Stubborn water spots, advice?

[NJshadow93]

I tried to detail my truck's exterior today, but was not able to get rid of some water spots and other minor defects in the paint. I'm sure I didn't have the right products so I'm looking to get some advice on what I should use.

I did claybar the paint, and that did not take the water spots away. This tells me that they are etched into the paint or clear coat. I tried Turtle Wax premium rubbing compound and that didn't do it either. I just decided to finish the truck off with Meguiar's polishing compound and waxed it after that with Turtle Wax Ice Liquid Wax. The truck looks great after that, nice and shiny, BUT the water spots are still there. Suggestions please??

 

[MpJustice]

Did you apply the compund by hand? What kind of Meguires did you use? If this is autozone type polish might not be strong enough for deep set water spots. You can find good info on detailing cars at autogeeks. com? Net?

 

[NJshadow93]

I used Meguiar's Ultimate Polishing Compound. It didn't take the spots out, just shined it up a bit.

 

[javendan]

Same prob when I had my '96 maxima that was black.

After searching and trying different things... 50/50 water vinegar solution did he trick.

And some elbow grease!

Good luck.

Joel

 

[NJshadow93]

I tried Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, and even that didn't do it! I think I'm just going to not worry about it until spring cleaning when the wax has thinned out, so I don't have to remove it. I'll try the vinegar/water solution. Thanks for the replies, others are welcome as well.

 

[Dusty Driftwood]

I've had some good luck avoiding water spots by using this method
Step 1: wash
Step 2: squeegee
Step 3: Dry with wet Chamois

 

[javendan]

I tried Meguiar's Ultimate Compound

That and a 3M product help... The 50/50 vinegar/water solution and elbow grease was the winner.

Good luck.

Joel

 

[2StepsAhead]

Honestly compounding/polishing by hand is tough, most good compounds need heat to be broken down...gotta use a da or rotary in my opinion. The rain around here has enough acid to etch the paint pretty badly, I would start off leveling the paint with either optimum or meguiars compounds and then polishing out the compound marks with their respective polishes.

 

[JohnnyT]

I tried to detail my truck's exterior today, but was not able to get rid of some water spots and other minor defects in the paint. I'm sure I didn't have the right products so I'm looking to get some advice on what I should use.

I did claybar the paint, and that did not take the water spots away. This tells me that they are etched into the paint or clear coat. I tried Turtle Wax premium rubbing compound and that didn't do it either. I just decided to finish the truck off with Meguiar's polishing compound and waxed it after that with Turtle Wax Ice Liquid Wax. The truck looks great after that, nice and shiny, BUT the water spots are still there. Suggestions please??

You'll need Meguiars M105 polish, followed by their M205, followed by a good sealant.

 

[Koz]

How to remove water spots by hand - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum

Koz