I don't know about you guys, but hard water spots are probably the single most frustrating aspect of car ownership and maintenance for me. Well, maybe paying California's highway robbery registration fees is worse (but at least I get such good return on my investment in the form of excellent infrastructure...).
Anyway, water spots have been an annoyance for as long as I've been washing my cars, but they jumped to the top of the list after moving to Ventura county eight years ago. The water coming out of the pipes up here is, quite simply, the hardest, nastiest, most calcified form of bonded hydrogen and oxygen I've ever seen.
Whenever I wash a car I have to ensure every drop of water is wisked away by towel, before it dries naturally on the paint, or I'm left with the white, bird-poop-like spots you see in the inset photo above. If it's sunny out, and the car is a dark color (like, say, Midnight Blue), the process feels like an automotive Whack-a-Mole game. "There's a spot! Get it! There's another one! Quick! Dry it!"
And these spots are more than just cosmetically unappealing. I've been lazy a few times by simply washing the Ford GT and driving it around before parking it, hoping the air-dry effect would be good enough. It wasn't, and the car is now littered with spots that aren't going away with standard cleaning and polishing efforts. Yes, I know there are a bunch of products that are supposed to remove these, but I've already tried a few with limited success, and even if I find something that works it's still a major PIA to have to deal with.
I'd been hearing about various water softener and anti-spotting devices for years but finally tried one recently called Ionic Clean. This kit runs the water through a cannister that is supposed to de-ionize tap water and pull out the impurities (minerals, etc.) that cause the spotting. I was a bit skeptical but figured anything was better than the manic process I go through after every car washing.
Hooking it up was about as easy as you'd expect. Attach your garden hose to one end and whatever nozzle you typically use to the other. The kit also includes a telescopic pole and brush, but these didn't put out the kind of pressure I wanted so I used my standard spray nozzle instead (though the pole/brush combo would be good for reaching household windows if you're tired of dealing with spots on those).
The Ionic Clean cannister isn't particularly light. Thankfully, the extra hose coming off the output end means you can walk all the way around a car without having to move it. There's also an undeniable chemical smell to the cannister. It's not overpowering, but you wouldn't want to store it in your bedroom closet (where you put all your other automotive accessories, right?).
The instructions say you can use the Ionic Clean to rinse off a car after washing it with standard tap water. A dial on the cannister allows you to switch from tap water to de-ionized water easily, and because it's only the final rinse you have to worry about, at least in terms of spotting, sticking with standard tap water for the bulk of the washing process can extend filter life.
The instructions also say that if you rinse with de-ionized water you can just let the car air dry, with no towel or squeegee action required -- even in bright sunlight. This I found hard to believe.
But after washing my Ford GT I did just that -- let the water bead up on the paint and simply waited for it to dry. This was actually more difficult than I thought, as every instinct was telling me to quickly dry the thing off with a towel.
After about 30 minutes most of the car was dry, but plenty of water droplets remained. The day wasn't as sunny as I'd hoped, with clouds intermittently blocking the sun as I waited, but I was still surprised at how long it took to dry. It was almost like the the water was "wetter" than usual. I'm guessing that without all the impurities in it the water simply takes longer to evaporate.
After close to an hour the car was fully dry and the lack of water spots was impressive...but not total. Note the two traces of water spots on the lower, right-hand side of the photo near the windshield. However, compared to what would have been all over the Ford GT's roof with standard tap water, and no toweling off, this was still pretty amazing. And the traces of spotting I did find were easy to remove with a simple swipe of a damp cloth, which isn't the case if I leave standard Ventura county tap water on the GT for an hour.
When all was said and done I was satisfied with the Ionic Clean's effect and will use it going forward. Contrary to its claims, I'm not trying to remove all manual drying efforts from the process (I'm not that lazy...yet). Just knowing I can casually dry a car off, even in bright sunlight, and not be left with nasty, hard-to-remove water spots because I wasn't fast enough or thorough enough in my drying dance is a major improvement.
At around $250 the kit isn't cheap, but after the initial purchase you only have to replace the $50 filters about every 50-75 minutes of use. And because you only have to de-ionize the water during the final rinse those 50-plus minutes should take awhile to accumulate. Still, if you don't have the same mineral water flowing from your tap that I do you could likely give the Ionic Clean a pass.
I'm just happy to report there will be no more entertaining the neighbors with my "Driveway Whack-a-Mole" dance.
By opfreakx
on June 29, 2010
05:13 AM
the mr. clean car wash system does something similar for waay less.
Otherwise, I find any left over water spots disappear easly if you do a cleaner wax or light polish RIGHT after washing & drying. So that they dont have a chance of completely drying.
Had a black car for 7+ years. IMHO the most annoying thing was wax that got stuck in every little crack and turned white, I wish there was an easy cure for removing that.
By pat1usmc
on June 29, 2010
05:59 AM
If I lived in an area with hard water again that system would be well worth the price. I remember trying the Mr. Clean back when it came out and I was not happy with it.
I would also dry it off normally afterwords since you still have to wipe off the door jams, hood, trunk and engine and theres no way I'd just let my wet car sit there. I need a sense of completion!
Out of curiosity, how often do you really wash your GT? Cars that never see rain are great because a gentle wipe down with detailing spray usually does the job so you avoid the scratches and swirls that inevitably come from washes.
By 06scooby
on June 29, 2010
06:12 AM
yeah here in Reno we have absolutely no humidity and pretty hard water so drying the car is a speed game. I use the Mr. Clean setup and it works good enough. Like you I wasn't looking for something that would allow me to not towel dry it at all... I just wanted something that would allow me to actually dry the car. It leaves a little bit of residue (but reduces it significantly) but nothing that can't be fixed by running the damp chamois over it.
