HELP! Horrible hard water spots!

[Zach5.9CTD]

Hey guys, so today i washed my truck, and apparently my water softener has decided to quit working as i washed my truck as i always do and within mere minutes of washing and rinsing various panels of my truck i had HORRIBLE hard water spots that were baking onto my paint and windsheild/windows.  Never had this problem before. 

 

Anyway, ive tried cleaning my glass with glass cleaner and its not getting the spots at all, and im clueless on what to use on paint as i spent 30 hours correcting it a month ago and ill be d@mned if im going to do anything to swirl/mar/scratch my paint without asking here first!

 

From what i can tell from a quick evaluation is it seems the glass, hood and roof of the truck have the worst water spots - chrome front bumper and grill also has some nasty spots. 

 

Anyway, where the heck do i start with this mess, what do i need to do to get clarity back into my windows, paint and bumpers!

 

 

 

Heres a few pics!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of these are really hard to see due to HUGE lack of light as i wasnt able to get pictures until after dark, but believe me, its FAR worse than any of the stories these pictures tell!!

 

What do i need to do, where do i start and what do i need to get to erase this HORRIBLE picture!

[07stanggt]

Well first I would start with a clay bar to see how much of the water spots you can get rid of, and then you are going to have to pull your PC machine out and start doing a paint correction, all over again. Steel wool will work great on the windows, get some vineager and rub the spots if they dont come out with the steel wool, finish up with some Adams window cleaner and you should be good on the windows. The paint you are going to have to work with. Small sections so you can see how it's going, looks like you'll have to do the car again.Putting a coat of sealant on will help to eliminate some of this problem next time, if there is a next time !!

[Zach5.9CTD]

the truck has Sealant > Glaze > Buttery on it now.

[red94chev]

Wow, that is really bad. Like stang said, I would start with clay, if nothing from that try revive, and last case is polish again.

[BitterGreg]

Question? When you have protection on your car, do water spots have to eat through the protection first before it eats through the clearcoat? If so, how long in theory would you have. I have been able to get water spots off of paint with an AIO, that have been on there for months if not years.

[Studdabaker]

I live in a place with really hard water.  Does anyone use one of those portable RV water softeners?  Would they work?

 

Thanks!

[BitterGreg]

I live in a place with really hard water.  Does anyone use one of those portable RV water softeners?  Would they work?

 

Thanks!

Here is the most popular option I have seen. There are more cost effective options as well, but I am not sure how durable they are.

 

http://www.crspotless.com/

[JHL88]

There are several vendors that sell water spot removers. I know of one that works really well.

[Zach5.9CTD]

Like I said before. I have paint sealant then glaze than buttery. Looking for least invasive method to remove these. Windows are worse than paint.

[The Guz]

You can polish the glass. 

[PacificNWBuckeye]

I wonder if you could get away with stripping your wax/sealant off since the spots should be sitting on that and not down to the paint. Maybe try some diluted APC in an area and see if it makes a difference, if it does then you would just need to re-seal and wax.

[Zach5.9CTD]

Well I took a stab tonight n grabbed my "SOS" style scratch free glass top stove scrubber and some full strength APC. I worked the pad and APC both vertically and horizontally and finished up with ammonia based glass cleaner.

 

To my suprised that knocked out a solid 90% of the water spots. Can still see some rings but their far fewer and much lighter. May try same application with some 0000 steel wool to finish up.

[Chris@Adams]

Since they are fresh Revive Polish should easily remove them.

[Zach5.9CTD]

Ok. Only areas I see are bad are hood roof and front bumper.

[Zach5.9CTD]

i looked again in direct light and their all over the paint, just not as bad in vertical areas (doors etc) vs flat surfaces and side of truck that got direct sunlight.I

 

m going to try APC first - full strength - and see what that does, then i will try clay after that.  What should i use to worjk the APC with, just an ordinary MF towel?

Edited June 3, 2015 by Zach5.9CTD

[Ricky Bobby]

I'd use a damp MF towel, and yes an all purpose MF should work fine

 

Do it on a cool surface in the shade