I think I know the answer but...

[GLOCKer]

This past weekend I washed my black car with a two bucket wash, keeping it rinsed between washing individual sections of the car. I kept the car wet right up to the point I started drying it with an electric leaf blower. As I was drying the car, I saw I had a BUNCH of water spots that look to be from pollen. Is it okay to go over the whole car with quick detailer and several clean clothes before hitting it with a polish and wax, or am I going to have to wait until a less pollen-ish time and rewash the car? I have a feeling I risk not being able to completely remove any surface contamination from the car if I just wipe it down with detailer and then hitting it with a polish or a wax with polishing oils wont be enough to correct any swirls. Can I eschew using a polish and just go to Black Wax, as if I remember right, it will polish a little? Check out below in the photos for the spots I am talking about. I'm assuming this is from the pollen as I've never had an issue with water spots before.

Good beading from the previous polish and wax!


As soon as I dried the car, I stuck it in the garage. And it looked great from a distance!


But once you're a couple of feet away, you can see the ugly spots.


The engine bay is so clean you could eat off it if you didn't mind the taste of Ultimate Black!


I'm wanting to get the car looking absolutely perfect for a car show this weekend. Damn I love this car!!!

[talonted]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

I would suggest claying your car before polishing it, and then you can know that if the clay doesn't pull them out then you won't hurt anything by polishing over them.

[Top Gear]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

No, GLOCKer, those are water spots from Sun evaporation of your unfiltered hose water, which can happen fast, even if you keep spraying. When you see those, just finish blowing the car completely dry, then go over those areas, or the whole car, with your matching Quick Wax. You can reduce them by filtering your water. I use a 2-micron house filter. Also, I've noticed that Gold Class Shampoo helps reduce them, too.

[GLOCKer]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

Well then let me ask you this; if I clay bar the car, will I have to use Ultimate Polish or will the polishing oils in Black Wax be enough? Will clay barring the car add more fine micro scratches to the paint and necessitate the application of Ultimate Polish?

[Top Gear]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

It depends on the level of defects and what you want to see. Try it both ways in two areas and see what you like. I love UP and always use it with Gold Class. To me, no wax is enough to get that deep, wet black look.

[DasBurninator]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

Well then let me ask you this; if I clay bar the car, will I have to use Ultimate Polish or will the polishing oils in Black Wax be enough? Will clay barring the car add more fine micro scratches to the paint and necessitate the application of Ultimate Polish?

Clay is technically an abrasive and has the potential to introduce fine scratches. Make sure you use a good clay lube and you should be alright. If you notice any marring or scratches then follow it up with Ultimate Polish and Wax or a Sealant on top of that.

[The Guz]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

If you don't feel like going through the a polish and seal again, you can just use black wax. Or even white wax if you want something with a little more cleaning power.

[GLOCKer]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

I got home last night from work and clay barred parts of the car that appeared very contaminated. I was liberal with the use of the Quick Detailer, but I was concerned because it felt like the clay was biting into the paint and leaving clay smears. I then used one of those hand orbital buffers and applied Ultimate Polish and then Ultimate Liquid Wax. Overall the car looks tons better, but not as good as it looked the last time I did a full detail. It seems there are some very fine scratches that show in the light hear and there that will probably take a more aggressive method to remove. At this point though, I'm not comfortable getting a DA and more aggressive compound yet as I'm still a beginner.

Before:


After:

[pcray1231]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

Ok, I'm a newbie here trying to learn, and taking perhaps an overly simplistic stab at this. Feel free to correct me.

So he had water spots from either incomplete drying or else delayed drying, in any case water had evaporated rather than being wiped off. Now, yes, clay could leave light scratches with poor technique, but as long as it's properly lubed it won't, and would have removed those spots plus any other less visible dirt still embedded in the paint. And if he was to polish anyway, it'd be likely to remove any light scratches he did make, right?

But instead he went straight to polish. Now, yes, the polish adds oils to the paint and it did that, which deepens the color a bit. The polish will also remove the water spots and other dirt, but it just adds that residue to the polish, and WILL then rub it against the paint and scratch. Think of the polish as having very fine, consistently sized rocks in it. Because the car wasn't properly cleaned, he essentially removed larger rocks from the paint and added them to the polishing fluid, leading to the visible micro-scratches. Is that correct?

[Top Gear]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

There you go, GLOCKer, nice work! The fine scratches are holograms and/or swirls or "spiderwebs". You can mostly hide them temporarily with some quick wax matching your regular wax, say for the show, but it's really only compounding that will remove or correct them from the clear coat, and even then with a lot of careful DA work.

...Now, yes, clay could leave light scratches with poor technique, but as long as it's properly lubed it won't, and would have removed those spots plus any other less visible dirt still embedded in the paint. And if he was to polish anyway, it'd be likely to remove any light scratches he did make, right?

Right, generally. I think he was asking us two questions together, how to deal with the water spots, and whether to polish or use Black Wax for fine scratches.

Now, yes, the polish adds oils to the paint and it did that, which deepens the color a bit. The polish will also remove the water spots and other dirt, but it just adds that residue to the polish, and WILL then rub it against the paint and scratch. Think of the polish as having very fine, consistently sized rocks in it. Because the car wasn't properly cleaned, he essentially removed larger rocks from the paint and added them to the polishing fluid, leading to the visible micro-scratches. Is that correct?

