So after purchasing my JK in April and spending a lot of time of road on the beach I decided to finally clean up the rig for Fall. Only problem is I cannot remove the water spots after trying the following:

Spray detail
Compound wax
Vinegar and water
Clay bar

I can't think of anything else besides ordering a chemical specifically for removing hard water spots. I love this Jeep but this color may be a problem. Any thoughts from members?

I'd recommend a good waxing before taking your rig off road. That would have definitely helped reduce my current woes.

 

I've been detailing cars for a long time and also have a black JK. Best stuff I've found to remove water spots is a dedicated paint cleaner, but they're hard to find anymore because everything is "one-step" now! If not, Meguiar's cleaner wax, a good applicator pad and a sh*t ton of elbow grease might do the trick! I did an Audi recently that had a terrible amount of hard water spots, took a lot of scrubbing, but it worked!

If the spots you have are from salt water, might not be as easy to get off. Like you said, make sure to throw on a good coat of wax before going anywhere near salt water and also if you try the cleaner or cleaner wax, I would give it a 2nd coat with a good paste wax afterwards! Good luck!

 

I just ordered chemical guys hard water spot remover. It should arrive by Thursday. Until then I'm going to clay the rest of the jeep and let you guys know how it goes this weekend. I can't believe I'm having such issues but the jeep did bake in the sun on the sand almost every weekend this summer. What a lesson to learn.

 

3M Cleaner Wax. It made my black Jeep look like it was new, I was really surprised how well it worked. Not sure if the 3M Spray Detailer I use after washes helped the Cleaner Wax at all though... Anyway, it's $15 a bottle at Napa along with some elbow grease. Don't forget to tape off your plastics!

 

Yeahhh that'll do it! Letting anything sit on the paint for a period of time, especially in the sun is no bueno! Well good luck, but again, sometimes the best stuff is nice and cheap right at your local auto parts store! Just FYI!

 

Yeah the ironic thing is that I sprayed down the Jeep after leaving the beach to remove the sand and salt. However the drive home is about 4 hours and I'm sure that the water just dried right onto the hot paint otw home. The more I treated the car the more spots I received.

 

It was unlikely that the salt water left water spots. The water will dry and leave a residue, but water spots are typically from hardened minerals found in fresh water like calcium and iron. The spots are most likely from when you sprayed down the vehicle afterwards, and letting that water sit on there left mineral deposits behind.

It sounds like you've already tried the easy/ "over the counter" stuff. Depending on how bad the water was, and how long it was left to bake into the paint, you might be looking at a need to actually cut the surface with an abrasive. If you're not trained with a buffer and the use of abrasives, I'd highly recommend taking it to a detail shop.

A cleaner wax has petroleum distillates which will strip things like old wax buildup, tar, minor spots, bug stains, and some particulates. But sometimes it's not strong enough or can't react with mineral deposits to remove them.

In the future, as other have mentioned, keeping the vehicle waxed, or at least properly washing/drying after an outing can really help reduce any issues with the paint.

 

do you have a water softener at home?

did you know any minerals in the water, run through a softener are replaced by salt?

I have 2 black vehicles and my god are they a PITA

so sexy clean, but my god how much work!?

next time a slate or steel grey for me...

 

I did not want to buy black, but...

Anyhow, I clayed, then used 3M Polish with a 5" wool orbital machine. (I was also working out the pin striping.) Then used Mother's carnuba wax. Using the microfiber towels to remove the polish and wax.

PS: First time is the worse

 

I'm glad I bought a silver one! Had a bronco that was black...what a pain in the ass to keep clean. I would definitely try buffing, and might even wet sand before using compound as well.