If you avoid washing your car because you hate having to dry it by hand to keep away water spots, you should start using a spot-free rinse system. You can buy a portable unit to use at home or you can go to a car wash that has a spot-free rinse. Here's a look at what causes water spots to form on your car and your options for a spot-free rinse system.
Hard Water Leaves Spots When It Dries
The spots left behind after you wash your car are caused by minerals in the water. The amount of minerals in the water supply a car wash uses is determined by the area where the car wash is located. Some cities have harder water than others. If the water is very hard, your car will have spots unless you hand-dry your car to remove the minerals.
Some Car Washes Treat The Water
To prevent problems with water spots, some car washes have a spot-free rinse system that turns hard water soft. This is the same principle you might use at home when you install a water softener. A car wash might use a water-softening system or a reverse osmosis filter. They only need to use the treated water on the final rinse to eliminate water spots.
You can find spot-free rinses at automatic and self-serve washes. The final rinse automatically switches to soft water so you don't have to do anything differently when you're washing the car. Once the wash is over, you can drive away without drying your car by hand. This makes it much quicker to wash and maintain your car so you can wash it more often.
Spot-Free Rinse Systems Can Be Used At Home
If you happen to have a water softener at home and an adapter that lets you hook a hose up to an indoor faucet, you can rinse your car with soft water at home. However, that's not a convenient or even practical option to drag a hose through your house and through a crack in your door.
A better choice is to buy a system that's made for home use. These treat a small amount of water so you have enough soft water at a time for a final rinse after handwashing your car with hard water from your outdoor tap.
Having a rinse system at home may be convenient for you, but you may still prefer taking your car to a car wash for a stronger stream of water and to have a place to wash your car that doesn't cause soapy water to run down your driveway and into your grass.
Share19 January 2023
For years, I really struggled with the fact that my car was a disgusting mess. It seemed like no matter how hard I worked to keep the interior clean, it was always getting destroyed by one thing or another. However, I realized that by keeping up with the car on a weekly basis, things could be a lot better. I started carefully focusing my energies on making things right, and then helping my kids to make choices that paved the way for a cleaner car. On this website, you can learn all about the details of washing your car and keeping the inside clean. Enjoy!