Water Spots???

[JMitch19]

We just moved into a new house. The water here is killing me. I can't dry a car fast enough to keep the spots off of it. These are not the kind of spots I'm use to, they look like I drew on the car with chalk. They are all over our sinks, well pretty much anything water touches. Whats really important to me is keeping the spots off our cars. I use a power washer, I'm wondering if anyone has come up with any good filtering idea to keep spots off.

I was thinking of getting one of those in-line filters that are normally put under the sink and making something to mount two of them in-line before the power wash.

[Van B]

Do you have a water softener? I know we have really hard water across the lake here in WI. Sounds like hard water spots.

[chicane67]

Vinegar works well to remove hard water spots... but it reeks when you are done with the work.

[nancejd]

I like my Mr. Clean Autodry. My water isn't too hard here, but it drys spot free. I wash my car like I normally do to get the grime off, and then just hose it down and let it dry.

[JMitch19]

Thanks for the responses. We don't have a softener. We are looking at different filtering systems and softeners, not sure which is better for our needs. We need to do something though.

I did however find one good use for this crap water. I finally got my front sub frame totally disassembled and I power washed 36 yrs of crap off this thing. I don't think anything has ever been off this car before. Shocks were still origanal and all parts had gm stampings. I did more cutting than unbolting.

[patriot68]

outside water isnt softened even if you have a water softner..not good for the plants/grass...

[formula]

it kinda sucks to have to do it every time, but just so you know a claybar should take care of those spots...

[TonyL]

An inline filter system from your local Home Depot will help.

Be sure to use both a "yarn" type and an activated carbon filter, with the yarn type inline first.

[rockdogz]

Here's one made for the car: From Griott's

[zbugger]

an inline filter system from your local home depot will help be sure to use a "yarn" type and activated carbon filter with the yarn type first.

Wow.... Nice punctuation there Tony. I take it you were in hurry?

[68fusion]

We use deionized water that runs through a special tank...from a company called dracor..you can wash a black car in the middle of the day in july and not dry it. Kinda expensive though, and the tank only lasts about 4to6 months.

[JMitch19]

I think that I might just get that Griott filter looks like a nice piece.

Anyone have any experience with whole home filtering systems vs. water softeners.

[Kenova]

A water softner will help. I'll bet when most installers put a water softner in your home, they don't seperate the outside taps.
You could also try running a solution of dishwasher anti-spotting agent and water through the pressure washer when you rinse. I've had reasonably good results mixing a 1/2 cap of Jet Dry with a gallon of water. Then I run that through the pressure washer when I do the final rinse.
Ken

[Van B]

outside water isnt softened even if you have a water softner..not good for the plants/grass...

Ahh, that's why you have the garage hose bibb plumbed from the softened side.

[indyjps]

i had a well @ my previous house, used two filters. one a yarn type on the outbound of the well pump to remove sediment, another "finer" filter prior to the water softener. used a special anode rod in the water heater. a little off subject.
in my current home i have a sink in garage that runs softened water and can run a hose from it to wash the car in hot or warm water. very nice.