Hard water spots?

[Mike@ShineStruck]

Get yourself some IGL delete for water spots

Delete
Rinse
Heat gun
Delete
Rinse
alkline APC

If there's an etching behind, you'll need to wetsand.

[Scott in Houston]

Get yourself some IGL delete for water spots

Delete
Rinse
Heat gun
Delete
Rinse
alkline APC

If there's an etching behind, you'll need to wetsand.

Since he doesn't even have a DA, I'm assuming he's very new into this. I'd change that last sentence to

"If there's an etching behind, you'll want to get a trusted professional to correct it."


Now that I've gotten into this at a journeyman level, I'd personally look for a professional who would be patient enough to let me observe and learn from his technique.

[Silvaria]

Hello again! Thank you for all the replies and information! Today I was able to take a good picture of the water spot, which is about two inches long and 1.5 inches tall. It is definitely etched into the paint, unfortunately.

To Scott In Houston, I am actually a "she" and yes, I am very new to this but completely committed to doing what I can to take care of this car. And I agree completely, if I end up needing this handled by a professional, I want to watch and see exactly what they do, it's the best way to learn!!

[Mike Phillips]

Hello again! Thank you for all the replies and information! Today I was able to take a good picture of the water spot, which is about two inches long and 1.5 inches tall. It is definitely etched into the paint, unfortunately.

Thanks for coming back with the picture. I've downloaded it and then uploaded it into the gallery so it can be "inserted".






Here's my comment.... I share this article a lot because my guess is the average person does not realize how THIN the factory clear layer of pait is on their car.


Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips

The majority of cars being manufactured today and starting since the 1980's use what's called a basecoat/clearcoat paint system. With this system, a clear layer of paint is sprayed over the top of the basecoat which is also the color coat or the layer of paint that has pigment in it. If the car has a metallic finish then the metallic flakes are also in the basecoat.

The basecoat doesn't offer any gloss or shine and in fact it's dull or matte looking after it's sprayed. The basecoat gets it's gloss, shine, depth and reflectivity by the spraying of the clearcoat layer of paint over the top of it. This is why if a person removes too much clearcoat when buffing and they expose the basecoat it will appear to be a dull round or oval spot on a body panel. The part of the paint system that adds beauty has been removed revealing the dull or matte basecoat layer of paint.



Just how thin is the clear layer of paint on a factory paint job?

The factory clearcoat on a new or modern car measures approximately 2 mils thin.

The average post-it not is around 3 mils thin.





What does this mean?

This means the factory clearcoat on a new or modern car is thinner than a post-it note. The next time you have a post-it note in front of you, feel a single post-it note between your fingers. Like this...





This experience will drive home the point as to just how thin the clear layer of paint is on modern car with a factory paint job.

It should also drive home the importance of using the least aggressive pad, product and even tools to get the job done.

When I say, get the job done, the context of this usually means someone is buffing out a car to remove paint defects like swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation to make the paint and thus the car look better.

By using the least aggressive products you "get the job done" while leaving the most paint on the car to it will last over the mechanical service life of the car.

If you're working on your own cars and you're reading this you're already ahead of the game by reading the AGO forum and probably being a member so you can ask questions and get help.

If you're working on customer's cars take a professional approach as a service to your customers.


If you're reading this and you're going to do the work yourself or hire a detailer then do some research and make sure you hire a detailer that knows this type of stuff because the factory clearcoat on your car is thin.

[Mike Phillips]

More...


Here's my suggestion...

Sometimes it's easy to turn a Mole Hill into a Mountain. I know you love your black, 2018 Hyundai Elantra, but my guess is it's also your daily driver. As such, it's likely going to see MORE wear-n-tear down the road. So focusing on fixing one little area that has the potential to turn into getting the entire panel re-painted if you burn or buff through the clear layer of paint and expose the dull basecoat, instead,

KISS or Keep it Simple Simon


If you don't already own a polisher, if you want to take care of your car and do-it-yourself, then make a small investment into a tool that can do it all while not breaking the bank. Then get a bottle of BLACKFIRE One Step and a few polishing pads.

Next - machine polish the trunk lid. Focus on this water spot area. You probably won't remove it but you should be able to improve it.

Then continue buffing out the rest of the car. It will look so good after you're done it will take away the pain the water spot area causes. And the next thing that will happen is your friends, neighbors, co-workers and family will ask you,


How much do you charge to detail a car.


Detail a few cars and get your investment back.

See this link, watch the video to see how easy it is to detail our own car.


Here's what you need to get into machine polishing - Recommendations for a beginner by Mike Phillips



Get the Griot's Garage 6" DA Orbital Polisher. This one,

Griot's Garage 6" ROP - Standard cord

Griots Garage 6 Inch Heavy Duty Random Orbital Polisher - HD Cord - 25' Heavy Duty Cord already pre-wired






Lake Country 5" Backing Plate


Some of these pads,

6 Inch Buff & Shine Uro-Tec Foam Pads


And watch this video...





The above is just a tiny portion of the overwhelming amount of info in the actual article, but enough to show you what's involved.


Here's what you need to get into machine polishing - Recommendations for a beginner by Mike Phillips



And of course - you have all the nice and helpful members of this forum to help you along the way.