Water spot etching on stripes

[pilotgore]

My car got stuck in the rain while I had a repair man working in the garage on the water heater. Looks like I have some water spots on the stripes that won’t come off. I have a coat of wax on the stripes too. Any other way I can protect against this happening again?

So anytime you have water on any surface and it’s allowed to evaporate you’ll get a spot, unless the water is distilled and the surface was 100% clean. A water spot is simply dried up deposits from whatever was on the surface already or contained in the water. A carnuba wax, synthetic sealant, or silica based “nano coating” (ceramic coat) all do the same thing... they help repel water and make it harder for anything to stick.

Vinyl is usually very porous and therefor more likely to hold onto left over water deposits and doesn’t repel water as easily as clear coat.

The simplest way to get rid of the spots would be with an all in one cleaner/polish/wax like a meguires tech wax 2.0 ( https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...VUNbACh04hAFCEAQYAiABEgLMEPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds )

Other than that, a 3500 grit polish would do the trick to remove spots, followed by something to protect it.

I’ve been detailing cars on a professional level for over a decade, and although I’ve done ceramic coatings on over a dozen cars, I’m not 100% sold on it. It’s good stuff for the most part, but it comes with a set of long term challenges that to me offset the short term benefits.

Sponsored

 

[geepaw]

I have ceramic pro gold...had a tree sap drop get on the car while at work and still got white spot..(washed it the same day when I got home). So ceramic is not a guarantee for not getting spots...My issue was that it was a hot day. I love ceramic for the most part..but as the
Detailer said ..it is not 100% fool proof. FWIW...my car Still looks like new ..other than one white spot ;)

 

[TxGT350-52]

I’ve been detailing cars on a professional level for over a decade, and although I’ve done ceramic coatings on over a dozen cars, I’m not 100% sold on it. It’s good stuff for the most part, but it comes with a set of long term challenges that to me offset the short term benefits.

Do you mind expanding on the long term challenges of ceramic coatings? I am considering using it for the first time on my car, so your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[FDHog]

I use F11. If you do get water spots, just wipe with more F11 and they're gone.
I have a couple of coats on my Magnetic and it looks great.

 

[pilotgore]

Do you mind expanding on the long term challenges of ceramic coatings? I am considering using it for the first time on my car, so your thoughts are appreciated.

Sure thing.

Most ceramic coatings are like a second clear coat for your car. Your cars clear coat is there to protect your color coat, and it’s super hard. The ceramic coating’s purpose is specifically to enhance shine, help repel water (hydrophobic), and add protection.

Hydrophobic coatings aren’t nearly as hard as the clear coat on your car. If something scratches the paint or clear coat of your car, typically you’d polish it out. However, when you polish your car after it’s been coated with a hydrophobic, you have to wear down/remove the ceramic coat in order to get down to the lower levels of clear and paint. The surrounding area that you didn’t polish will have a high sheen, and the area you polished will have the sheen of your regular clear coat (which is noticeable different, particularly in dark colored cars.) Simply reapplying the coating in the one particular area will not have the desired result of evening the sheen out. So... the only correct way to correct the problem is to remove the ceramic coating from the entire panel, and reapply over the entire panel. Since the coating is decently thick/hard, it’s a royal paint in the butt. I’ve spent hours on one panel taking the ceramic coat off using 2500 grit polish.

Even if you don’t scratch your car, the ceramic coating will wear out over time (usually 1-5 years depending on the environment). As the coating unevenly wears, you’ll get the sheen differences I was discussing, but all over the car in different areas. Some people notice it more than others.... and some never notice it if they recoat the car every few years.

If you plan to ever take your car through a car wash that isn’t touchless, you’re more likely to see what appear to be swirls/clear coat scratches since the ceramic coating isn’t as hard as your regular clear and can be scratches easier.

It’s hard to explain all of this over text without pictures, but believe me it looks bad. If you ask a professional Detailer if they love ceramic coatings almost all will say yes, because it’s a huge profit center for them. Then ask them if they’ve done it to their own car, and the answer is almost always no, because they know how complicated it can be after the initial application.