By vvk
on June 29, 2010
07:18 AM
Wow, this is impressive!
I prefer to wash my car in the rain because of water spots. This way I don't need to dry it. It probably does not rain often enough in S.Ca for you to do this on regular basis.
By ralphhightower
on June 29, 2010
07:59 AM
I get my water from a well and it's hard water. I'm frustrated like you.
I've been thinking about getting something like that from Griot's Garage.
Their inline water softener is just $130. http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/car+care/car+washing/car+cleaning+tools/in-line+water+softener+%26+deionizer+with+fittings.do
They have a portable water deionizer for $369. http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/car+care/car+washing/car+cleaning+tools/portable+water+deionizer.do
By estreka
on June 29, 2010
09:16 AM
For that price, I think I'd just buy a water softener.
Keep us updated if you find something better, Karl.
By greenpony
on June 29, 2010
09:41 AM
A very helpful write-up Karl, thanks. I too have tried a couple "cheap" systems that claim to do the same thing. They didn't. Unfortunately for $250 I'd be willing to just put up with a little extra time drying my cars.
By greenpony
on June 29, 2010
09:41 AM
One more thing, how much is your registration fee in California?
By andersendl
on June 29, 2010
09:46 AM
Have a midnight blue '96 Porsche 911, and fairly hard water where I live. Unless the car is really dirty or muddy, I use a spray-on car wash product from a well-known online car cleaning and garage accessory retailer.
It really works well and is so much quicker and easier - just a spray bottle and two towels - than dragging out the hose, bucket and all the other stuff needed to wash a car.
Of course, sometimes you just want or need to do a full wash and wax job, but for day-to-day (or week-to-week if I don't drive it much) cleaning, much prefer this spray-on stuff.
By blueguydotcom
on June 29, 2010
09:50 AM
Dang, what a pain. $50 per 75 minutes of use? So like 2-3 washes?
I'll just go to a hand car wash. Yeah, yeah it's an exotic, etc. I get it and yet don't. Haven't washed a car by hand in probably 7-8 years and I do not plan to ever again wash a car by my own hand. It's a chore I do not find appealing.
By knitbeanie
on June 29, 2010
11:55 AM
By estreka on June 29, 2010 9:16 AM
For that price, I think I'd just buy a water softener.
- if you are talking about conventional water softeners (the home type), then you are sorely mistaken.
those water softeners work by adding salt to the water, which would still make white drying spots on paint, in addition to the fact that salt isnt good for metal...
Karl - im sure that product works decently enough, but you would have been better off going with a regular DI unit meant for home drinking water.
that griots garage thing is fine too (griots tends to be really overpriced, so im sure you can find an equivalent product cheaper somewhere else), but the replacement filter cost is highway robbery.
im sure there is a way to disassemble the canister and add in your own DI resin, which goes for much cheaper in small bulk quantities on ebay etc.
for me, optimum no rinse solves these problems, using it is terrifying and totally counterintuitive at first, but like many with high dollar cars, i have been turned into a believer. check it out sometime.
By thomasbarker01
on June 29, 2010
05:16 PM
It's things like hard water stains that make me thankful to live in Tennessee. I almost never have to hand dry my truck.
By eidolways
on July 1, 2010
09:44 PM
A quick and easy way to reduce the number of water spots you have to worry about when drying is to, when you've fully rinsed your car off, take the sprayer nozzle off the end of your hose and then let the water from the hose run over and off your car. You want to avoid splashing, as the point is to be as smooth and gentle with the water as possible. When the water sheets off your car, it leaves fewer large drops of standing water, so there's less you have to dry. It's a simple thing, but it really does help!
By waterboyz
on July 28, 2010
03:13 PM
The difference between a Mr. Clean and the Ionic Clean is .3 GPM of flow to .7 GPM of flow of deionized water output. On average it takes 3 gallons to rinse a car. That’s 10 minutes (which is a very long time standing around) for the MR. Clean to about 4 ½ minutes for the Ionic Clean. Most people don't get a spot free rinse from the MR Clean becuase they don't take the time needed to completely rinse the vehicle.
The Ionic Clean filter is more than 12 times larger than the Mr. Clean, thus it treats 12 times more water. Taking this into consideration, comparatively the filter cost of the Ionic Clean is a value (12x$7.99=$95.88). On average the Ionic Clean filter will last between 40 to 75 gallons depending on the TDS in the supply water. At 3 gallons to rinse the cost per use is between $2.00 and $3.75.
Water softeners replace Calcium and Magnesium with sodium particles. Typically if you have 200 Parts per Million of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) input the water softener it will put out 200 PPM of sodium. Anything more than about 17 PPM of TDS will make visible water spots.
Rain water likes to condense on dirt particles. That’s way after it rains your car looks really dirty. Although, the dirt can precipitate out and then you are good to go. Just don’t draw the water from the bottom of the barrel.
A couple of side benefits of using deionized water are the when using soap you use less. That’s because soap emulsifies dirt particles (bonds them together). Since there are no particles in DI water for the soap to work on, it works on the surface more efficiently.
Deionized water has a neutral charge and can neutralize the charge on your cars surface. If you use microfiber to take wax and polish off this is huge, as part of the effectiveness of microfiber is its ability to generate a static charge which holds more particles. Ever wonder way your car gets so dusty after waxing? Rinse it with DI water and it won’t attract dust.