Spots on trim after washing with filtered (0 ppm) water in the sun

[nl318]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a water filter, which gives me 0 ppm water. Worked perfectly until yesterday when I rinsed my car in the sun (no washing, was only a little dirty). After letting it dry in the sun the black trim pieces (on the sun side) showed small white stains, just like water spots.

I immediately checked the water, and my meter still said 0 ppm.

I tried claying, vinegar, a magical sponge with no luck. Any ideas? :confused:

[Setec Astronomy]

Are you asking for ideas on how to get the spots off or why this happened when you have 0ppm water?

[Desertnate]

If the water has nothing in it, I'd say it was bits of whatever was on the car became trapped in the water droplet when it dried and left a mark. Was the wind blowing? It could be dust/pollen that was blowing in the air and became trapped as well.

[jamesboyy]

This is a case like when you leave a glass of ice to melt in car cup holder or on a coffee table, to get rid of it just apply a few coats of trim dressing and should be good as new

[swanicyouth]

You can't blame the water. 0ppm water won't leave spots. Dust or dirt can settle in a small puddle though and leave spots.

Its hard to tell from the pics, but are these pieces rubber/hard plastic? I've seen spots like these which I believe are caused by some of the water getting absorbed into porous trim. In a day or so they are gone - because they dry out.

This is a phenomena I've noticed with Tuff Shine on tires. You will have water spots on the tires until the rubber dries out - then gone.

Not saying I'm sure that is what's going on here - but could be. If they are type I water spots (should be if just instilled yesterday) - a finishing polish should remove them on a MF pad by hand.

If you aren't getting anywhere this way, you could gently try a heat gun on one and see if you can dry them out. I wouldn't polish those areas with compound - unless it was a last resort.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Are you sure the filter was still reading 0 ppm?


You can't blame the water. 0ppm water won't leave spots. Dust or dirt can settle in a small puddle though and leave spots.


:iagree:

[allenk4]

This is a case like when you leave a glass of ice to melt in car cup holder or on a coffee table, to get rid of it just apply a few coats of trim dressing and should be good as new

The water in the ice has dissolved solids (minerals) in it which stay behind after the ice cube evaporates.

The water the OP describes does not contain minerals in any measurable amount (0 ppm)

[allenk4]

I agree with Swanicyouth, these may nit be water spots at all.

I have seen this on rubber trim.

Water spots tend to have a definitive outer "ring" where the minerals are more concentrated and thus more visible.

The spots I had were uniform in color throughout the spot, with no thicker border.

My spots on soft rubber trim were addressed with 1Z Gummi and went away after a few minutes of application.

[nl318]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm sure the water was 0 ppm, as I measured it several times. Also, there are no spots on the paint itself. The car was quite hot, so the water did evaporate quite fast. I guess it's possible some dirt trapped in the water drops, and left these stains. But would they be that hard to remove?

The trim pieces are of various material, rubber (window seals) and some kind of matte black painted metal (roof trim).

I gave it a quick try with d300 and a microfiber handpad, and it didn't go away easily. I also tried applying a dressing, but it won't remove/hide them completely.

Any suggestions, what it might be and/or what to do about it? :)

A closer picture:

http://i58.tinypic.com/ipr2n8.jpg

[conman1395]

Do you have any dressing or protectant on the trim? Maybe it is coming off? That's all I can think of.

[nl318]

Well, the trim on the side (closeup picture) has a one year old carpro d-lux coating, and the roof trim has a two week old d-lux coating.

Think it would be related?

[conman1395]

Well, the trim on the side (closeup picture) has a one year old carpro d-lux coating, and the roof trim has a two week old d-lux coating.

Think it would be related?
I have no experience with d-lux, but is there any trim with no coating or different coating? If so does it also have these spots?

[nl318]

No, unfortunately not. The only differences are:

No spots on the trim with a little rougher, less smooth texture

No spots on the shadow side.

Any suggestions how to remove them besides washing, vinegar, claying, hand polishing and replacing? I'm afraid to try machine polishing, because the trim is matte.

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