though, did you use straight white distilled vinegar and let it soak for a bit? Real carnauba waxes seem to be much less prone to hardwater and acid rain spotting for me.



I used about a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and distilled water and I did let it soak. The water in my area is horrible. I had a water spot problem before this one and the vinegar didn't work then, either. That's the main reason I switched to ONR. I can wash it in my garage, out of the sun and not worry about spots.



If I can get a great shine and slickness with V7 alone and I use it every time I wash the car, I don't see any reason to use anything else on the paint.
 
RaskyR1 said:
I have yet to see an LSP that won't spot if hard water is left on it....







just saying. :)



I understand but if the underlying products (Blacklight/lava) don't prevent spotting then why not just use the spray sealant/LSP and save a lot of time and money?





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Bill220 said:
I understand but if the underlying products (Blacklight/lava) don't prevent spotting then why not just use the spray sealant/LSP and save a lot of time and money?





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Valid point. :)



They could protect better against some other things though..





I am noticing a trend of more new products that are easier to use and take little to no time to apply.
 
No problems with waterspots on the following: Collinite 845, Collinite 476S, FK1000P, KSG. Of course, YMMV and all that...



Nasty water burned right through M16 and etched the [crap] out of my wife's A8. Years later it still bugs me, but it'd take some serious wetsanding to fix it and I dunno how I could ever fix the plastic "B" pillars (yeah, it etched them too).



Much worse than the M16, the "looks" sealants I've used (BF and UPP) offer virtually zero protection against spotting/etching. But the "durability" LSPs I've listed above are a whole 'nother story and I don't worry about much of anything when those are on the vehicle.
 
RaskyR1 said:
Valid point. :)



They could protect better against some other things though..





I am noticing a trend of more new products that are easier to use and take little to no time to apply.



Until recently, all I've ever used is stuff you can get at the parts store, so most of the products on here and other sites are new to me.



Dan said:



Very interesting test!



pwaug said:
I've had good luck with DG 105 minimizing water spotting here in SW PA.



I liked the V7 so much that I bought an entire gallon of it so I'll be using it for quite a while yet. But I will check out the DG 105.



It was my own fault that I got the spots in the first place but I'm really disappointed that 3 expensive layers of supposed protection did nothing.
 
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