I’m not saying don’t do it, but I’d weigh the possible pain against the minuscule gain. All of this of course is just my opinion.

 

[ReapSow]

Sure thing.

Most ceramic coatings are like a second clear coat for your car. Your cars clear coat is there to protect your color coat, and it’s super hard. The ceramic coating’s purpose is specifically to enhance shine, help repel water (hydrophobic), and add protection.

Hydrophobic coatings aren’t nearly as hard as the clear coat on your car. If something scratches the paint or clear coat of your car, typically you’d polish it out. However, when you polish your car after it’s been coated with a hydrophobic, you have to wear down/remove the ceramic coat in order to get down to the lower levels of clear and paint. The surrounding area that you didn’t polish will have a high sheen, and the area you polished will have the sheen of your regular clear coat (which is noticeable different, particularly in dark colored cars.) Simply reapplying the coating in the one particular area will not have the desired result of evening the sheen out. So... the only correct way to correct the problem is to remove the ceramic coating from the entire panel, and reapply over the entire panel. Since the coating is decently thick/hard, it’s a royal paint in the butt. I’ve spent hours on one panel taking the ceramic coat off using 2500 grit polish.

Even if you don’t scratch your car, the ceramic coating will wear out over time (usually 1-5 years depending on the environment). As the coating unevenly wears, you’ll get the sheen differences I was discussing, but all over the car in different areas. Some people notice it more than others.... and some never notice it if they recoat the car every few years.

If you plan to ever take your car through a car wash that isn’t touchless, you’re more likely to see what appear to be swirls/clear coat scratches since the ceramic coating isn’t as hard as your regular clear and can be scratches easier.

It’s hard to explain all of this over text without pictures, but believe me it looks bad. If you ask a professional Detailer if they love ceramic coatings almost all will say yes, because it’s a huge profit center for them. Then ask them if they’ve done it to their own car, and the answer is almost always no, because they know how complicated it can be after the initial application.

I’m not saying don’t do it, but I’d weigh the possible pain against the minuscule gain. All of this of course is just my opinion.

Would you please expand on the part about.... as the coat unevenly wears please? I'm curious as to why a properly applied coating would wear off at different rates causing sheen differences that are noticeable, WITH a properly cared for coating. While I'd be in agreement that no coating or paint or clear would be applied with the same exact thickness, I have seen ceramics 5-7 years later still protecting paint with no discernable sheen differences that I could pick out. Thanks!

 

[pilotgore]

Would you please expand on the part about.... as the coat unevenly wears please? I'm curious as to why a properly applied coating would wear off at different rates causing sheen differences that are noticeable, WITH a properly cared for coating. While I'd be in agreement that no coating or paint or clear would be applied with the same exact thickness, I have seen ceramics 5-7 years later still protecting paint with no discernable sheen differences that I could pick out. Thanks!

Essentially I’m referring to different sections of the car receive more wear/tear than other parts which wears the coating down faster. This is true for paints as well. The top facing surfaces (hood/roof/trunk lid) receive the most abuse and therefor wear the fastest. Followed by front bumper and aft of tires. I’m not saying everyone has the proper eye to pick out this type of wear, but it definitely happens.

I’m not trying to argue at all, but how do you know that what you’re looking at 5-7 years later is a hydrophobic coating and not the clear coat? Modern ceramic based clear coats are on order of magnitude harder than automotive hydrophobic coatings (often referred to as ceramic coatings.)

Like most things, car detailing is a very subjective thing. If you think one brand or product is better than another, then use whatever your brain tells you looks best.

 

[pilotgore]

Essentially I’m referring to different sections of the car receive more wear/tear than other parts which wears the coating down faster. This is true for paints as well. The top facing surfaces (hood/roof/trunk lid) receive the most abuse and therefor wear the fastest. Followed by front bumper and aft of tires. I’m not saying everyone has the proper eye to pick out this type of wear, but it definitely happens.

