water spots
 

the sprinklers at my new place have done a real number on my windows/paint. does anyone have any ideas as to what to use to get the water spots off (most importantly the windows)?
would a product like CLR be safe on the windows/paint?
thanks.
toby

I have used Windex to clean windows and Turtle wax Clear Coat Polish And Scratch remover for the paint. These work well for me. What Kind of water spots do you have? I have hard water where I live and sometimes, if I do not dry the car right away it gets white spots from the lime in the water. Of course this looks real bad on the black roof. Not very noticable on the pearl white.

to get rid of the spots, put about half a cup of vinegar in your car wash bucket with you soap. Wash as usual. THere is nothing you can do to stop getting the spots, except not park by sprinklers. Even if you have a great coat of wax, the water will dry on the wax, and leave the calcium deposit there. Granted it is easier to get off from on top of wax, but it still sucks. Oh yeah, wax after you use the vinegar. Vinigar is an acid, and it will break down the calcium deposits, but it also eats wax.

RainX makes a couple of products to clean the windshields. They work well. I can't remember the actual names but go to your local pepboys and you can find them there.

Then wax your windows with the rain-x wax for glass. You will love it.

Lwin

thanks for the response
 

i've considered turning off the sprinklers in favour of watering the front strip by hand....which i might just have to do afterall.
thanks for the suggestions -- this water is worse than i've ever experienced (it comes out milky -- settling after about a minute).
i'll let you know how things go.
toby

Re: water spots
 

Oh my goodness....you weren't seriously thinking about putting CLR on your car were you. :)

If it removes rust....chances are it will remove your clearcoat and paint as well. :D

Ryan

Actually, you can use CLR on a car. You just have to dillue it alot.. like about one tablespoon to a gollon of water. Even then, I would rather use vinegar.

i wasn't going to use it on the paint job....just the windows. my goal at this point is safety -- the deposits are so bad you can't really see out windows. imagine parking your car on a gravel driveway for about 3 weeks -- that's the kind of build up i'm talking about. fortunately it's mostly on the passenger side.
toby
btw....i turned off the sprinklers to that point. i'd sooner let the grass die than have them spray my car.

the windex worked on the normal fresh water spots that occur when you don't dry it quickly enough, but the ones that were already there weren't even fazed by it.
i guess i'll try either a rainx product or CLR next.
toby

Guys, I'm serious use a cup of vinegar in a bucket for washing the car! I do it on my SVX and My Blazer, both are black, and for whaterver reason, get water spotted every time I park someplace new. Vinegar works.

i believe you zombie. does it specifically work on windows? at this point, the spots on the paint don't bother me and i'd rather not have to re-wax it this weekend.
what type of vinegar (white/red/other)?
toby

I'm sorry, but it seems every time I look at this thread in the "Threads" list, I see "water sports." It just kinda tickles my funny bone. Thought I'd share. :D

I use apple cider vinegar, and it works really well all over the car. You wont need to wax immediatly, just keep in mind that it wonnt have much wax on it. if its really bad, you might want to do a cup and a half to a gallon bucket.

i'll give it a try.....it's certainly got to be a cheaper alternative than the others.
thanks zombie.
toby

New thread title - Whoosh 'n Douche. Bada-boom. Ron.