I came across something today that I wanted to share. If it is old news, forgive me, but I never heard of it before.

First let me set the stage. 10 years ago Mister Clean brand came out with a Mister Clean Auto Dry product. It attached to your garden hose. The plan was to wet and wash your car with normal hose water and soap. But once you were finished with that, turn a knob and the hose water was forced through a Diatomaceous Earth (DE) / Carbon filter. The water emitted was then pretty darn pure. You would then spray the car, allowing this ultra pure water to displace the remaining hose water. Premise being - water spots are caused by minerals in the water. This ultra pure water could dry without leaving any spots. Yes they advertised you didn't even need to dry your car after that, but I always did.

Well the product worked, and worked well. They took it off the market years ago. I've been buying replacement filters (they each only last 4 or 5 washes) from EBAY and frankly the supply is dwindling and prices are going up.

Unfortunately I've got well water that will leave visible grey spots anywhere you let it dry. So I have to do something and a $400 reverse osmosis filter falls way below new bushes and shocks on the to do list.

Today as I planned to wash the XK8 I thought about the filter's delivery. It sends out the water at a rather slow rate, inevitable because of the filter itself. It couldn't be dispensing more than a gallon or two each time.

Then the light went off. I grabbed 2 gallons of distilled water off the self. Washed the car normally, and instead of hooking up the filter, I just opened the gallon and applied it to the high points of the body surface. As it rolled/dripped down, it sure did push/displace all that garden hose water. I was surprised that 2 gallons did the entire car well enough.

I did towel dry the car, but wow good news - not a single water spot. The car looks great!

This was easier to apply, worked at least as well, and only costs a dollar or two per wash. I"m sure distilled water is more pure than anything I'm going to get from a filter anyway. This simple trick worked so well I figured I'd share it.

Who'd have ever thought, doing a final rinse of the entire car was fast and easy with just 2 gallons of distilled water.

Enjoy

John

 

That's a useful tip.

Water quality is pretty good in my area but if I'm lazy or pushed for time and don't microfibre towel dry the car, it does get spots on the horizontal surfaces and the glass.

Graham

 

Yeah--that Mister Clean car wash hose attachment was a great product. Actually I still use mine and use a generic wash solution in the reservoir. Of course the final rinse filters have not been available for some time but the misting setting still works well, even without the filter.

I hate it when a decent product comes out and then disappears for whatever reason.

Doug

 

johnken,
Never thought of that myself, but I think I'll check around at Lowes or Home Depot or other places if necessary, for something I could use to suck the water from the jugs and spray on the car. Like you said, a simple trick and with a sprayer, would even be better. Thanks...

 

I received the Mister Clean 'Pro' set with plastic carry case and extra filters, detergent, micro fiber towels etc., when they first came out. I just retrieved it from the basement a week ago, and nearly all of the 'special-magic' detergent had leaked out of it's container. I do have an extra filter cartridge for it, as I left the first filter attached to the gun, after screwing around with it at Christmas, I have never even washed a car with it, had filled with excess water leaving a rust colored liquid in the filter housing.

That sucks that the filters are no longer available, as it seems like such a common filter size for inline kitchen units and the reason I wanted the product in the first place. I could care less about their magic polymer detergent, I wanted the filtered water for rinsing my car. I may still have the original flooded cartridge somewhere, I think, and of course the unopened replacement filter cartridge.

 

Griots Garage (www.griotsgarage.com) carries several inline filters, starting at $129. Haven't tried them myself, but I do like their products in general.

 

My dad went to a car wash supply store and bought the parts to build a DI water unit, but he was hardcore.

He has since mellowed and just overlooks the spots.

 

I have the "CR Spotless". It's pricey but really good and lasts a long time.

 

All the cartridges are DI water filter cartridges. All your trying to do is rinse off the water with 400-500 grains of hardness. You can put Reverse osmosis drinking water in a bottle and spray it on. It has hardness readings from 10-50, where your normal tap water is 400-500, hence the spots. If you have the water dispensers at the local market or Home Depot, you can buy it by the gallon. Our Sparkletts water dispensers her in So Cal have a hardness of around 25. I hope this helps

 

John, thanks for the tip.
I also didn't give it a thought, and put the spotting down to the dark colour. We're on well water too, and the hose outlet is on the unfiltered side of the water feed.

Time to test out how good our filtration system is...

Mike

 

John...Great tip... I have delicious well water which is very hard.

Today, (after I voted!) I went to Walmart and picked up a couple of gallons of distilled water.
($2.80). Washed my car as usual...rinsed and tried your suggestion. Wow, what a difference and so easy...no mineral water spots. Thank you.
The only modification I made was to use my wife's watering can to do the the distilled water rinse. Makes it easier and more consistent.

 

I have one of those pump up style sprayers from home depot that people use for various types of fertilizers or pesticide applications. My spouse used it exclusively, I was never allowed to touch it, along with a 'special' pair of gardening shears. However, my spouse passed away unexpectedly in May of 2012, and I know only Miracle Grow was used in the sprayer, so I think I will rinse it out and use it to dispense the DI water.

 

SteveG , 03XKR,

I appreciate your updates, I'm glad to hear it's working or you too. I just washed the car the other day and realized that this cuts the time in half. No need to use the slower Mr Clean filter or my gas powered leaf blower (used to use it to get most of her H2O off). Heck a microfiber towel can now dry it faster, and still no spots! Well it's a good feeling when you think of something, share it , and it lands well. I'm glad it's working for you guys too thanks for the feedback.

John

 

Be sure to rinse it thoroughly.



Graham