Hey team, I seem to be continuing to have paint issues with my SR+. Anyone have any thoughts to share or considerations? Take a look at the photo attached. Looks like dried water of some kind that didn’t come off on my last touchless wash. For background I had some significant paint swirl issues after hand washing it three times. I then got it fully detailed and buffed getting out most of the swirls and then I had it coated with ceramic. The final product looked fantastic great glossy
look. I’ve been exclusively touchless washing it with a foam cannon and just hosing it off with water then dry. These spots came from I assume rain and leaf droppings over the Thanksgiving break. I haven’t tried to hand wash it again given the swirl history. Curious if anyone has any similar issues. Thanks!
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Continued paint issues [watermarks etc]
- Thread starter CbixlerM3
- Start date
joebruin77
Active Member
I would definitely recommend you attempt to wash off the water marks asap. If left on there, they can etch into the clearcoat. A ceramic coating reduces the chances of etching, but doesn't prevent it 100%.
The problem with "touchless" washing is that while it reduces the chances of inducing swirl marks, it doesn't clean the paint nearly as well as a contact wash.
To minimize the odds of inducing swirl marks during a contact wash, make sure anything that touches the paint is soft and clean. For example, if you do a rinseless wash, you can use the "Garry Dean" method where you put a dozen microfiber towels in a bucket of ONR solution and you use a fresh, clean towel for each panel of the car.
Also, you mentioned hosing off the car and drying it. What is your drying technique? A lot of swirls can be induced during the drying process if you are not careful. Some people like to use forced air, from a leaf blower or a car dryer/blower, to dry without touching the paint. If you are going to dry with a towel, make sure it is clean and soft, and make sure to use a drying aid to lubricate as you dry. I think the best drying aid on the market is Ammo NYC Hydrate. You can dry you entire car using a single damp microfiber towel. Amazing stuff. My other favorite drying aid is Topper by Xtreme Solutions.
Last suggestion. When you wash your microfiber towels and wash mitts, it is best to use a detergent specifically designed for microfibers such as P & S Rags To Riches. And make sure to always dry on ultra low heat (heat damages microfibers, causing them to harden) and never use fabric softener. Contrary to the name, fabric softener makes the microfibers harden. If the microfibers harden, the next time you use them on your car they act like sandpaper, inducing scratches.
Hope that helps,
joebruin77
The problem with "touchless" washing is that while it reduces the chances of inducing swirl marks, it doesn't clean the paint nearly as well as a contact wash.
To minimize the odds of inducing swirl marks during a contact wash, make sure anything that touches the paint is soft and clean. For example, if you do a rinseless wash, you can use the "Garry Dean" method where you put a dozen microfiber towels in a bucket of ONR solution and you use a fresh, clean towel for each panel of the car.
Also, you mentioned hosing off the car and drying it. What is your drying technique? A lot of swirls can be induced during the drying process if you are not careful. Some people like to use forced air, from a leaf blower or a car dryer/blower, to dry without touching the paint. If you are going to dry with a towel, make sure it is clean and soft, and make sure to use a drying aid to lubricate as you dry. I think the best drying aid on the market is Ammo NYC Hydrate. You can dry you entire car using a single damp microfiber towel. Amazing stuff. My other favorite drying aid is Topper by Xtreme Solutions.
Last suggestion. When you wash your microfiber towels and wash mitts, it is best to use a detergent specifically designed for microfibers such as P & S Rags To Riches. And make sure to always dry on ultra low heat (heat damages microfibers, causing them to harden) and never use fabric softener. Contrary to the name, fabric softener makes the microfibers harden. If the microfibers harden, the next time you use them on your car they act like sandpaper, inducing scratches.
Hope that helps,
joebruin77
heavyD
Member
Since I can see spots on the rubber window trim it appears that water, soap, or some airborne chemical dried on your car. Some ceramic coatings don't resist water spotting as well as others. Try hand washing and if it doesn't come off take a look at the spots from an angle to see if it's etched on the clear coat. If it's etched, take it back to your detailer to polish it off and re-apply ceramic on that panel.
joebruin77
Active Member
BTW, after a recent rain, my wife's Honda was covered in water spots. I pre-treated the water spots with some ONR solution in a spray bottle, let it dwell for a couple minutes, and then proceeded with a routine ONR rinseless wash. All of the water spots came out.
For stubborn water spots, Optimum (the makers of ONR) make a product specifically designed for this purpose:
Optimum MDR Mineral Deposit Remover
Water Marks (or water spots) are caused from hard water evaporating on the surface. The water carries minerals and contamination, and as the water evaporat
optimumcarcare.com
But it is slightly acidic, so I personally would not apply it to PPF.
Wanted to add another for future reference to the thread. I always had black cars before the Tesla's and decided to take break hearing about possible paint quality issues. But once my wife took our black car to visit her sister and parked next to their house for a week, and the sprinklers in the blvd absolutely coated the entire side, roof and hood for a week, which then sat in the harsh California sun on day (repeat 6 times). I'm pretty good at correcting paint and have no problem using sand paper, a dual action polisher or a rotary buffer on even black cars. I tried a few things but those spots were ETCHED in there. I was about to wet sand half the car with 2k then 3k grit and then polish it, but was dreading that large of an area on a big SUV. I used this and it took some deep etching out, its strong stuff but worth the price for bad water marks!
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