Not necessarily. Ultimate Polish is not very abrasive. The oils in it will fill fine defects and deepen the clear, but it will not scratch and is not like having "rocks" in it. No.

[GLOCKer]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

As for the water spots; I have no idea what happened to cause them. I've never had water spots before when I've washed my car, and I kept the car wet the whole time, and dried it immediately. The surfaces with the water spots were revealed as I was drying the car. What I mean is, as the leaf blower was pushing the water off the car, it revealed the spots. Now that I think about it, I have a theory as to what they were, and I'm beginning to doubt they were actually water spots.

I had to go into work on my day off this past Saturday, and instead of driving the "company car," I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and I took the Mustang in. It was a VERY bad day for pollen (I was thinking it would have been better as it had rained very hard the previous day). On the way home, I got stuck behind a cement truck for about 1 mile that was travelling very slowly. I noticed some misty water coming off of it and landing on my windshield (but it didn't seem like a lot), and increased my already large following distance with aggravation. The water spots on my car seem to have been heavier at the front of the hood and tapered off as it went back, to the point my trunk didn't have any. I originally thought this was due to issues drying the car, but it would make sense that it could have been junk off the cement truck.

I clayed the contaminated areas, keeping the areas I was claying very lubed with Quick Detailer. Any of the fine scratches I'm seeing are VERY fine. Like one or two lines that look like a spider web strand here and there. There are also a couple where I think my wife accidently hit my car with a rake (but I don't have the heart to "confront" her about these) and some very fine scratches on my back bumper where I tapped the Rubbermaid garbage can that's behind my car.

I'm thinking that I didn't introduce much, if any, contamination to the polish; I recognize that it's possible though. I think any of the fine scratches I'm seeing may be just from the environment the car was exposed to. I think compound will take them out no problem with the proper disk, but I'm not careful stepping up to a more aggressive paint correction method.

Actually, I would do it with the proper guidance; I have a good friend who has the equipment who does his BOSS 302 and he has offered guidance. But I'm hesitant to purchase the equipment myself because my wife would wig out.

[Don]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

Ok, I'm a newbie here trying to learn, and taking perhaps an overly simplistic stab at this. Feel free to correct me.

So he had water spots from either incomplete drying or else delayed drying, in any case water had evaporated rather than being wiped off. Now, yes, clay could leave light scratches with poor technique, but as long as it's properly lubed it won't, and would have removed those spots plus any other less visible dirt still embedded in the paint. And if he was to polish anyway, it'd be likely to remove any light scratches he did make, right?

But instead he went straight to polish. Now, yes, the polish adds oils to the paint and it did that, which deepens the color a bit. The polish will also remove the water spots and other dirt, but it just adds that residue to the polish, and WILL then rub it against the paint and scratch. Think of the polish as having very fine, consistently sized rocks in it. Because the car wasn't properly cleaned, he essentially removed larger rocks from the paint and added them to the polishing fluid, leading to the visible micro-scratches. Is that correct?

That's one possible scenario. Any time you TOUCH your paint whether it be with clay, a MF cloth, wash mitt, or foam buffing pad, you run the RISK of marring your paint. It doesn't mean you WILL, but there is always the risk. A car that is frequently washed/polished & waxed should really not need clay ... most contaminates are taken car of before they have a chance to stick. Now on my car if I clay, I polish. I look at claying and polishing as one combined step because on my last car, I had the paint polished to near perfection. I did the baggie test and it needed claying, so I did. After claying I looked really close at the orange peel on the hood and it looked (to me) like the very tops of the orange peel had been very finely wet sanded. You couldn't see it from 1-2 feet away, but it was there. Now this was on a bright yellow (think Corvette yellow) and it was clearly visible. So if you switch to black paint, then it will be even more obvious.

Spoiler Alert!

Black shows EVERYTHING even the scratches caused by breathing on it too hard. Especially if you have the paint highly polished out.

[Top Gear]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

...I got stuck behind a cement truck for about 1 mile that was travelling very slowly. I noticed some misty water coming off of it and landing on my windshield (but it didn't seem like a lot), and increased my already large following distance with aggravation. The water spots on my car seem to have been heavier at the front of the hood and tapered off as it went back, to the point my trunk didn't have any...

Say no more. That was the issue. Your washing was perhaps too gentle, then, to remove the stains. I've learned that a little elbow grease with the shampoo and wash mitt goes a long way. I'm not far away from you, and have lots of pollen, tree sap, and such to deal with. Thankfully, the rain is not acidic. However, getting stuck behind trucks is to be avoided at all costs.

...Black shows EVERYTHING even the scratches caused by breathing on it too hard. Especially if you have the paint highly polished out.

Yep. While the paint/clear is more durable than we often think, black shows how good or careful you are with overall care.

[GLOCKer]

Re: I think I know the answer but...

I washed my car after work yesterday, and now I'm 100% convinced that the spots on my car were from the concrete truck. I didn't do anything I don't usually do and I had a more favorable result this time.