Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

[acr-c]

Hey guys,

I did a nice 2-bucket wash today with Gold Glass wash/conditioner on my freshly polished/waxed black C5 Vette. I have 2 nicely-laid coats of NXT 2.0 on the surface, fyi.

Following the wash, I used a waffle-style large microfiber towel to dry the car. I was trying really hard NOT to instill any swirls/drying scratches/marks. I concentrated on not wiping the towels really fast or with any real pressure on the surface of the paint. I moved the towel slowly and gently.

It seems that my technique for not causing any swirls/drying scratches/marks worked well. I didn't see anything popping up. BUT, my technique also left me with a lot of light water stains. These clearly are not etched in yet, they are only a couple of hours old. They are also all brand new. They are not old markings but rather stains just caused by my method of drying.

In the past, I would use the waffle-style microfiber towel to dry the bulk, however, I followed each stroke with a 100% cotton terry cloth towel. The cotton towel remained much drier than the microfiber and would remove the final, very small droplets and remains of water left by a stroke of the microfiber towel.

My questions:

How to remove the new water marks/stains? Should I just use a quick detailer-type product with a microfiber to buff them off?

If yes, which detailer product do you recommend?

What method are you all using to absolutely avoid instilling swirls/drying scratches/marks while still drying the car perfectly to avoid water marks?

Thanks guys!!!!
Christian

[David621]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

I usually spray the quick detailer on my car to get rid of water marks and make my car shine

[acr-c]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

Will the QD wipe the water spots away cleanly? Thanks!

[David621]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

From my experience yes it did, granted that they are new waterspots

[Derrick]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

I use UQD and it works very good on fresh water spots. It takes them right off with ease

[acr-c]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

Right on guys. I'll definitely give that a try.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

I have used qd, last touch and uqd. All have removed the fresh water spots with no problems. Good luck. I should add I did not have to use all 3 products to remove the spots. I grabbed the uqd once, couple of washes later the qd. You get the idea. Did not want to give the impression that I had to use all 3.

[3Fitty]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

Doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose though? If the point of being as careful with drying is to diminish contact with the paint, doesn't using the QD immediately after it is dry, defeat that purpose?

Wouldn't it be ideal to remove the water and any spotting in one shot and NOT have to go back a second time with anything?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

Doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose though? If the point of being as careful with drying is to diminish contact with the paint, doesn't using the QD immediately after it is dry, defeat that purpose?

Wouldn't it be ideal to remove the water and any spotting in one shot and NOT have to go back a second time with anything?

Ultimately, yes. While Christian may have been a bit overcautious in his drying methods I don't think that's necessarily bad. Better overly cautious than the alternative.

I always end up with a drip or two (or five!) showing up later in the day as water creeps out from all sorts of areas on different cars, leaving a tell tale water spot trail behind. A quick spritz of Ultimate Quik Detailer and a nice, clean microfiber towel makes short work of these. Keep in mind the QD is offering a pretty high degree of lubricity for that final wipe and the water spots are very fresh so they come off quite easily.

Certainly the less you "touch" the paint the less the chances of marring it, which is why some people like to dry their cars with a leaf blower. In my experience though this just leaves even more water spot trails all over the place as our water is quite hard.

[onawrxhigh]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

Ultimately, yes. While Christian may have been a bit overcautious in his drying methods I don't think that's necessarily bad. Better overly cautious than the alternative.

I always end up with a drip or two (or five!) showing up later in the day as water creeps out from all sorts of areas on different cars, leaving a tell tale water spot trail behind. A quick spritz of Ultimate Quik Detailer and a nice, clean microfiber towel makes short work of these. Keep in mind the QD is offering a pretty high degree of lubricity for that final wipe and the water spots are very fresh so they come off quite easily.

Certainly the less you "touch" the paint the less the chances of marring it, which is why some people like to dry their cars with a leaf blower. In my experience though this just leaves even more water spot trails all over the place as our water is quite hard.

If you have a compressor I use the blowgun attachment to get all of the water out of the little areas that seem to hide water that shows up when you are all done and you see those little drip lines.

Andrew

[acr-c]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

Ultimately, yes. While Christian may have been a bit overcautious in his drying methods I don't think that's necessarily bad. Better overly cautious than the alternative.

I always end up with a drip or two (or five!) showing up later in the day as water creeps out from all sorts of areas on different cars, leaving a tell tale water spot trail behind. A quick spritz of Ultimate Quik Detailer and a nice, clean microfiber towel makes short work of these. Keep in mind the QD is offering a pretty high degree of lubricity for that final wipe and the water spots are very fresh so they come off quite easily.

Certainly the less you "touch" the paint the less the chances of marring it, which is why some people like to dry their cars with a leaf blower. In my experience though this just leaves even more water spot trails all over the place as our water is quite hard.

Thanks Mike. I know I was being a little crazy in my approach, but I just wanted to avoid any way of scratching the surface while drying. From everything I can gather in way of information it seems that the overwhelming majority of swirls and scratching on nicely-kept cars come from improper drying techniques, in my opinion.

I went over the car today with fresh, clean microfiber polishing towels and some spray detailer. All of the water marks came off instantly. More importantly, I KNOW that I "touched" the paint far, far less than I would have had I concentrated on drying the car perfectly in the first place.

I think I have found my new method of drying, at least for my ridiculously scratch-sensitive C5 Vette black paint. I didn't cause any scratches while drying and then simply relied on the lubricity of the spray detailer and the perfectly clean microfibers and paint surface to allow me to clean off the water marks without instilling any scratches. I think I spent less time too!!!

Just my $.02.
Christian

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

Just one other bit of advice to speed the drying process:

As a final rinse take the nozzle off the hose and let a moderate stream of water run over the surface, holding the hose perpendicular to the body panels and quite close to it so as to minimize splashing. This will help to sheet the vast majority of the water off the surface and speed up your drying process. If you're using NXT 2.0 or M21 2.0 their hydrophobic properties will enhance the effect. Using Ultimate Quik Detailer between washes will do more of the same.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

I am glad it worked for you. No new scratches yeah. Mike's method of rinsing sure is helpful. Try it next time.

[acr-c]

Re: Question on water spots RIGHT after washing

I forgot to originally post that I used the method of a final rinse without the nozzle. The sheeting action with the NXT 2.0 was nice!!!