Hard Water ?

Like most of us I like a clean truck and car.

I use the Self Clean bay in town as I have hard water at home and just spray dirt/pollen off !

SO I do not get to do a real good hand wash unless I go to my son's who live in town and has city water

Is there a product I can install on the hose that softens the hard water ?

Or do I have to get a Whole House Softener ? Prefer not too as I like well water !

I also want to get a home pressure washer !!

Thanks

Hard well water here in AZ. Using a great car wash soap like McGuire's Gold, shampoo and conditioner. I use a pressure washer, and a foam cannon. Water sheets off leaving very few spots if dried quickly. Dry using a black bath towels , so if there is any lint, it wont show up on the Granite crystal paint. Don't know if there is any hose end softener things but maybe someone will chime in.

I think there are some devices that are available--you might check--autopia--click on the "store" or you might check Amazon. When I do the "rinseless wash" I always use distilled water. The hose bib that I use to rinse the truck off with was plumbed through the water softener for the house when we built the house.
Jay

I saw some filters in wally world that campers use, it’s a inline filter that you can hook up to your faucet then to your hose. Even if you use a pressure washer you can utilize these filters.
if that doesn’t work out, there are some hard water spots removers on the market. Chemical Guys makes a product that’s like a wax for water spots.

I am a water treatment plant operator. I doubt there is anything that softens the water that just goes on a hose bib. It would probably have to be reverse osmosis and I doubt there is anything for a hose bib...though I haven't looked. Every city water will still have hardness, some soften the water, we do, but there is still hardness because water is very unstable if you remove all the hardness

The post above was done when I was typing my response. That filter won't remove hardness. Hardness is calcium and magnesium. Only way to remove it is with chemicals to remove hardness or other treatments such as reverse osmosis. The easiest way would be to use a leaf blower to get most the water off the truck before it dries. If it doesn't dry on the vehicle it won't leave the hard water spots

Well there’s your answer from a water professional. I guess there’s snake oil to be sold everywhere in every category.
Give the chemical guys or meguiars stuff a shot.
A good heavy towel to dry the vehicle off after a wash will help also.
@KKBB you can @ me next time if my post is the one you’re referring to.

1sloram, I have no idea how to @ you...I'm kinda old and computer illiterate...haha. we have a filter like you showed for our camper. They are decent for removing small amounts of iron and manganese from source water, but the few places we go have treated water from a city or other treatment plant where that isn't much of an issue anyway.

This is the best microfiber drying towel I have ever used. I have four this size and a couple the size smaller
https://www.autopia-carcare.com/pfm-drying-towel-griots-garage.html#.YJychqhKiyI
Jay

CR Spotless. It’s the system I use. You attach it to your water spicket coming from your house, then attach your hose to the unit. Learned about it when my father in law bought a huge 38’ motor home. He joined a club and a lot of guys had them because they are fanatics with their units and there is no way you are hand drying something that large. Anyway I bought one and can say it definitely works. You can literally wash your car or truck and walk away from it. I still use my backpack blower to remove a bunch of water when I’m done, then run a chamois over the little bit that’s left, but that’s just me. A little OCD I guess. The system isn’t cheap, and neither are the filters when you have to replace them, but every time I wash my Ram and the wife’s Jeep I save about $60. So the way I look at it, system has paid for itself a LONG time ago.

GREAT advice THANK YOU all

You are very welcome and thank you for your service.

I bought this for spraying after the wash/rinse with the PW: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087TK58P8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

i clay bar,wash with high quality wash with my foam cannon and finish with a nano spray.after that when i'm done washing i use my leaf blower to dry it and i never have water spots anymore and we have horrible water here.

Costco sells an Unger water conditioner system for around $120. Have not used it but most reviews seem to be good.
https://www.costco.com/unger-professional-rinse'n'go-spotless-car-wash-system.product.100471577.html

If you want to prevent water spots make sure you wash and dry in the shade. A good thing would be to wash it then move it immediately inside a garage where there will be no breeze to evaporate the water.. Make sure your wax is strong, that is if its not showing good beads or sheeting then replenish your wax...

If I am not mistaken, doesn't a water softener use salt? I would not want to be washing my vehicles with salt, even if its in a low PPM level..

RaptorHD said:

If you want to prevent water spots make sure you wash and dry in the shade. A good thing would be to wash it then move it immediately inside a garage where there will be no breeze to evaporate the water.. Make sure your wax is strong, that is if its not showing good beads or sheeting then replenish your wax...

If I am not mistaken, doesn't a water softener use salt? I would not want to be washing my vehicles with salt, even if its in a low PPM level..

Click to expand...

That is a good question. I have a whole house water softener and I often wonder if I should be washing my truck somewhere else. I usually wash my boat with it and haven't noticed any issues but then again a boat is built to somewhat withstand salt so there's that.

lots of options if you want a simple non-whole-house hose type filter...just tossing out more options as others have, not recommending these (like other things from griots but haven't used these specifically just noticed them in the last catalog):

https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/portable+water+deionizer.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=Search

https://www.griotsgarage.com/produc...+with+fittings.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=Search

If you just want a spot free wash, I have a Mr. Clean car wash gun. You hook it to your hose and fill it with soap. You use it to apply the soap and do the wash and then you turn the dial to rinse and the water is sent through a multi stage filter cartridge. So you rinse off the suds with filtered water. No spots. Really worked great. Don't know if they still make them, but you only need to do the final rinse with the filtered water.

Rado - first of all thank you for your service. On the hard water issue, in the 40 years I have been detailing vehicles (be it one of my own 65 vehicles I have owned, for New/Used car dealerships I have worked at, and my own detailing business I had where I did everything from quick wash, to 5 stage wet sand and buff, to painting vehicles) the only way to prevent water spots is to get the water off before it dries. Washing in direct sunlight - you would have to be THE FLASH to get it dried off before the sun does it for you. I know a lot of people use microfibre cloths for drying, and everybody has something that works for them, but I use what used to be called a Water Sprite synthetic chamois. They are still available, but I'm not sure if that brand name still exists. Our local Napa and Carquest carry them but not under that name. And as one answer explained, if you do have water spots, Meguirs, Mothers, etc. have a water spot remover that is like a wax but formulated to remove water spots, and it works-even on dark tinted windows that are very easy to water spot. I also use RainX on my windows which I find really helps in preventing water spots, plus you don't have to use your wipers on the highway even in a torrential downpour. One of the latest paint protectants which is said to be excellent - I haven't tried it yet but I am going too soon - is Ceramic coatings. It is available in all price ranges - from expensive "packages" that have to be left on the paint for 24 or 48 hours before removing, to a $20.00 bottle of a wax with ceramic that almost all Brands and manufacturers supply now - Meguiars, Mothers, Turtle Wax, etc.. In my experience over the years, there is lots of products available, and usually you get what you pay for in detailing supplies, although there are bargains that work pretty good. Just my opinion, and Thanks for listening