Water spots have become a huge issue for me in detailing my car. They seem to be impossible to get out once I have allowed the water drops to dry on the paint.So for now I am washing,drying/hydroing each panel or area than after I wash and rinse the next panel I go back and clean up the water on the panels I have already done. Looking at the water softners, MR. Clean soffner or whatevr else is out there. I just am trying to avoid the complete OCD madness w/o having water spots.
To avoid water spots you can either eliminate them all together and use mineral free water like distilled or deionized water or you can try to avoid the situations that cause them which is letting the sun dry out the water you are washing with. The shade helps! If the spots are fresh, as in a few seconds or minutes old, you can easily remove them with some vinegar. You could probably wipe them off without the vinegar too, just have to try it to see what works best.
To late, you already have the OCD madness:lol:. Like Richard said, try and wash in the shade. The only water spots I ever have are from places that dribble water, like side repeaters, tail lights, hatch handle. Using either compressed air, or a leaf blower/reverse vacuum cleaner helps. Which for me will be easier to do as I finally got around to running an air line outside from my compressor in my basement shop. I rinse each panel/area as I go, but don't dry. Then I spray on Hydro, lightly blot/wipe with a waffle weave to spread the Hydro, then do a final pass with a Monster Fluffy. I did try some distilled water to rinse the other day, sprayed on Hydro, and just let it air dry. No water spots, but the Hydro looked like crap. So to me that means you need to wipe down if using Hydro, regardless of the water used. If I do get the odd water spot, dribble, I use QD to clean it up. I think having a good primary wax/sealant on helps with this. Mark
Hmm, no shade in my front yard and the water dry's so fast that I cant wait till I finish even one side to dry. To late at that point. I must have crappy water because the spots will actually have a white mineral like ring around each spot. Not good. So when using the distilled or deionized water, I can easily see having it in the wash water. But how would you rinse with it. Some kind of pressurized sprayer like you would use to spray insecticide?
I had started a thread about using distilled water, in a garden type sprayer. That thread got lost to the ether. Let's keep that discussion going here. But I have to go grill dinner right now. I'll be back with what I remember from the other thread. Mark
Well now that you guys have come full circle...I went through this same dilemma for years and tried every conceivable way of getting my water supply onto the car...I tried bug sprayers, glorified bug sprayers marketed as pet/car washers, electric pumps, I modified a 2 gallon bug sprayer to become a portable and pressurized water source for an electric Karcher pressure washer...and then comes along the Nomad. It's not perfect, but better than all of the alternatives.... YouTube Video on the Nomad that I made showing how I wash my MINI [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvit-8guaxE"]Part 1[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOOQJMxgFrQ"]Part 2[/ame] ShowCarSupplies.com Shopping Cart - Nomad 18V Portable Pressure Washer
I'm a huge fan of the Nomad plus Distilled H20. Not that I get to use it often (I'm kinda passive/aggressive OCD about washing the Mini), but it's a great tool to have when I do feel like washing it!
Wow at 250 bucks you are approaching the cost of a CR spotless de-ionizer. What is your general thoughts about using one of these. Costco seems to have a pretty good price. Costco - CR SPOTLESS De-ionized Water Filtration System
I probably all boils down to the cost to recharge the cylinders with the deionizing resin versus the onetime cost of the Nomad and relatively cheap distilled water? Nomad is 100% portable.
The CR propaganda is saying 300ish gallons of output with a $120 cart. I don't quite understand though. There are cartridges and than there are bags of resin. I thought the cartridges already had the resin inside it? Something is haywire with my logic on how it would work haha
$250? My Nomad was like... half that. Or maybe 1/3 of that. But no where near $200 even. And yeah, it's portable. And will be used to wash my cat shortly...
well I was just going by the nomad website. 250 for the 18v 200 for the 12v. But your right, overstock.com has them for 150
Oh, why are these sold by one of the site sponsors? Ooops, nevermind. I have clicked through all the products on showcarsupplies.com many times. You'd think I could remember that.
I'm going to be very blunt about this as I've had several inquires lately, as well as a heated discussion with the Nomad, TTI Floor Care. I was one of their first California dealers and I was the first to make a demo video showing how the Nomad could be used to wash a car and I got a ton of praise from all the regional reps that thanked me for going out of my way to do that. I also bought a lot of stock for the best prices and gave many away as prizes for AMVIV and other events. I have two units left and one has been spoken for already and I will give her a deal because she is a long time customer and friend of mine. I don't plan to restock because of exactly the things you guys are saying. You can find it cheaper online. As a dealer, I had to buy thousands of dollars of inventory, and when nozzles broke, I was hounding Nomad to send me replacement parts so I could get them to my customers. I gave parts from my own units when customers were caught in a jam. When customers wanted to try the Nomads, I loaned away my demo units for people to try. What it comes down to is yes, you can buy the Nomads at or near my cost now from online retailers, which is truly unfair because they offer no support, but that's the way the retail business is these days. When products get returned, I can't sell them as new or return them back to Nomad, I have to eat it. I had one customer recently who I was going to sell a demo model to because she didn't want to pay the normal price. I felt uneasy about her and didn't want to sell her a new unit because I had the feeling she was going to return it but she insisted she had to have a new unit. Sure enough, a week later, she told me that distilled water was too expensive and demanded I refund her money. I don't expect everyone to buy the products I sell, but I want to make this clear. I do NOT price match because NOBODY offers the kind of support before and after sales like I do and frankly it's insulting to be even asked that. Off the soapbox now. Richard
Let's see...$250 is retail price. half of that is $125. You're saying that maybe you bought it for 1/3rd of $250? So more like $80? Are you talking about the 18V Nomad or the 12v unit that runs off the car battery?? Oh wait..West Hollywood.....Cat...Who was I talking to about washing the cat recently....JOE??????