Hard Water Solutions?

[AudiSportDre]

I’m currently living in Arizona and my B9 is black. Extremely hard water out here and it’s a pain in the ass to wash and dry the car quickly enough to not get thick water marks on it. I always end up having to go over the whole car with a quick detailer spray. I’m a pretty big detail noob only having began taking it seriously purchasing this car a few months ago.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks on dealing with the hard water? Is their any paint safe chemical to toss into my foam cannon to mitigate all the spots?

Additionally, it’s hot as hell here currently so the water drys up fast even out of direct sun light. So again it’s just been a huge time consuming pain for me. I’m just looking for anyway to cut corners and not have to deal with it as heavily each wash.


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[WhiteShadow89]

I’m currently living in Arizona and my B9 is black. Extremely hard water out here and it’s a pain in the ass to wash and dry the car quickly enough to not get thick water marks on it. I always end up having to go over the whole car with a quick detailer spray. I’m a pretty big detail noob only having began taking it seriously purchasing this car a few months ago.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks on dealing with the hard water? Is their any paint safe chemical to toss into my foam cannon to mitigate all the spots?

Additionally, it’s hot as hell here currently so the water drys up fast even out of direct sun light. So again it’s just been a huge time consuming pain for me. I’m just looking for anyway to cut corners and not have to deal with it as heavily each wash.


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I live in CA, for the time being, and one of my cars is black so I can certainly sympathize with you on harsh water + intense sunlight. Reading your message there are only 2 things you can do about this as you want to save time along with not making your detailing process a nightmare. Option 1, invest in a water softener for your house. If you already have one then I would check to see if it is hooked up to your water spigot for car cleaning along with your filter for replacement. Option 2, invest in an external deionized water system (DI). There are many companies that make DI systems, I personally use CR Spotless. These units tend to be a few hundred bucks and are worth every penny. They utilize replaceable resin cartridges to make your water 0ppm. In theory when it reads 0ppm you don't even have to dry your car, though I still dry my car. It makes cleaning your car quicker and easier. If you don't want to take my word for it, watch the first 5 minutes of this video of a black corvette in the hot FL sun air drying with this unit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnU2KdJIfrY&t=46s

There are no products you can put into your foam cannon or shampoo bucket that will address this. They do make water spot removers, but all that I am aware of need to be rinsed off after applied each time (adds times). Bite the bullet and buy one of the two options above. Water spots are no joke if left unchecked, and your time is worth more than what the unit will cost you.

[doughboy17]

If you are willing to pack up your detailing supplies and take it to a manual/ do it yourself car wash, they may have a distilled water rinse option. That is what I do. Seeing my son and me out there a couple/ few times per month prompted the detail shop manager to approach my son (11 or 12 years old at the time) and tell him to come see him, if he ever needed a job. When he was old enough, it was my son's first job.

[henri12]

You can use the Ultimate Quick Detailer as a drying agent to prevent hard water from staining your paint.

[itsmatt33]

Funny i was just researching water softening options today. Has anyone every heard of an electronic anti scaler. I am reading mixed things. Some swear its snake oil and others swear it has helped with the hardness of their home water.

https://www.costco.com/calmat-electronic-water-treatment-system.product.100581362.html

It sold at lowes and homedepot so i feel like it must have some backing.

[igxqrrl]

I have the same issue. My solution thus far has been to buy distilled water from the grocery store, and use Optimum No Rinse car wash.

The distilled water costs about $0.80/gallon up here in Oregon. I use about two gallons for each car, so it's a lot cheaper than some of the other options I had looked into.

[6SpeedS4]

Optimum No Rinse is a waterless wash but if you dilute it in a sprayer and spray down the car after rinsing it should prevent. You can add a capful to your wash bucket as well.

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