Auto Detailer Breakdown; Fixing Hard Water Spots

Hard Water Spots On Your Car: Fixing And Preventing Them

When it comes to your car, hard water spots are a lot like freckles. They come seemingly from nowhere, and they get worse the longer you let the sunshine on them.

This analogy has its limits: Unlike freckles, hard water spots are pretty universally disliked. And they’re not nearly as hard to get rid of as unwanted freckles.

Yes, we’re going to spend this whole post on hard water spots. That doesn’t mean that they’re a nightmare, though! You don’t need hours of elbow grease or thousands of dollars to get rid of them. We’re going to be thorough about explaining the origins of hard water spots and (hopefully) just as thorough in explaining their removal and prevention.

Hard water spots aren’t hard to understand; most of what you need to know is right there in the name. Whenever water hits your car, the moisture will eventually evaporate. The solids suspended in the water, though, stay behind. There are endless ways your car could end up with hard water spots. Obviously, rain can cause them, but they might also come from errant lawn sprinklers, improper drying after a car wash, or even the neighborhood kids having fun with squirt guns.

Hard water spots can happen even if you live in an area with remarkably soft groundwater. Regardless of its source, most water that hits your car manages to pick up unwanted solids. Raindrops can pick up smoke, dirt, carbon dioxide, smog, and a host of other contaminants. Water that splashes up from the ground can deliver oil, dirt, rubber, or even gross bits of roadside debris like fecal matter. And unless you’re ridiculously cautious about filtering your water when you wash your car (hint: you don’t have to be), most washes will subject your car to all the minerals and chemicals lurking in your community’s water supply.

The solid residue that hard water leaves behind when it dries is nasty stuff. It doesn’t just make your car look bad. The wide range of potential solids we’re talking about includes substances that can cause serious damage to your car’s finish. Just think about the caustic chemicals that give “acid rain” its name. Hard water spots actually concentrate the contaminants and make them more dangerous as the water evaporates away. As corrosive materials in the spots eat away at your vehicle’s paint, they leave behind pits and craters that can retain more water in the future and speed up the deterioration of your finish.

Hopefully, that last paragraph made the dangers of hard water spots clear. The good news is that you can protect your car from this threat with relative ease. This is one of the best and most practical reasons to treat your car to a healthy layer of protective wax after washing and drying it. A good wax job creates a very literal barrier between your paintwork and the threats posed by hard water. The process is easy and affordable. All you need is a decent chamois to do the drying right and our Pro Wax to create the protective barrier.

Of course, this little discussion comes too late for a lot of us. What if your car already has hard water damage? This, too, can be fixed. In this case, you’ll need microfiber cloths and another pair of our products: Hard Water Spot & Scale Remover and Detailing Spray. Use the microfiber cloth to apply the spot remover. Don’t try to do your whole car at once; work the remover into one section (about two square feet) at a time. Apply the detailing spray after the remover.

Once you’ve gotten all the spots off, it’s time to wash your car. Dry it thoroughly and apply a good coat of wax to protect it in the future.

At Total Car Detailing we are committed to keeping your car clean and cared for. Call us now for your detailing needs or contact us to schedule a detailing time that works best for you. Don’t forget to peek at our blog for more helpful tips on automotive detailing and auto maintenance.

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