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Hard Water Spots-- What to do ?

I have very hard water ( well water) at home and getting tired of always drying the trailer after washing.

What are some tips , secretes you all may be doing to make it easier ?? I am NOT getting any younger ! 🙂

I have heard of using a leaf blower to blow off excess water , does that work ?
I also heard of folks using soap (Rainex) that says it stops water spots?
How about inline hose water filters ?? any suggestions there ??

Joe
Me-Her-the kids
2020 Ford F350 SD 6.7
2020 Redwood 3991RD Garnet
22 REPLIES 22

down_home
Explorer II
Explorer II
Calcium in suspension will be taken out by a good filter. Dissolved won't but the stuff the filter catches that is in suspension will gather some of the dissolved. A good filter helps a lot, particuarly with, iron magnesium and sulfur and other things that make for the real bad spotting.
Use the car wash that says no spotting or fights spotting.
Some use dishwasher water spot remover like Jet Dry in the bucket but it must be after washing the first round.
I think I would try first the good filter and no spot car wash. It has something, like Jet Dry, in it, I'm told and wash one side rinse and dry quickly then the other side, after doing the roof first.
It helps to wash real early when dew is on the coach and dry before sun does.

lynndiwagon
Explorer
Explorer
Use 50/50 water and vinegar to get them off. Rinse. If your only source of water is hard then you will have to get a softener. They are easy to install and you can buy them off of the internet. I have bought two from this place and had real good luck.
Lynn & Diana Wagoner
Three Boston Terriers
2011 Chevy 3500HD, DRW, 4X4
2014 Big Country 3650RL
Retired

JoeH
Explorer III
Explorer III
Winged One wrote:
I have been in the same house for 24 years. Terrible well water. Softener, the best that Culligan has, brings the well water down from over 1000 ppm to right around 195 ppm. That water still leaves the vehicle dirtier than when I started.

Putting another whole house water filter gets it down to 145. Not good enough, not by far.

I hated taking the trailer 20 miles to a wash bay, that I had to turn the trailer around to get both sides and it still needed work when I got home.

Finally decided to try Spotless water system.

It worked as advertised. I wash, rinse with the water from the system, and let dry. Absolutely clean. Zero spots. Amazing clean.

Downside: Expensive. They advertise that you should get 300 gallons of clean water from the largest system (DIC-20 that I have). No way I got that much. I washed 1 car, 1 truck, 2 motorcycles, and 1 40ft 5th and the resin was done. I used the water as directed (only as a final rinse).

I contacted them and they said the 300 gallons is based on their San Diego water that they claim is 400 ppm. They said I should get 500 gallons. No way I used that much water. They have a 30 day money back guarantee.

I did decide to keep it and am going to use additional measures to stretch out the amount of clean water you get.

Summary: Spotless works perfectly. However, do everything you can to use as little as possible, as the resin is expensive.


I have a spotless also and wash my motorcycle,pickup and 43ft MH with it. Truck gets washed about once a month, the MH 4x a year and the bike as needed. It lasted 2 years before I had to replace the resin. Bought the unit at Costco and it came with a resin refill.
Works great.

To the OP, I also pour a bit of Calgon water softener ( available at Wally World) into the wash water bucket. I was reading that some recommend a bit of vinegar in the water also..... I'll try that next time.
Joe
2013 Dutch Star 4338- all electric
Toad is 2015 F-150 with bikes,kayaks and Harley aboard

LarryJM
Explorer II
Explorer II
I use a Ca. "water blade" when washing both my Van and trailer that removes 95% of the water and then a quick finish with a micro fiber cloth or towel and it's dry.

Larry
2001 standard box 7.3L E-350 PSD Van with 4.10 rear and 2007 Holiday Rambler Aluma-Lite 8306S Been RV'ing since 1974.
RAINKAP INSTALL////ETERNABOND INSTALL

debaets
Explorer
Explorer
I've heard that adding some JetDry to the wash water helps with spots, haven't tried it though.
Steve & Jeri De Baets
Manhattan Beach, CA.
2004 Dolphin 5342
79 VW Convertible, Triple Black

Winged_One
Explorer
Explorer
I have been in the same house for 24 years. Terrible well water. Softener, the best that Culligan has, brings the well water down from over 1000 ppm to right around 195 ppm. That water still leaves the vehicle dirtier than when I started.

