Hard Water Stains

Noticing some hard water stains along the rubber insulation across the sides of my truck and on the back of my truck surrounding the back glass. Have tried vinegar, water stain remover from chemical guys, everything, nothing is taking the damn stains off.

Was wondering if anyone had the same issue and if you guys found an effective way to get rid of them feel free to let me know!

Thanks!

 

Subscribing. We have hard water here and our neighbor's sprinklers get our cars wet So far it hasn't been too bad as long as I keep the cars waxed and clean them regularly. But, my old truck which didn't get waxed or washed often has some seemingly permanent hard water spots that compound and a random orbital buffer wouldn't remove. But, I bet I could have used a very fine sandpaper followed by the compound. Might be better to start chemically though, I wonder if CLR would do the trick - I think it's safe on paint but you'd want to confirm that. I use it to remove hard water stains from our dog's water bowl and it works great.

 

I had a car come into my shop a few years ago that was parked in an underground garage and had a leaky pipe dripping water on it for a while. Customer didn’t think much of it until they tried to wash the car and the white hard water stains wouldn’t come off. We ended up using CLR, and it did eventually break it down and removed the stains. It needed quick polish afterward, but was good as new.

 

Polish will usually take it off paint, worst case wet sanding might be required, but that doesn’t help you with the rubber trim.

I have had luck with Meguiars heavy duty rubber and vinyl cleaner. If I remember correctly it’s M40.

 

You may also want to ask this over in the "detailing" section of this forum. Thx

 

If it's on the glass barkeepers friend works great. Make up a paste with a little water and just apply like wax. Then wipe off. Not sure if that would damage paint though

 

That's a great tip!

 

Are you sure they're hard water deposits? If they are, a weak acid like vinegar will almost certainly work. Maybe give it more time -- sometimes it can take a half hour or more for the lime deposits to soften.

 

I own a glass company and can't tell you how many calls I get for stained window glass. Usually from hard water sprinkler systems. I could make a lot of money replacing the glass but I always recommend this first...it works !

 

Barkeepers Friend is a modest abrasive combined with some moderate acids (oxalic acid and citric acid, I believe). It's a good way to get the lime-deposit removal properties of gentle acids in combination with efficient mechanical action. I'd try it on the rubber seal, too.

 

Dont waste your time with barkeepers friend, didnt do shit for my hard water spots. My detailer friend said the only thing that works is CRL Water Spot remover.

 

Maybe for paint but bartenders does work on glass. Maybe he's doing it wrong but countless times I've used it with success