Oh boy, today finally gave the ol' xB the cleaning it hasn't had in a long while.

Washed twice. Paint cleaner. Wax. Polish. (all Meguiars)

The car unfortunately has been hit for a while with a water sprinkler that has left water marks on the right side of the car. The rims were pretty bad and I improvised and used CLR. Took off the water marks from rims in no time.

Paint wise, what can I do to get the water stains off?

As always looking to guys to set me in the right direction.

Thanks!

 

wash it real good and then go at it with a good quality clay bar, then a mild polish. Finally a good wax. The clay bar will remove the contaminants in the paint, the mild polish will get the rest.

 

Will try the clay bar. Also read that white vinegar works real well. Any thoughts on that?

 

clay bar will do the trick for sure just gonna have to rewax after

 

i tried white vinegar for for my windows water spots did not come out did not do much better for my paint

 

Regular Meguiar's car wash soap + detailer always worked for me. Didn't have to do anything special to the car.

 

Used that as well as the paint cleaner, wax and polish.

Still there.

 

If Clay Bar doesn't work you might be looking at high speed wheel out with Meguires 3 stage compound. It that fails next would be some 2000 grit wet sanding and re buff/ wax.

 

Haven't tried the clay bar yet, will do so this coming weekend.

Never did a high speed wheel or wet sanding. Lets hope for the xB and my lack of ability the clay bar will work...

 

clay bar first. You can try using some elbow grease and a mild compound; try using scratch out. If that wont work then you will need to use a variable speed buffer with some mild compound.

The water stains are minerals from the water. If you have to wet sand, your really screwed. Me personally, i dont think you will need to go that far. Try using a mild compound and some muscle and it should do the trick. Once you get them off, rewax and dont park near irrigation systems.

 

The wet sanding is nice anyhow cause it helps remove all the factory orange peel. Only downside is it's hard work and must be done right.
But yeah, it shouldn't come to that drastic of a job. The clay should remove the stuck on residue allowing you to re wax for future protection.

 

The clay bar works miracles. You won't believe the crap you can pull off the paint with it.

 

yeah clay bar, feel the surface before you touch it with the clay bar, then do it afterwords and you will be amazed, i know i was.

 

Clay bar, clay bar, clay bar. Go over the same area multiple times. The finish should have no grab to it... almost like it has a warm plastic feel with a high polish. You may not understand that last bit, but you will after doing a full clay bar of an area. The bar should glide smooth over the surface and not rough... If (that's a huge if) the clay bar doesn't work, use a variable speed buffer and a mild polishing compound. Once done, go over the area with light buff then rewax.

I tend to use paste/carnuba wax for surface protection, then a liquid wax for final polish. Use finisher to bring out the luster of the paint.