Putting another whole house water filter gets it down to 145. Not good enough, not by far.

I hated taking the trailer 20 miles to a wash bay, that I had to turn the trailer around to get both sides and it still needed work when I got home.

Finally decided to try Spotless water system.

It worked as advertised. I wash, rinse with the water from the system, and let dry. Absolutely clean. Zero spots. Amazing clean.

Downside: Expensive. They advertise that you should get 300 gallons of clean water from the largest system (DIC-20 that I have). No way I got that much. I washed 1 car, 1 truck, 2 motorcycles, and 1 40ft 5th and the resin was done. I used the water as directed (only as a final rinse).

I contacted them and they said the 300 gallons is based on their San Diego water that they claim is 400 ppm. They said I should get 500 gallons. No way I used that much water. They have a 30 day money back guarantee.

I did decide to keep it and am going to use additional measures to stretch out the amount of clean water you get.

Summary: Spotless works perfectly. However, do everything you can to use as little as possible, as the resin is expensive.
2013 F350 6.7 DRW SC Lariat
2011 Brookstone 354TS
Swivelwheel 58DW
1993 GL1500SE
Yamaha 3000ISEB

Hank_MI
Explorer
Explorer
We have a well and whole house softener. I re-plumbed one outside faucet so I could switch between straight well water or softened water. A hose filter, even a whole house filter won't remove the dissolved minerals (calcium, lime, etc.) in the water. They'll remove small particles from the water but not the dissolved minerals.

donkeydew
Explorer
Explorer
i use one of the cheapy camco in line water filters on my wash hose and a leaf blower. it helps but still needs a little wiping.

gbopp wrote:
You're from Pennsylvania. BEER is the answer. The more you drink, the less you care about the water spots.
And, you're helping the economy at the same time. 🙂


That's my issue now... I drink and see twice as many spots ! I am never done ! ! :B
Me-Her-the kids
2020 Ford F350 SD 6.7
2020 Redwood 3991RD Garnet

gbopp
Explorer
Explorer
You're from Pennsylvania. BEER is the answer. The more you drink, the less you care about the water spots.
And, you're helping the economy at the same time. 🙂

fla-gypsy
Explorer
Explorer
Water softener is the answer
This member is not responsible for opinions that are inaccurate due to faulty information provided by the original poster. Use them at your own discretion.

09 SuperDuty Crew Cab 6.8L/4.10(The Black Pearl)
06 Keystone Hornet 29 RLS/(The Cracker Cabana)

westend
Explorer
Explorer
This Mr Clean auto wash system has a dispenser you attach to your hose and it dispenses ionized water (no spots). I have one but now what I do is clean and rinse the car with buckets of softened water. If I want to dry any vehicle, I use a silicone squeegee and micro fiber cloths.
'03 F-250 4x4 CC
'71 Starcraft Wanderstar -- The Cowboy/Hilton

2oldman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Cottontop wrote:
Use a leaf blower after washing to get all the water off best way to dry it.
Great idea!
"If I'm wearing long pants, I'm too far north" - 2oldman

coolmom42
Explorer II
Explorer II
ford truck guy wrote:
Ranger Smith wrote:
ford truck guy wrote:
I have very hard water ( well water) at home and getting tired of always drying the trailer after washing.

What are some tips , secretes you all may be doing to make it easier ?? I am NOT getting any younger ! 🙂

I have heard of using a leaf blower to blow off excess water , does that work ?
I also heard of folks using soap (Rainex) that says it stops water spots?
How about inline hose water filters ?? any suggestions there ??

Joe



Why don't you put in a whole house water softener for like $400. We did that in Arkansas when we lived there and no more hard water


That is a possibility , but the house is hooked into the city water... Its just the 2 outside hose bibs that are still drawing off the well water.. I may try hooking up to the in house sink and see if that's better ??


Your city water may be hard, too, depending on where it comes from... but it's worth a try.
Single empty-nester in Middle TN, sometimes with a friend or grandchild on board