Carpro Spotless - Mini review & thoughts, sorry no pics!

[jrs1418]

Hello everyone! I purchased Carpro Spotless a while ago for the purpose of some testing. I'm in the process of updating our package menu and when I heard of this product, I thought it would make a great addition to our quick detail package. I really wanted something that could remove Hard water spots from glass without having to break out the polisher, pads & NuGlass.

My verdict: Partially satisfied, mostly dissatisfied.

My first test was my sunroof. This area is the only spot left on my car with hard water stains... They've been there since before I bought the car (4+yrs) and thought it would make a good test area. I followed the directions and used a MF towel to rub the product in. It took about 3-4 attempts before finally seeing light results. I wasn't too happy, it definitely wasnt quick, but I figured that maybe because of how old the spots are, that maybe i've gone beyond the capability of the product.

Next step was a customer detail. I decided to up the aggressiveness to my approach. I busted out my porter cable with 4" BP and these pink really coarse pads I buy from Pakshak that we usually use with Nuglass. I sprayed Spotless onto the pads, or glass as needed, and worked in at speeds 5-6 and then removed. The results were weak... when the glass was dry you can tell the uppermost parts of the water spots have been removed, but the stain or remnants of the spot were still visible especially when wiping with a wet towel. After a few more attempts I was running out of time so I went back and used NuGlass and it did its job awesomely. Disappointed in spotless again!

Next I decided to use spotless for what it was meant for, and did a test spot by hand and machine, on this single stage toyota we put OC pro on. The customers wife sprayed the car down when he was on a business trip ACK!!!! I figured spotless should remove them easily since they are fresh water spots, but it literally did NOTHING. Fail again!

I then had a brilliant idea to try Spotless with a Magic eraser on the glass. I figured these aggressive pads by themselves might be able to remove hard water from glass, but they didnt. And Spotless didnt help either.

So i put the spotless away.. very disappointed!

Fast forward to a few days ago. I had a regular customer with a subaru forester come in. He accidently parked his car by a sprinkler and his whole front clip was spotted. Hood, headlights, chrome grill, plastic body trim, everything. So I tried and once again on the paint it did virtually nothing BUT on the chrome grill, headlights, and lower plastic body trim IT WORKED!!!!

The chrome grill I used an orange LC hand pad with spotless and the water spots disappeared SUPER fast. The lower plastic body trim I used spotless with a magic eraser and with a little rubbing they came all the way off. He also had a plastic visor lip on the hood. Spotless removed about 75% off this piece, I had to finish it with a polish and pads on my porter cable. in contrast, The paint was done with 6" green LC pad and D151 on a GG6 and the spots came off pretty easy.

My conclusion: I give spotless 2 out of 5 stars. I'm glad to know it worked on the plastic lower body trim since these areas i normally had to use polish and then spend time removing the residue from the trim. So this will save me some time for those pieces, but for Paint & glass.. i found it to be almost worthless. NuGlass is FAR superior.

And the smell is horrible.. it really smells like cat piss or something. My guys are always complaining about the smell of spotless.

Hope this helps anyone looking to buy it.

[sweatthedetails]

Nice write up, thanks.

[SYMAWD]

I've had the same results. Not very good and smells awful.

[jarred767]

Dang, I just ordered some as I heard from multiple people on here that for water spots, its the stuff to get and i was excited to try it out. Hopefully my luck might be better than yours.

[hilld]

You might want to try CeriGlass, that stuff works really well.

Here is another members (CEE DOG) review.

Review: CarPro CeriGlass

[jrs1418]

I use ceri glass also. I usually only bust it out if I'm trying to fix light scratches and marring on the glass. It dries too quickly, requiring constant lubrication thus lots of product sling.. too much cleanup for my liking. Plus iirc its semi-hazardous to inhale.

So far NuGlass is my clear fav.. it has easy on/off appliation, a nice minty smell, but does leave a good amount of dust.

[jrs1418]

Dang, I just ordered some as I heard from multiple people on here that for water spots, its the stuff to get and i was excited to try it out. Hopefully my luck might be better than yours.

Let us know!

[Avi@CarPro]

Spotless is a mixture of few acids that mostly attack calcium and earth substances,
the formula made to be safe on all surfaces and not to damage glass or car paint. stronger solution will stain glass or car paint.
if the water spots are old or well baked you need to let the liquid stay on the surface longer , and agitate with soft towel after, if still exist , need to repeat the process.
about the smell, this is individual opinion ofcourse, we tried to make it Lemon scent to cover the acids smell.

HTH.

[808_detail_nut]

I have tried many hard waterspot removers including spotless and was also disappointed. I had the same thought to include it in one of my wash decon seal packages but I scraped that after testing. I do like Ceriglass, it's awesome with the rayon pads. Best hard waterspot remover I have ever used is mx7 plus for paint. Sucks you can't use it on glass but the stuff is awesome. (They don't sell it on AG but you stated you buy from pacshak and they carry it).

[MikeC78]

Avi,

I understand what you're saying, but letting it sit longer doesn't help either for the stubborn water spots. It does work fine for fresh water spots thst have not set too long. I feel like CarPro needs to reformulate the product a little better. Otherwise, it's the old fashioned polish to remove these.

If you leave the spotless on too long, you will create spotless spots!