Hard water stains on new paint

**Indy** · 03-12-2019, 08:46 PM

New paint job. I didn't realize my sprinklers were hitting the car. The rear spoiler acts like a bowl, and water laid on it and evaporated by left large hard water stains on the spoiler as well as all over. They are so bad you can feel them as well as see them. They are not coming up with soap and water. What can be used to remove these without hurting new paint?

Thanks.

**Coatingsarecrack** · 03-12-2019, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by Indy

New paint job. I didn't realize my sprinklers were hitting the car. The rear spoiler acts like a bowl, and water laid on it and evaporated by left large hard water stains on the spoiler as well as all over. They are so bad you can feel them as well as see them. They are not coming up with soap and water. What can be used to remove these without hurting new paint?

Thanks.

Try hand polishing... worked for me but we have soft water here. If not machine polish.

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**Rsurfer** · 03-12-2019, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by Coatingsarecrack

Try hand polishing... worked for me but we have soft water here. If not machine polish.

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I agree if the paint has cured.

Mike Phillips · 03-13-2019, 06:33 AM

Where's all the experts that post to threads like this and on Facebook that say,

Use some vinegar?

Mike Phillips · 03-13-2019, 06:39 AM

Originally Posted by Indy

New paint job. I didn't realize my sprinklers were hitting the car.

The rear spoiler acts like a bowl, and water laid on it and evaporated by left large hard water stains on the spoiler as well as all over.

Hi Steve,

Sorry to hear of this mishap. Would love to see you apply some vinegar and take pictures. Maybe it will work but I doubt it. I have in over the years seen so many guys recommend this as though it's that simple.

By the way, which car is this? Certainly not the Camaro Pace Car in your Avatar?

Originally Posted by Indy

They are so bad you can feel them as well as see them. They are not coming up with soap and water.

Being able to FEEL them, see them and soap and water has no effect is a bad sign. What it means is chances are very good the paint is ETCHED or whatever the chemicals are in the water, they are so corrosive they have eaten into or DISSOLVED the paint.

The first question I ask myself when I read or hear of these types of horror stories is,

What the hell is in the water?
(think about it)

Originally Posted by Indy

What can be used to remove these without hurting new paint?

Thanks.

You normally get very high quality paint jobs on your cars so my guess is there's enough clearcoat in the affected area to fix the problem.

If you want to do it yourself, take a high quality compound and a clean, microfiber applicator and rub just one affected area and see if this removes the damage. Might take a little elbow grease to massage the compound over the paint to work.

If that doesn't work then if you can bring the car by Autogeek I'll give you a hand. I'll even bring some vinegar.

**WristyManchego** · 03-14-2019, 05:25 AM

This video is right up your alley...

YouTube

TLDW: 1. Wheel Acid 2. Compounding 3. All the rest are trash

**Indy** · 04-07-2019, 10:44 PM

Okay...I got the water spots removed. It wasn't easy and required a hammer and chisel with me gently chiseling around the edges of the spots until I could lift them off the paint. I had to make sure the chisel was sharpened really good...but if you take your time...it will work.

Actually, it was super easy...barely an inconvenience. I used some advanced finishing polish with my Griots polisher and soft foam pad...and did just like Mike showed me...and it worked perfectly. Once they were all gone...A nice coat of some wax and it looks great.

Thanks to Mike for showing me how and Thanks to Autogeek for the great products.