After spending hours, sometimes days, properly detailing a car, the moment of joy arrives. Your friends see all the hard work that went into making your car ready for her close-up. You all make the drive to Starbucks and exchange stories, talk about future purchases, etc. As you walk out and arrive to your glistening baby on four wheels, you realize the dreaded sprinklers have gone off. Usually not a problem, except, it managed to hydrate your car as well as the shrubs.

How a tiny little drop of water can ruin our whole day. You hurry home and open the war chest. Do you polish, wax, compound???? You can’t decide but remember this crazy detailer on 6speed that always posts his MoeTips. What would Moe do? You search all the threads and now are more confused than before. Well, don’t panic. Help is on the way.

First, let’s examine what just happened. Think back to when you were ten years old, some of you need only to reflect on yesterday. What happened to that poor little ant when the power of the sun was harnessed into a beam of light focused by the trusty magnifying glass? The intense heat sent the ant into a brief state of heat stroke; in the name of science of course. Well, the same is happening to your paint. The water spot acts as the magnifying glass and as it dries, whatever is in the water reacts with the clear coat. The water may contain hard minerals such as calcium, sodium, lime, or even fertilizers. If it has rained and the sun comes out, you have acid rain to worry about. The effects of this process can cause varying degrees of issues that need to be diagnosed and addressed by a proper body shop or professional detailer.

Water Spotting: 1:1 Scale



Water Spotting: 10x Magnification





How to remedy the water spots can be as simple as a wash or, in the extreme, wetsanding or repainting. Most water spots can be remedied with a simple wash and some mild polish. The key is good lighting. Fluorescent light is best here. Tilt your head back and forth and examine the paint at eye level. You may need the aid of a magnifying glass. Note: DO NOT DO THIS OUTDOORS IN THE SUN!!!! You should be able to see the water spot and how deep it is. After a proper wash and dry, try polishing the water spot with a mild polish such as Menzerna Final Polish, Zymol HD-Cleanse, P21S Paint Cleanser, or einszett Paint Polish. This will usually do the trick.

If plan A fails, go to plan B. You will need a Dual Action polisher and some high quality pads from Lake Country and Menzerna’s Nano Polish or Super Intensive (SIP) Polish. On lighter color cars, you can use SIP and the Orange CCS Curved Pads from Lake Country. On darker colored cars, you will need to follow the SIP stage with the Nano Polish and White CCS Curved pads. After this step, you will need to wax any area polished previously.

If plan A and B have failed, it will need to be taken to a reputable body shop or professional detailer. He/She will decide the proper remedy to the situation. As with anything, take the path of least resistance first.

Coming up:

Cleaning glass. Easy as 1-2-3
Exterior trim: Clean, feed, and protect

 

Thanks Moe. When are the 6speeders getting some 'WWMD?' Glistening Perfection t-shirts?

 

Water spots suck. Good tips.

I use the Menz IP with the orange pad followed by Menz FP with the white pad on my yellow car. Works quite well with the PC.

 

Would you consider Titanium Metallic (dark silver metallic) a light or dark color? I'm debating on trying SIP or Nano or SIP+Nano for some minor corrections.

 

That one you'd want to use the SIP+Nano combo. Colors like Arctic Silver, Polar Silver, yellow, white, etc. are the true light colors.

 

What's WWMD?

 

What Would Moe Do?

 

That is priceless.... I'll get the designers to start on it.

 

Moe

What kind of lighting do you use when detailing indoors? I've seen professional detailers with lights on stands. I enjoy detailing at night because it's cooler, but my garage lighting isn't really adequate and I'm forced to move around at a bunch of different angles to catch the imperfections.

 

My lighting always varies deputy. I'm hopping from one client to another all the time. I'm fortunate that most my clients have ample lighting in their garages like florescent. I would highly recommend you installing them in your garage. Always go with more light. To check my work, I use the new LED Maglite. It mimics the sun and if my work looks acceptable under that light, then I know I’ve passed any other light.

 

I've seen detailers using lighting on stands. They look like something they travel with. What type of lights are those?

Also, when you use fluorescents (and I assume you mean 6 foot long tube style), do you leave them bare or are they in housings?

 

You can get the 1000W or 500W halogens from sears. It will help as well. I find it too bulky and I rely on my maglite; but I've also been doing this for over a decade. So if you're going to machine polish with a DA and want to check your work or have good halogen lighting, get the Craftsman halogens. As for the fluorescent lights, yes, the 6 foot ones. It doesn't matter if it's covered; it's more of an esthetic issue. I like mine to look neat and covered at home.

 

I can't thank you enough for this tip. This problem has plagued me for years.

 

Glad to be of service

 

You may want to try using 106FF, or NanoPolish instead of the Final Polish. It has much better ingredients and gives you a greater polished look. It's less dusting and easier to work with as well.