Water spots & White dots after polishing

[hamada128]

I just had an issue after claying, polishing and waxing my car after I bought it from the Original Owner 18 months ago who used to polish and wax the car 2 times a year.
It was my first time to do a job like this, I used all Meguiars Product (Clay bar kit, No 7 Polish and No 26 yellow wax) I used an Orbital buffer from the Walmart and used it on the roof and the trunk only for both Polishing then waxing then the rest of the car was mostly done by hand.
I had some minor fade on the roof, after I polished it the fade went away and it was shining again, but after I finished polishing and waxing the whole car it rained a lot here in NJ and I didn’t have a chance to dry the car after that rain coz it was on and off rainy day.

Anyway, my problem now is there is some water spots on the roof like one inch diameter each, I tried to polish just one spot again to see if it will go away but it is still there, Also I noticed that after I finished the whole car I can see some white dots left on the paint, it goes away if rub it with some quick detail spray and a microfiber towel but sometimes it needs a lot of rubbing to disappear.

How can I fix the roof water spots now? and what you think that I did wrong? (I know that I did a lot of mistakes but I saw good results from being first time detailer)

Also there was some spider swirls on the paint which didn’t go away after the polishing and waxing.

Thanks for all your input in advance.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

I had some minor fade on the roof, after I polished it the fade went away and it was shining again, but after I finished polishing and waxing the whole car it rained a lot here in NJ and I didn’t have a chance to dry the car after that rain coz it was on and off rainy day.

Anyway, my problem now is there is some water spots on the roof like one inch diameter each, I tried to polish just one spot again to see if it will go away but it is still there, Also I noticed that after I finished the whole car I can see some white

Before getting into your other questions...

What are you working on?

Year
Make
Model

Did you see the color of the car coming off on your bonnet, applicator pads and wiping cloths? That is can you tell if this car has a clear coat finish or a single stage finish.

Also, does the fading look whitish at all? Like this?

The Clearcoat Failure Archive

Look in the middle of the hood of this car, see how some areas of the clear coat finish, (over the top of the black basecoat layer of paint), is starting to turn a whitish color?




What we want to do first is make sure the paint your working on isn't starting to experience clear coat failure if in fact it has a clear coat finish.

[hamada128]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

I have a 1993 Mercedes Benz 190E - 2.3 - signal red color 568.
Just now I bough one ScratchX and ColorX and tried them.
I also noticed that it rained today and the water spots spreaded more.
I applied the scratchx and i noticed the water spots started to go away but i can still see but not as heavy as before. but i also noticed that the cotton terry pad started to grap some red color, what i am doing wrong now?

My car finish is not as bad as the black car in the picture above, here are some pix for the car.

[hamada128]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

the cars is 1993 Mercedes 190E signal red 568, don't know if it has cc or ss paint.
I tried scratchx tonight followed by colorx, the water spots slightly diappeared but i still can see it. also i noticed that after it rained today the waterspots becamoe more.
After trying the scratchx and color x i noticed that the cotton terry pad starting to grap red color, what i am doing wrong now?

I tried to post before with some pix for how my paint used to look like before any polish or wax but i dont know why it didn't go through.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

This sounds like dried product that was worked too long, and not removed soon enough. It can get stubborn just like you said when trying to remove it after the fax.

Try a good, sud-filled wash and let the soap soak a bit (out of the sun if possible), and then take another look. I would think it would come off with some instant detailer a microfiber fairly easy at this point.

A clay bar would also likely work- followed of course by a re-application of wax where clayed.

[hamada128]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

Could it be the No 7 polish that I used in the begining? I think I used more than i was supposed since this was my first time to detail a car.
But what is driving me nuts is that after the first polish and wax with No 7 & No 26 the roof looked so good, but suddenly eveything turned down after it rained alot for 2 days after wards.

I tried to use the clay bar again in the area I tried tonight before I apply the scratchx followed by the colorx but with no luck, I also tried a towel soaked with some vineger but still have the stubborn water spots.

