hard water spots

[project71nova]

what is the best way to remove hard water spots and light scratches from your paint. Is the nu finish scratch doctor stuff any good?

[formula]

water spots are actually mineral deposits left on the surface. Wash the car thoroughly, then clean the surface with a claybar. Should take most of the actual minerals out, but damage may be left behind. From there you'll have to polish your paint.

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/how-to.html

I don't really trust nu-finish personally--but the only way to really find out if you like something or not is to try it on a small area and see how it turns out. I use mostly meguiars stuff on my daily cars and a lot of the stuff from autopia there for my hotrods.

[dhutton]

Try vinegar on the hard water spots. Should lift them right off.

[formula]

Try vinegar on the hard water spots. Should lift them right off.

Thought I was the only person who did that--most people look at me like i'm a nutjob, so i've stopped suggesting it. But yes, fill a spray bottle with vinegar and water and spray it before you claybar. Then just use the claybar to get any leftovers, thennnnnn polish.

[Yoda4561]

If you use vinegar be sure to give the car a good wash afterwards, If your paint is in otherwise good shape it won't cause any issues, but if there's bare metal or cracks in the paint where you can't see things could get ugly. A thorough wash and rinse will take care of any trapped vinegar before it can cause problems.

[65impSS]

I recently found the best product to remove hard water spots. Its called Water spot remover by P&S. Its an acid cleaner so you have to dilute it depending on how bad the spots are. I used it on my 03 silverado on the door jams and engine compartment where the spots collect. Go to www.pssales.com (http://www.pssales.com) they are out of northern california. They also make a great polish called ultra coat polish. After using their products you wont need anything else. Hope this helps.

[JRouche]

Hard water spots are a killer. I had to have one of my cars parked outside while in the condo. Sure enough the sprinklers would hit it every morning. No matter what I did I couldnt get them out. Maybe my problem was I washed and waxed the car normally. And so maybe the deposits got sealed in with the wax?? But.... I never tried the vinegar or acid wash. Sounds like it could work. If the hard water was calcium or some other base mineral. If you get some other junk thats not reactive to acid then a buffing might be needed. JR