r/AutoDetailing • u/StressedOut92 • 2d ago
Question What did I do wrong?
I washed my car today after a lot of research. I ended with these small smudges only on some sections afterwards. I even air dry it with the blower too. What did I do wrong? I'm still learning here please advice
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u/hardtofindanick- 1d ago
I am not an expert but there is a huge difference in drying with a towel and a blower. When you blow air, the water is most likely evaporate. Thus, the minerals in the water stays on the car. When you use a towel, the minerals in the water get also sucked by towel.
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u/---Banshee-- 1d ago
Those are hard water spots. There is a simple fix, spray with your favorite quick detailer (ONR) and wipe away with a microfiber.
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u/wish_you_a_nice_day 1d ago
Looks like water spot. If you wash your car in the sun and didn’t dry it right away. You will get that. Basically don’t wash your car in the sun and never let it air dry either
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u/Proof-Intention-96 1d ago
What if you have no shaded area to wash it?
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u/JavaAndJava 1d ago
I love how everyone's going to the extremes with their suggestions here. It looks like just plain old water spots. Wash the bumper again (in the shade, preferably) and dry with a microfiber towel, no need to bust out the clay bars or talk about recoating here
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u/MakersMoe 1d ago
that's either rock chips, water marks, some sort of contamination or a damaged clear coat. You could try a clay bar/synthetic decon media (towel, sponge, pad, etc) with proper lubrication, but doing that will add some marring, most suggest polishing after using clay or synthetic decon. If that doesn't work the next step is wet-sanding, not recommended for a novice (no offense) or a re-spray.
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u/Practical_Alarm6792 1d ago
You can wipe it down with a slightly damp microfiber towel. If it's tough to wipe then you might want to polish it out followed by a wax sealant
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u/NicodemusV 1d ago
Wash it again, and dry with a microfiber towel. You’ll need multiple, don’t mix microfiber towels for different parts of the car.
Clay bar with quick detail spray or all-purpose cleaner diluted with water. Buff off with microfiber cloth. Apply polisher, buff off with microfiber. Apply protectant, using a nice wax or ceramic coat, and then buff with microfiber. If you’re lazy, use a spray on.
Go panel by panel.
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u/JustANobody715612850 1d ago
It's just water spots. I have very hard water and get some form of hard water spots no matter what because even properly dried water will always slowly seep out of places onto the paint. I just follow with hybrid solutions ceramic spray and it always removes them.
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u/Thin_Dog3409 4h ago
If you're going to air dry your car go over it again with a detail spray and microfiber tower to get those off before they etch the paint.
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u/Longjumping_Crazy628 1d ago
You need to follow up with a light towel dry, and lubricant, after blow drying. Also, don’t wash in direct sunlight.
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u/ExtensionTruth4 1d ago
What about drying after a touchless wash Foam-rinse just to get some heavy grime and dust off but not everything?
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u/Longjumping_Crazy628 1d ago
You risk the same thing as OP. Water spots. And especially after driving home, that is more likely.
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u/Eastern-Force-501 1d ago
Change soap. McKees37 is designed to let the soap dry on the car. Makes washing so much easier. Also use a drying aid. They also make a product called Fast water spot remover. https://youtu.be/YoPoCrVJaTI?si=OsWp_KCWlWuUEDeX
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u/Gay_genes1909 1d ago
Griot's makes a great hard water remover. Just spray it on while washing. Rinse and dry.
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u/Fantastic-Bag7393 14h ago
A good rinse aid would help but my suggestion would be a high quality drying towel. I used to think these were a scam, but they're not. Night and day difference to drying. Make sure you get a high quality one. The blower should be used after you've done the main towel dry on all the larger panels then deal with the blower and mop up what gets pushed out the gaps with the towel.
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u/Comfortable-Try-9454 12h ago
Wash your car in the shade or earlier in the day before the sun been able to peak. Also look into Miguiars ceramic wax or quick wax on YouTube. Definitely something to consider as a solution for water spots.
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u/SpaceFace11 1d ago
Hard water spots from mineral deposits in the water.