Any addition advices from the experts here?
do you guys think that i damaged the paint?

I will try to take some pix tomrrow and post them.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

It's super tough to answer anything without seeing it. There are SOO many possibilities, BUT I do not think you damaged the paint. If you even close-to-properly applied the products you listed you shouldn't have caused any real damage.

Out of curiosity, what other paint care products do you have at your disposal? It sounds like you have at least a few...

[hamada128]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

Out of curiosity, what other paint care products do you have at your disposal? It sounds like you have at least a few...

I really don't have too many, All I have are: Clay bar kit, No.7 Glaze, No.26, ScratchX, ColorX and NXT 2.0 paste.

Here are some pix:











And thats how the rest of my car looks like, btw I didnt wash it since last week after it rained alot and the car was parked all week collecting alot of dust, I just used a duster before taking those pix so excuse the apperance .

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

From your description and from this pictures it appears that your MB has a single stage paint.




It also looks like it is very porous as the water is soaking in and staining the paint.

Here's an article that shows you how to test for a clear coat or a single stage paint.


How To Test for a Clearcoat or Single Stage Paint Finish






Since it appears that the rain water is soaking into the paint and staining it you need to do the most you can to protect the paint and that would be to do what you're already doing,

Polish with the #7 and then apply a couple good coats of wax, outside of this about the only other thing you can do is keep the car out of the rain or have the car re-painted with a more durable paint, even a modern clear coat.

Not a whole of other options... Is this the factory paint?

[hamada128]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

Thsnks for your replay Mike, I am not sure if this is the original paint or no, but I think that the car was repainted by the previous owner.

I can tell you one incident that happened like a year and half ago which could help to tell if the car has CC or SS.

One time I had a lot of birds drops on the hood that was dried, then I took the car to the car wash and the guy spryed some poweder on the hood to clean it faster, then after the wash was done I noticed the hood was chalky.
I took the car to a body shop and the guy tried to polish it then the paint came back fine and once we wash the car after the polish the hood comes back again chalky. So the guy said he will try one last thing, he wet sanded it with a fine sand paper (don't know the number) then buffed it then the hood was fine since then.

Sorry I just started learning about all of this so excuse my limited knowledge.
Hope this could help.

[hamada128]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

Today I tried ScratchX (4-5 applications) and the best result I was able to get just to make the water spots lighter and not too dark as before.
I then followed by ColorX then NXT 2.0 paste and the roof from 3 feet far looks very nice, I will snap some pix soon and post them.

[hamada128]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

After Pix.:
ColorX+NXT 2.0 Wax on 568 Signal Red

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

Next time you clean the paint on the horizontal surfaces, (ScratchX is a paint cleaner), before going to wax, work in a thorough application of a pure polish like the M07 Show Car Glaze.

Then apply wax.

This may help to restore a uniform rich color.

(But you won't know until you try)

[hamada128]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

I used ColorX after using ScratchX, is not that enough?
I tried the M07 once but I found the ColorX is much easier to remove by hand.
BTW, I used ScratchX only on the roof to remove the water spots and in one place on the trunk lid to remove a minor scratch and I found that I have Single Stage only on the Roof, I did the test with ScratchX on the hood, trunk and some other panels and it looks that the rest of the car has clear coat.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Water spots & White dots after polishing

I used ColorX after using ScratchX, is not that enough?

It's not that it's not enough, it's just that these product we're talking about are very different types of products.

ColorX is a cleaner/wax
ScratchX is a dedicated paint cleaner
M07 Show Car Glaze is a pure polish

Meguiar's M07 has the highest content of rich polishing oils and it's these oils that will penetrated into a single stage paint job like yours and bring out the full richness of color. A cleaner/wax and/or a paint cleaner will abrade off stained oxidized paint to reveal a fresh base and to some extent they will restore the color and/or clarity of a pigmented single stage paint but nothing like what M07 is capable of.

Be sure to give this a read...

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle
(Posted in the The Information Station)