Hawk

I am having a blast with my new black GT/CS. This is the first black car I have had, and I must agree that (a) nothing looks better when clean and (b) nothing is more of a pain in the butt to keep clean.

When I have washed it, I have done the following:
1) Wash with good quality automotive soap/water. (Wet, soap/sponge, rinse)
2) Wipe down the car with a shammy (sp?)
3) Buff it completely dry with a clean, thick towel.

In doing so, I STILL end up seeing water spots. You can only see them in the right light, but they drive me crazy!

Any advice or suggestions to products or methods to get the car looking clean and sharp are greatly apprectated!

Speeddmn

wash the car at sun rise before the sun comes out. And have someone to help. Or atleast before 9 am.

I also use the turtle wax spray detailer after the wash, this helps eliminate most water spots. Take a few days off of work and use the Zaino's wax over a 2 day time frame. It will look awsome.

rocket88

use softened water.

pville piper

I use the autodry from Mr Clean for an Ion free rinse, it works well but we have very soft, nearly mineral free water. Some have had good luck using a good under sink type filter as well. What I do as I am washing the car is to keep the whole car wet and then spray it down with the rinse mode at the end and mine will dry without spots. When rinsing remember to spray in the cracks and crevices to get the unfiltered water flushed out.
If I don't have the option of using my autodry I still keep lots of water on the car until I am finished and ready to dry it.
I hope this helps!

bald-guy

I have a friend that just bought a black Magnum.
I introduced him to a water spritz followed by a micro fiber towel.
Gets his water spots off.
I'm also **** about water spots.
Here is what I've been doing:
Buy some distilled water in one gallon jugs, 64 cents at Wally Mart.
Put in a bucket with the auto soap, not quite as much soap as recommended.
Put some in another bucket, no soap.
Put a gallon in a pump up sprayer.
Hose car down with tap water.
Wash with soap.
Rinse with pump up sprayer and distilled water.
Wipe dry, use a squeege and absorber wipe ( also from Wally Mart).
I don't feel near as rushed to get the water off before it drys.
I also wash REAL early in the morning, it was barely day light when I started this morning.
Hope this helps.
Ron

Hawk

Thanks for the tips. I have washed it in the hot sun, but tried to keep the car wet until I was ready to dry it. We also have hard water, so some of the ideas to reduce that are great. I'll try them and hopefully get better results.

Drove it in the rain today, so I got work to do!

poldrv

Better to wash the car in a cool place or on a cool day. The first task is to rinse the car off with a hose to remove loose dirt. Preferably use a hose without a hose attachment as the more water you spray on the car in the final rinse the more you have to try an wipe off. When washing the mustang use two buckets one for the car wash soap (preferably Mequair's) and one has a rinse bucket. Each time you go to load up the wash mitt with soap rinse it in the rince bucket first to remove loose dirt that may be on the mitt from your previous application. After the mustang has been washed to your satisfaction rinse the car throughly with a nozzle free hose...just let the stream of water remove the soap solution from the car. The next step (and this is important) take a Mequairs Drying Towel and wipe down the mustang, the drying towel will absorb all the water and the mustang will dry without streaks. This should be followed by Mequair's Tech Wax with the use of Mequair's Microfiber Towel's. I am not a Mequair's Rep but I do use all there products. This process should make washing your mustang a lot easier.

BLCKNED

Def before the sun is blaring hot. I also get good results when I rinse her down with flowing water, just from the hose, but not with a sprayer attachment. I often times use the coin-op place and they have a high powered and low powered spray but it still subds up way too much when trying to rinse it. I agree with an absorbing chamois or drying towel. Ya Meguiar's makes a great one.

Has anyone tried the California WaterBlade? Do they scratch??

I also use Quik Wax or Detailer spray from Meguiar's. I even went as far as using small dabs of Scratch X and a microfiber towel to get annoying water spots off.

Scarpi

I love the look of a black car with either parchment or black interior. If I lived in a place that was not dusty and the water was softer, I would have considered a black car. All I can say is use softened water and do not wash it in the hot sun. Use nice soft towels to dry and if you wax your car at least four times a year, that should help protect the paint and make washing easier.

n8rfastback

as long as you get all the water spots off when washing, you should be ok. i am very picky with mine and i use a good quality shammy (the absorber) keep it wet and it leaves no spots after i wipe it down. then i wax the crap out of it. after that all it takes is the wet shammy to wipe it down and it looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor.

SpeedRacer

BLCKNED- I have the water blade it doesnt scratch. Works OK on the large flat panels(hood, roof, etc) but not on the curves/edges around the doors and wheel wells.

HAWK- What I do to get the water spots off is after I wash I go over the spots with a mixture of 50% water to 50% white vinegar. I put the solution in a spray bottle and use a micro fiber towel. It takes off all the spots no problem and no damage to paint.

Larmo

Mr. Clean filter is your best friend... NO water touches my car unless it first goes through the Mr. Clean water filter. It really helps with water spots and deposits.

I use everything Meguiars. Gold Class wash about once a month and the Quik Detailer used about every other day.

Also, nothing but microfiber towels on my black car avoids lint deposits.

Gibs07GTcpe

Here is a good write up on keeping a black car looking good.

http://www.bmcforums.com/showthread.php?t=7223

Gib

Hawk

Thanks for all the great replies. I have found that my major problem is hard water. I think the drought in the North East has made the problem worse. By the way, the vinegar and water mix works great!
Maybe it's time to fix the water softener...

HAMRS_gt

I use to use a leaf blower to get all the water out of the nook-n- crannies, and everything scratches a black car, I only washed it when absolutely necessary, keep it always wax to the max

SpeedRacer

I am glad it worked for you!

rrobello

useful thread:
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=53719

and heres a link to a writeup I did on a black cobra I detailed:
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=70914

slowjoe24

Great Old Thread!!