I'm guessing here but I think I got hard water spots on the paint after a wash. We have city water, but when I wash it in the sun, and it dries before I can wipe it down, it lets nasty spots. The only way I can get them out is to wax it again.

My question is I bought a water filter with a cartridge in it. The guy at Lowes says it will help. I was thinking I needed some kind of water softener in the system.

I know the best way would be to wash it in the shade, but we have no trees near where I wash it. It is also a black 2013 Ram 1500. We even bought one of them Master Blasters with warm, filtered air. But the truck dries before we can even get that going.

Can anyone recommend something to put in line of the garden hose that might help? Or do you think this filter deal will work???

My shoulders are killing me trying to keep this truck nice looking. We have been through Ice, The Black Box, and now Mothers Carnauba paste wax.

We live near a quarry, and the dust is terrible. If we wash it, and make it look good, it has a coat of dust on it in 10 minutes.


Thanks for any help!!

 

Likely you have minerals in the water and that causes the spots. the filter might help you some , the softener might help more. Meguiars makes a great water spot remover, (follow directions on the bottle)

normally a good wax and fast drying will prevent most of these troubles , I suggest washing one section at a time and drying as you go. I use a waterblade to rapidly dry the area and get the majority of the water off , then a towel to get the rest

on brutal sun days wash early in the morning or just before sundown , I've even used a 10'X10' pop up to go over the vehicle to keep the sun off

Also remember the quarter spray car washes you can use them and dry in the bay

 

Wash it very early or later in the day to keep the sun from drying the car before you can dry it. My wife has a black suburban and it is nearly impossible to wash and get it spotless unless I do it in my garage.
FF

 

Thanks guys. Appreciate the help. Someday I hope to have a garage I can wash it in, and keep it out of the sun. I do have one of them water blades, but have not gotten the knack of using it yet. This was the first we used the Mothers Carnauba paste wax. It made the truck feel really slick, but it did let a lot of chalk after wiping it off.

I will try this filter soon, and see if it helps. I will also try the water blade again, that seems like it would be a fairly fast process to get what I want. Thanks guys.

 

www.autogeek.com has alot of products and informative videos that may help.
FF

 

I used to be a professional detailer and black is the absolute hardest to get to look perfect. There is no easy way. You need to wash and wax in the shade when the body of the truck is not hot, which I understand can be hard to do. When washing and waxing just do a section at a time. And for a quick touch up and for removing the water spots get yourself a spray on wax like Wipeout from PRO. And for the smoothest body panels out there use a clay bar with Wipeout or even soapy carwash water as a lubricant. After using a clay bar and waxing, water will roll off so fast it won't have time to leave spots. http://www.prowax.com/gloss_enhancer...ray_Gloss.html

In my opinion PRO is the best of the best. Check out their products http://www.prowax.com/

 

Well I did get to use the inline filter I bought, but I didn't really give it a fair shot as I wiped each panel off as I washed it. So it didn't really have time to spot up.

Hi Jeff I hear what your saying. This truck is a 2013, it's got 1650 miles on it, do you think a clay bar will make much difference? I see the newer paint job seem to have some orange peel look to them now. A clay bar isn't going to take that out, is it? I looked at some of the prowax products. As of right now I used Mothers Carnauba paste wax on it the last time. Something easier on my shoulders would be nice, LOL!
Thanks for the advice.

 

My wife has a black LTZ Suburban and it looks great when it is clean. I have to do it in the garage or in the early morning and two miles down the road and looks like crap.

 

I've found that even after cleaning and drying a vehicle that had water spots, they can still be seen if you look hard enough. I think that is the minerals or whatever causes the water spots. A clay bar will clean off anything that could be laying on the paint (overspray, fallout, minerals, etc...). A clay bar can also help remove small surface scratches but is not aggressive enough to remove "orange peel".

If you do get a clay bar this is the proper full procedure. Wash the vehicle thoroughly. Then go over the vehicle with the clay bar (with a lubricant like Wipeout or soapy water) starting on the top surfaces then working your way down. Most fallout will be on the top surfaces so the sides will be easier to do, but do the bottom panels last as they may have more dirt left behind after washing. If the clay does pick up dirt just fold it and knead it like silly puddy until it looks cleaner. You can usually hear if it picks up dirt, it'll sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. And sometimes you can pick the dirt out of the clay. A clay bar should last a long time if you treat it good and keep it in a ziplock bag with a bit of water so it won't dry out. You can feel the difference the clay bar makes after doing the first little section. It's awesome. Then after you've don't the whole vehicle you should wax it. Then it will be super slick and the water will just bead up and fall right off. Even if you don't have time to wax, it still makes a big difference. If you do this and then use your inline filter from then on, it should help quite a bit for the water spots.

 

Man I hear ya, all that hard work, and in a few moments, it's all gone. Of course I have power lines right above where we park both cars. Needless to say the birds just love it. Man I hate birds!! AND their crap they let behind. I live in the city, don't have a garage, and will not park my vehicles on the street as the neighbors just back in till they hit then pull front till they hit again, and then back up a bit. I keep a close eye on my stuff, but you can't watch it all the time.

Years back we had a 1994 Lightning, and it was black, but we had a garage back then, and I kept it nice, but I said I'd never get another black vehicle, but here we are, we have another one, LOL! Like you said, they look great when they are clean!!!

That's for the reply Jeff, I think I may give the clay bar a shot. I may got through the Prowax website to see if I can find something I like better then the Mothers Carnauba paste wax, it's hard on my old shoulders!!

I've used the Black Box, but it doesn't bead water real good. I was never really into any kind of spray wax. Just seemed to get better results with a paste.

Just walked pasted the cars on the way in tonight,,, BIRDS,,,, BIRDS ,,,, AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Looks like they had a damn poop fest!!!!