Removing HARD water spots

[nyryan2001]

I've used it all, here in my local lakes water is full of minerals, very hard water, and its terrible this year.

Hot Sauce:B

Boat Candy Speed Gloss: B+

Vinegar: C-

That Amorall Ultra Shine wash and wax detailer: C+

Lucas Oil Slick Mist detailer: C-

those are the grades I'd give each for solely spot removing. The Speed Gloss, Slick Mist and Armorall have awesome waxing properties and finish results... Just not hard water spot removal results.

For some reason this year water spots are soooo bad it's hard to describe.... Like white milk sprayed all over your gel and windows... But won't come off with anything short of a hard wax and a buffer. All over your windows.. And no glass cleaner, vinegar, nothing. Looks horrible: lake Anna, lake Barkley, KY lake I've spend tons of time in all those locations.... Nothing even close to this.


Until the Meguires Hard Water Spot Remover: A++. On reccomendation from a few folks on here.

THIS product removes ALL hard water spots. ALL of them. My tower bases were the worst.. You may have to let it soak in, or maybe do it twice... But this removes them all. This is the ONLY product that would get my windows spot free.

if spots are a problem for you due to minerals and hard water, and you care about how your boat looks. Skip everything else and buy this Meguires by the gallon.

[jrz1]

Great recommendation. Have noticed they were worse this year on my lake too but Hot Sauce has still been reasonably effective. Will try the McGuires though.

[pokesgrad02]

Lime away will also work like a champ. Apply liberally and rinse off, chamois dry. No scrubbing needed

[scottb7]

What store did you get the water spot remover from? And thanks for doing the comparison of all those. I really appreciate it. Especially saving me from buying the expensive ones!

[Laketexoma]

glad you like it. its worth the money

[nyryan2001]

Bought from Amazon...i will look to see if I can find it cheaper.

I saw the Lime Away reccomendation.... But didn't want to damage my boat, worries me:


Lime-a-Way and CLR
These products are corrosive and toxic. Do not use these products on natural marble, stone, terrazzo, anodized or polished aluminum, colored grout or areas in contact with food such as kitchen counter tops. Test the product in a small and inconspicuous place if you are not certain to avoid damage.


Lime-a-way is a product that removes hard water deposits and rust stains from tubs, showers, toilets, and glass and ceramic tiles. The product called CLR stands for Calcium, Lime and Rust.
These cleaning products contain proprietary blends of multiple heavy duty acids and are available in small quantities to be used in very small areas.
These hard water cleaning products are usually wiped on and then wiped off. Do not use a scrub brush to avoid spattering the cleaner.
Eye protection and gloves are also called for when using these products.

[scottb7]

After using the meguiars' water spot remover were you comfortable with how it left the surface. No need to wax or rinse or whatever. Cause I agree with you about the lime a way and clr. I used some toilet bowl cleaner to remove some oxidation, but then rinsed and waxed. What I like about the armour all wash and wax detailer is it is good for just wipe down and be done, it had some wax in it. You feel like the meguiars water spot remover can be used for once in a while wipe down with nothing to follow it up with? oh, yeah, i found your water spot remover at web site for oreilly, but i think it cost more then amazon.

[nyryan2001]

Scott- i liked the carnauba in the Armorall... And would def leave a waxed finish, but not even in the same ballpark as far as removing the spots... I'll post some pics tomorrow.

The spots were so bad... It's like get them off at any cost even if you have to go back over with another spray wax. Well worth it... But yes, I would follow the Meguiars with the Slick Mist or the ArmorAll.

[nyryan2001]

I see my self using the rest of this bottle of Meguiars to get all these f'n spots off and get clear spot free windows again... Then using the rest of the Speed Gloss I have till it runs out.

If you have bad spots, you will likely use an entire bottle or maybe 2. It says on the bottle it prevents them, I hope so.

i could see getting away with using this only every 2-3 weeks, its pricey, depends on your water and how well you clean up the boat and what you use at the ramp to wipe down.

[CCWakerider]

50/50 Vinegar-water...... It Smells, but it works and is very economical. $10.00 for Vinegar and a spray bottle, covered for whole summer 😬. Was given the heads up on this mixture in a spray bottle by a coworker, and it works great and is leaving the wax finish perfect. Black boat too!!

[Quinner]

Babes water spot remover works very well also, used it for the first time recently and it was quick and effective. Not certain if it takes the wax with the spots so I followed with Lucas Slick Mist Speed Wax. First time using that as well, went on and off relatively easily and looked great when done, time will tell how durable it is.

In the past I have used vinegar + water in a spray bottle, cheap and effective with a bit of work, just make sure you clean any residual and I would imagine it also removes wax.

[scottb7]

Yes, the idea of mixing products makes this even more complicated. Guess the mix proportions just depend on what you need done. On my lake I could probably go like 25% Meguires Hard Water Spot Remove and 75% Amorall Ultra Shine wash and wax detailer. This would just increase spot removal properties a bit of using the wash/wax straight.

[nyryan2001]

I can gaurantee you guys vinegar will not get these spots off. I tried it.

If you think I am crazy and its inconcieveable that it would not work, you probrably havent had hard mineral water spots to this extreme. Prior to this, I had not either. I had heard guys talking about them in AZ, NV and other areas, mostly west, but this is the first year I have encountered anything like this.

I took vingar, poured it into a rag and scrubbed the **** out of my windows and tower, multiple times, ZERO results.... it would not remove the spots.

This is what my tower looked like after using the Speed Gloss, Armor All, Slick Mist and the other crap. Spots everywhere, nothing would get them off.

I tried all of this stuff, would not remove the spots:




And this is what it still looked like using all of this stuff, prior to using the Meguiars, I had to wax these off using a hard wax and a buffer.





I will post up some pics of what it looks like after using the meguiars... it does take some work and some time... but it definitly will remove the spots without having to wax.

Next time I am with the boat, i will take a pic of the windows before and afetr using the meguiars... they look like crap, and NOTHING will get the spots off, Windex, Vinegar, wax...nothing. The meguiars took the spots right off, took 2 applications.

[Pjoachim]

To me the best thing that keeps water spots off - is always having your boat waxed and then wiping it down after ever use. Maybe I live on a lake that doesnt have hard water, but I spend the 10 minutes wiping the boat down after each use and then like every 5th time out I apply a quick coat of Slick Mist - never had any water spots.

[nyryan2001]

I wipe down religiously every time I pull out using the Speed Gloss.

Summer afternoons here are 105-115degs. You put in at 8am... take out around 4-6pm.... so thats 4-6hrs of 100+ temps that bake those spots onto the boat, surfaces easily 130+degs... I think thats a lot of my problem.