HELP Hard Water!

[Stink23]

I have hard water at my house. So I was wondering if it would be ok to wash my brand new White Nissan Sentra With the hard water. What would happen if i did?

I was also wondering if I should use Mf towels or terry cloth towels? ( For everything from washing, waxing, drying and interior detailing) Which one prevents swirls and scratches better?

Would it be ok to buy a wal-mart or discount store brand?



Please HELP my car is gettting dirty and I need to wash it.

[rusty bumper]

Re: HELP Hard Water!

Originally posted by Stink23
I have hard water at my house. So I was wondering if it would be ok to wash my brand new White Nissan Sentra With the hard water. What would happen if i did?

I was also wondering if I should use Mf towels or terry cloth towels? ( For everything from washing, waxing, drying and interior detailing) Which one prevents swirls and scratches better?

Would it be ok to buy a wal-mart or discount store brand?



Please HELP my car is gettting dirty and I need to wash it.

Hi Stink23......Welcome to the forum!

Meguiars makes a special car wash for people with hard water. It's called NXT Generation Car Wash......



NXT Generation Car Wash is a completely synthetic car wash concentrate that loosens and emulsifies even the toughest dirt and road grime. Synthetic lubricating oils glide dirt particles off of the surface without marring or stripping the finish. Engineered water softeners help reduce deposits in hard water, leaving behind a spot-free finish. For unparalleled performance, use with any of Meguiar’s wash accessories. Choose from our Ultra Plush Wash Mitt, Deep Pile Chenille Wash Mitt, Body Brush, Wide Body Brush or Ultra Plush Wash Mop.

Buy you a good sheepskin wash mitt for washing you car, and use the 2 bucket method too.

As for the towel question, microfiber towels are the best at removing waxes & polish, but terry towels are indispensable for removing paint cleaners.....Either one is ok for interior work, but a microfiber towel is better at removing excess plastic & vinyl conditioners.

Wal-Mart towels might be ok for interior work, but I would buy the best towels that I could afford for working with your car's paint.

Is there a Plej's near you? I found some 100% Egyptian cotton terry towels there at only $1.50 a-piece one time.

My microfiber towels came from Meguiars.

[Buellwinkle]

I can't imagine you have water harder than what we have in So Cal as it has to make it from Colorado and it picks up tons of minerals along the way. At my house it's about 435ppm of Total Disolved Solids (you can get a TDS meter to measure it for about $15-20 on ebay, over 200ppm is considered hard water). I don't have any problems, just wash when it's cool out either early morning or just before dark in the shade and dry it as soon as possible. Water spots can etch the paint and require machine polishing to remove. I like to use a synthetic chamois to dry as it's better at pulling the water spots off than terry or mf towels. I do this with one hand to get the water and any spots off and then use a mf towel to get the dampness off as you want to dry as thouroughly as possible. You can use a filtering system like Mr Clean Autodry but it still leaves some spots so you have to dry it but it's not bad.

[Stink23]

Well....I have well water....is that the same as hard water? If it isn't I figured it would still be bad. Due to the staining in my bathtub and whatnot. I definetely thought it would be bad on my white paint.....

Is the plush mitt or the chenille mitt better? What is the differences?; and which one would scratch more? Also, what about as an extra towel for washing ...... mf or terry? Does one scratch more in certains scenarios ...or one more than the other in general?

Not to sound stupid, but what is the differences between terry and mf?

[GTScott]

Originally posted by Stink23
Not to sound stupid, but what is the differences between terry and mf? [/B]

Good question. I will give you my view...

Terry is composed of strands which are looped. Microfiber has cut ends. It is also naturally water repellant. The main benefit that I see with microfiber on the exterior is that you do not have the end "loop" to collect excess wax, etc. and cause any scratching. There is more to it, but that is my opinion.

As for microfiber quality, I find that most of the difference is in the edges and the backing material. If you compare a walmart towel and a Meguiars, you will see the difference. The Meguiars has a nicely finished edge that would probably not scratch too bad if it accidentally got used in the buffing process. The walmart towels typically have a bit coarser edge binding.

I use both the Meguairs and the cheap towels. I typically just reserve the cheap ones, like suggested above, for interior wipedowns, drying the wheels, and that sort of stuff.

-GT

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Stink23
Well....I have well water....is that the same as hard water? If it isn't I figured it would still be bad. Due to the staining in my bathtub and whatnot. I definetely thought it would be bad on my white paint.....

Due to the high mineral content in well water, that classifies it as hard water. I don't see you having any problems with it staining your vehicle, as long as you use NXT car wash, plus take the time to dry your car too.

Your bathtub has a different finish than your car does. The worst thing that could happen to your car would be hard water spotting if you allow it to air dry only. But then again, NXT wash will help to combat that, along with your good drying techniques.

One other tip is to flood your car (Top to bottom) with a gentle stream of water after removing the spray nozzle. This technique will remove excess water spots,and make it easier to dry your car.

Originally posted by Stink23
Is the plush mitt or the chenille mitt better? What is the differences?; and which one would scratch more?

Either one should should be ok to wash with, but I like the sheepskin mitt better.......But a lot of it has to do with your washing technique too......Such as using the 2 bucket method for washing your car for example.

The idea behind that, is to fill one 5 gallon bucket with 3 to 4 gallons of water and mix in your shampoo according to directions on the bottle. Then fill the second 5 gallon bucket with nothing but plain water (4 to 5 gallons).

Before you go back for more soap with your wash mitt, dunk it into the rinse water a few times and wring it out first. That way your wash water will stay much cleaner, and you will not be depositing grit back onto your car, thus reducing the chances for scratching it.