Waterspots, What did I do wrong?

[dmaleck]

Long story short...

 

Put about 20-30 hrs Polishing my Black Silverado to perfection (or close), Very few swirl marks, absolutely no waterspots, paint was glass. Followed it up with ADams Ceramic coat, let it cure for over 24 hrs, everything looked great, felt great, water beads right off.

 

Just did my first wash on the truck, foamed it up, scrubbed her down, washed off and boom... waterspots all over the place. Tried to use detail spray and they come off but it takes quite a bit of force and rubbing to do so. What did I do wrong?? I thought with the ceramic coat the waterspots would come right off? The truck did get rained on a few times while driving ect, but can't imagine they got stuck on that bad.

 

Please let me know!

 

Thanks!

[DaleH]

19 minutes ago, dmaleck said:

I thought with the ceramic coat the waterspots would come right off?

I'll let the experts go into more detail on how to fix this but water spotting is actually common with ceramic coatings... 

[Rich]

Don't use Detail Spray on the Ceramic Coat. Use the Ceramic Boost.  

[dmaleck]

25 minutes ago, Rich said:

Don't use Detail Spray on the Ceramic Coat. Use the Ceramic Boost.  

 

I forgot to put that in there, after the 24 hour cure time and the ceramic coat, I put the ceramic boost on aswell. Doesn't explain why there are hundreds of water spots though?

 

[shane@detailedreflections]

So...with water spots sometimes you can polish them off and it’ll look amazing. But when you put the vehicle in the sun they come back. You should heat cycle to make sure they’re gone. They may not have been truly gone before ceramic coating. 
 

Or with your water spots it could be something with your water. Water spots are usually formed by contamination in the water or hard water. What’s your water situation like?  I’m guessing if they rubbed off you have something going on with your water supply. 

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

Like @shane@detailedreflections said, it could have been from hard water in your water supply.

It could also have been from the rain. It's pretty common for ceramic coatings to show waterspotting.

 

There's a other factors that might be considered:

How long ago did it rain?

How long ago did you coat?

Do you live on a dirt or gravel road?

 

I found that it helps to have a bottle of Waterless Wash in my car and I'll give it a quick wipe down after it rains on the surfaces where water tends to sit.

[dmaleck]

19 hours ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

So...with water spots sometimes you can polish them off and it’ll look amazing. But when you put the vehicle in the sun they come back. You should heat cycle to make sure they’re gone. They may not have been truly gone before ceramic coating. 
 

Or with your water spots it could be something with your water. Water spots are usually formed by contamination in the water or hard water. What’s your water situation like?  I’m guessing if they rubbed off you have something going on with your water supply. 

I know for sure I got them all off during the polishing phase, I pulled my car out into the sunlight multiple times to check for this. It could be from my water.. But It was about 60 degrees and I washed in the shade, there definitely was not enough time for the water spots to dry and harden. Its weird because before the coating, I didn't have any when I would wash.

8 hours ago, Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin said:

Like @shane@detailedreflections said, it could have been from hard water in your water supply.

It could also have been from the rain. It's pretty common for ceramic coatings to show waterspotting.

 

There's a other factors that might be considered:

How long ago did it rain?

How long ago did you coat?

Do you live on a dirt or gravel road?

 

I found that it helps to have a bottle of Waterless Wash in my car and I'll give it a quick wipe down after it rains on the surfaces where water tends to sit.

I did drive in the rain a few times, was real crappy for few days. Like I said above.. I never had any problems with waterspots until I did the coating. Now in the sun it looks like crap everywhere!

[shane@detailedreflections]

3 minutes ago, dmaleck said:

I know for sure I got them all off during the polishing phase, I pulled my car out into the sunlight multiple times to check for this. It could be from my water.. But It was about 60 degrees and I washed in the shade, there definitely was not enough time for the water spots to dry and harden. Its weird because before the coating, I didn't have any when I would wash.

I did drive in the rain a few times, was real crappy for few days. Like I said above.. I never had any problems with waterspots until I did the coating. Now in the sun it looks like crap everywhere!

You know for sure that you got them off by letting it sit outside for a while to look?  Or just by rolling it outside and looking to see and putting it back in?  Unfortunately it needs to be left for a bit to truly tell if they’re gone. 
 

Water spots can come quickly depending on your water. Deposits in the water are typically what form the spots. Is it possibly your car was near a sprinkler anywhere?  Those can be pretty brutal to car finishes as well. 
 

Did you use any different products?  Different mixtures?  There’s a ton of variables that can come into play here.