I’m not trying to argue at all, but how do you know that what you’re looking at 5-7 years later is a hydrophobic coating and not the clear coat? Modern ceramic based clear coats are on order of magnitude harder than automotive hydrophobic coatings (often referred to as ceramic coatings.)

Like most things, car detailing is a very subjective thing. If you think one brand or product is better than another, then use whatever your brain tells you looks best.

Here’s a great example of what I’m talking about. These pictures were taken after I paint corrected my mustang, before having ppf done. I had about 16 hours of work wrapped up in this car, and it only had 130 miles on it at this point.

Within a day of finishing the work, I had a friend ask what kind of wax I was using because it looked so good and he wanted to use the same product.

A car enthusiast I met through a friend asked me who did the ceramic coat on this car because he said it came out better than the one on his GT3 RS and he wanted to have it redone by “my guy.”

Both people were shocked when I told them there was nothing on this paint. No ceramic coating, no wax, nothing. In prep for the PPF I wet sanded the clear, then polished with 3 different grits, then gave it two alcohol wipe downs to remove any and all waxes/polishes/oils.

As a side note, the total paint thickness on the Gt350 is super thin and I don’t recommend people polishing with anything very aggressive to avoid going through the clear coat. I forget the exact mil thickness, but it was roughly half of three other cars I tested at the same time. Beware!

 

[ReapSow]

Here’s a great example of what I’m talking about. These pictures were taken after I paint corrected my mustang, before having ppf done. I had about 16 hours of work wrapped up in this car, and it only had 130 miles on it at this point.

Within a day of finishing the work, I had a friend ask what kind of wax I was using because it looked so good and he wanted to use the same product.

A car enthusiast I met through a friend asked me who did the ceramic coat on this car because he said it came out better than the one on his GT3 RS and he wanted to have it redone by “my guy.”

Both people were shocked when I told them there was nothing on this paint. No ceramic coating, no wax, nothing. In prep for the PPF I wet sanded the clear, then polished with 3 different grits, then gave it two alcohol wipe downs to remove any and all waxes/polishes/oils.

As a side note, the total paint thickness on the Gt350 is super thin and I don’t recommend people polishing with anything very aggressive to avoid going through the clear coat. I forget the exact mil thickness, but it was roughly half of three other cars I tested at the same time. Beware!

Beautiful car and great job on the paint correction. I'm definitely not trying to argue either and your explanation makes sense. No real scientific proof that the cars I saw were still coated, other than the word of the owners. We did pour water on the hoods which produced the hydrophobic reaction you mentioned.

 

[pilotgore]

Beautiful car and great job on the paint correction. I'm definitely not trying to argue either and your explanation makes sense. No real scientific proof that the cars I saw were still coated, other than the word of the owners. We did pour water on the hoods which produced the hydrophobic reaction you mentioned.

Thanks, I appreciate that!

One final thought... one of my favorite products at current is called reload: https://www.amazon.com/CarPro-Reload-Sealant-milliter-Sprayer/dp/B00L9A0AC8

Initially I was introduced to reload because it’s what the maker of CQuartz recommends you use after applying the ceramic coating to maintain the high hydrophobic properties. After using it and loving it, I used it more like a quick detailer type product on cars that hadn’t been coated with CQuartz. The results have been amazing. Use it on paint, vinyl, plastic, windows.... whatever. I’ll still use a synthetic sealant when time allows since it lasts longer, but this stuff is amazing for what it is.... but I don’t recommend breathing it in for very long

 

[chedder]

I have used diluted (50%) distilled white vinegar to remove water spots. It will not harm the paint, but it will strip any wax. What I did was to wet some cloth and let it sit on the area with the spots a minute or two (in the shade), but not so wet that it runs outside the cloth area. Then used a wet microfiber to wipe away. Might need to repeat, but it worked well for me. Used a cleaner wax afterwards. I have done this on cars with and without ceramic coating. This also works well on glass with water spots.

I had to do my car from hard water overspent, used vinegar and distilled water. Spots came right off.

 

[09cs]

I had to do my car from hard water overspent, used vinegar and distilled water. Spots came right off.

I'll have to try the vinegar/water mix

Sponsored