washing truck with hard water

Water in my municipality is very hard. Because of the hard water, after washing my truck at home, the truck sometimes looks worse than before it was washed because of all the hard water stains that are left on the truck once it dries. Does anyone have advice of how to deal with this issue? I prefer to wash my truck by hand at home. Using water from a water softener to wash my truck is out of the question. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thank-you.

 

Welcome to TW brother! Check out the detailing thread for more info. I also have extremely hard water. The hotter it is when I wash the truck, the worse the problem, so I only wash in the morning or evening during hot weather. After washing, I do a quick (not that thorough) dry. I then spray the truck with a 10% vinegar solution, and dry thoroughly. This works, as the vinegar will dissolve solids in the water that cause it to be "hard". The potential drawback is that the vinegar may remove your wax. At 10% this is probably not going to happen very quickly. If it does, you may have to rewax. If water continues to bead on your finish, then your wax is probably still doing it's job. If the vinegar scares you, try distilled water first. Hope this helps.

 

i use wax as you dry on my truck.......i spray it on wet then wipe the truck dry with an absorber. no spots what so ever

 

Just dry really fast in the shade. I use a premoistened clean chamois to re-wet the water spots and it does a great job. Just keep your waxing up and they should wipe off easily.

 

I also have a hard water. What i do is, dry the truck as normal. Then I quickly follow up with a good quick detailer spray and microfiber cloth and all spots are gone.

 

why is using water from water softener out of the question?? The obvious would be that u dont have a water softener, but is there another reason??

sounds like Grand River water!! Am I right on that one???

 

Hard water is dissolved calcium and magnesium and it will stick to everything it comes into contact with. I have to wonder why a softener is out of the question also it would be the best/easiest solution.

The only solutions other than the softener is to use the spot free rinse at the DIY car wash (make sure they use soft water). I've also been told then Mr Clean product that hooks to your hose is a tiny water softener.

Just like your dishes and tub/shower soap needs hard water in order to spot.

 

www.watersticks.com

Quite pricey but it does work.

 

Doesn't the "Mr. Clean" car wash kit attach to the hose, quick dry "spotlessly", and remedy hard water? I haven't had the problem myself. I know where I'll be moving to soon has hard warter issues though, so this is of interest to me. I know I've had friends in the past use it.

$90 Mr. Clean AutoDry Car Wash System Starter Kit

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Clean-AutoDry-System-Starter/dp/B0006M56CE

http://purpleslice.com/
I've been using PURPLE SLICE forever on my bike and it works great. A little labor intensive for a whole truck, but I'll probably still use it at times for my tacoma. At least in trouble spots, or where I clean constantly. Just spray on a micro fiber cloth and wipe, no streaks and takes off anything.

 

waterless??

 

purple slice is waterless, just spray and wipe

 

just touch up ur truck with a window clear after. or some liquid wax.

 

or, soak a rag, rinse it, wipe the area that was been spotted and with a dry rag wipe off the water left from the rinsed rag. it shouldnt be much

 

Rubbing Alcohol works wonders but it also strips the paint of any wax so you will have to wax when you're done