Waxing... What does it protect?

[Graeme]

I am extremely upset to say the least.
I went to my club today and drove into the parking area, I didn't notice the water sprinklers (Ground Water) were on and one of the sprinklers sprayed the car with water. Within 10 seconds I was out of the car and flushed it with normal tap water, I took the nozzle of the hose and flooded the car.

I then came home and used Quick Detailer to remove the water spots, well guess what? They have etched into the paint and I cannot remove them, I will have to ScratchX 3/4 of the car to remove them.

I put a coat of DC Polish, 1 coat of NXT and 2 coats of GC on the car 2 weeks ago. 3 days ago I washed the car and applied another coat of NXT.
Even with that amount of wax on the car, it did nothing to help stop it. I am now convinced that wax is only good for a nice shine and maybe preventing a little fly poop if you are lucky.

I am not looking forward to using ScracthX as I have been down that road already and it is definitely is not a fun job.

If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck

Graeme

[Abrasive1]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

Sorry to hear that. Its aggravating to spend hours upon hours polishing your car, only to have it all undone in a matter of seconds. It looks like Monday will be a little cooler for such a task.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

Try washing the car with a solution of clear water and white vinegar. I've done this to great success with fresh water spotting, even from very hard water. Apply a coat of wax to bring the shine back up and you should be good to go.

Certainly a whole lot easier than ScratchXing the car if you don't have to!

[the other pc]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

Bummer. Maybe it’s time to seriously consider a DA polisher. I know that’s not as easy down under but some of your fellow Ozzies have been successful.

Wax can slow and reduce the inevitable effects environmental exposure but it’s not an impenetrable shield. If you keep a finish clean and waxed it will last longer than if you don’t.

Unfortunately, intense chemical attack from things like hard water or bird bombs can overwhelm any product that you can wipe on a finish.


PC.

[yakky]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

I find it really hard to believe all that happened so fast with just plain ground water. Either there was something really bad in it or something else is very wrong. We have pretty hard water and all the spots just wipe away with some QD.

[Graeme]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

I find it really hard to believe all that happened so fast with just plain ground water. Either there was something really bad in it or something else is very wrong. We have pretty hard water and all the spots just wipe away with some QD.

Your not the only one. I was out of the car and grabbed the hose all in about 10 secs. I have used scratchx on some of it to see if it would come off fairly easy, but no such luck I have to rub as hard as I did when I was removing a scratch. Its going to be a lot of work as the water spots are all over the hood, roof, boot and right along the drivers side.
I thought wax would at least prevent things such as ground water from penetrating all the way through. I was wrong.

Graeme

[Graeme]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

Try washing the car with a solution of clear water and white vinegar. I've done this to great success with fresh water spotting, even from very hard water. Apply a coat of wax to bring the shine back up and you should be good to go.

Certainly a whole lot easier than ScratchXing the car if you don't have to!

What ratio would I use the vinegar?

[Graeme]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

Bummer. Maybe it’s time to seriously consider a DA polisher.

I am looking at that, the wife tells me we can afford one as long as its not too pricey.

Although I am still not sure of a few things like.....

What wattage should I be looking at? they range from 260watts - 480watts.

The size should be 125mm (5 inch) or 150mm (6 inch) to use Meg's pads.

What orbit should it be 3mm to 5mm?

Also what weight as there are some that are very light and some around 3.5 kilos.

Hopefully someone can answer the above for me.

Graeme

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

What ratio would I use the vinegar?

Well how silly of me to not address this in my earlier post!! Sorry about that.

Honestly, I've always just sort of took a shot in the dark on this. I'll put maybe two gallons of water in the bucket and then maybe half a cup of white vinegar. This may well be much stronger than needed, and indeed the bucket 'o water smelled heavily of the stuff, but it did the trick and that's all I really cared about!!!

As a precaution be sure to wax after.

[black240sx]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

I am looking at that, the wife tells me we can afford one as long as its not too pricey.

Although I am still not sure of a few things like.....

What wattage should I be looking at? they range from 260watts - 480watts.

The size should be 125mm (5 inch) or 150mm (6 inch) to use Meg's pads.

What orbit should it be 3mm to 5mm?

Also what weight as there are some that are very light and some around 3.5 kilos.

Hopefully someone can answer the above for me.

Graeme

The PC7336 that is so popular is 3.7 amps, or about 400 watts. The backing plate most everyone uses is 5 inches.

[Graeme]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

Well how silly of me to not address this in my earlier post!! Sorry about that.

Honestly, I've always just sort of took a shot in the dark on this. I'll put maybe two gallons of water in the bucket and then maybe half a cup of white vinegar. This may well be much stronger than needed, and indeed the bucket 'o water smelled heavily of the stuff, but it did the trick and that's all I really cared about!!!

As a precaution be sure to wax after.

Well I did try soaking a tissue with white vinegar, I left it on a fairly big spot for a few minutes, but it didn't do a thing. I will give it a shot mixing some with water.

The PC7336 that is so popular is 3.7 amps, or about 400 watts. The backing plate most everyone uses is 5 inches.

Thanks, I have heard some people mention the orbit of the machine, I think someone said it should be 5 mm. Is this correct?

Thanks for taking the time to reply

Graeme

[Bence]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

The vinegar mix is only effective when you are dealing with above surface water spots, aka calcium deposits. Vinegar will dissolve the dirt rings and clean the surface. But if you have water etching, the vinegar won't do a thing.

Yes, buy a DA. A 5 mm pad throw is sufficient. Look at various machines like the DeWalt DW443, the PC 7424/7336, etc.

[Graeme]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

The vinegar mix is only effective when you are dealing with above surface water spots, aka calcium deposits. Vinegar will dissolve the dirt rings and clean the surface. But if you have water etching, the vinegar won't do a thing.

Yes, buy a DA. A 5 mm pad throw is sufficient. Look at various machines like the DeWalt DW443, the PC 7424/7336, etc.

Yeah it didn't do anything, I ended up using Scratchx, I still have the drivers side to do and have done the roof,boot and hood.
I am unable to get any of those machines here and am looking at getting a Bosch 400ae. I still need to sort out the pads as the only megs pad I can get here is the 8006 and thats it

[Bence]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

The Bosch will work great. Look around to see the availability of other pad brands too.

[Graeme]

Re: Waxing... What does it protect?

The Bosch will work great. Look around to see the availability of other pad brands too.

I am able to get the Edge pads, but I don't have a clue if they are any good or not.