Removing Chiller Tower Over Spray from Vehicle Paint

She needs a rub out and wax job.....If she had a coat of wax on it to begin with, she wouldn't have a problem.....in the meantime I would sneak up on the roof and put a sign warning people not to park close to the cooling tower as you will not be responsible for water spotting residue that might occur....but you might have to get somebody to detail the car this time.....next time you can point to the sign....

I got the impression that she uses a white glove and magnifying glass to inspect her car's finish. We had a 30 minute conversation about it.

Our parking tickets include a disclaimer about any damage.

I'll probably send her a voucher for a car wash/detail and take it out of the proceeds of the parking revenue. Good PR.

I don't need to sneak up and put up a sign. I have "people" for that.

This is the first time in 5 years that this has happened. I can spend some money and make a friend. We never get complaints about our parking program.

Thanks.

Easy and effective I would say....

I work at a Large Steel mill. As you can imagine there is a bit of lime in the air at times. Vinegar will not harm any thing on the car if mixed at 50/50 with water.

Good luck

Fixit

install "eliminators to prevent round 2"

This is a non-problem.

No remedy required.

The simple answer is to hire a competent detailer.

The problem is that this probably calls for a lot of elbow grease. There are clays made to pick up particulates stuck to the paint and remove oxidization, but I suspect that some compounding and other specialized detailing treatment is required.

The question is, how much is she or you willing to pay? Getting a detailer that really knows his stuff is not cheap, but if they are really picky you might start inquiring at places like a Ferrari dealer or club.

elbow grease not included

I haven't seen the car.

The city chiller guy says he gets his car dusted and it washes right off.

I'm tempted to give her a free detail, or a gift card. It's either, "my car got something on it at the arts center and they couldn't help me" or "the nice people at the arts center helped me with my problem".

The performance was by the Australian Pink Floyd. She is an Australian. She drove 50 miles.

Here within lays the problem, the lady is from down-under, the band is from down-under. Everything falls the opposite way down-under in Australia. So she's never seen the effects of falling mineral deposits. Kinda like the "Coriolis Effect"

Just Joking, but if you could get the car alone for a minute, you might try CLR®, not an endorsement but the stuff seems to work pretty good for everything else.

...from the CLR website FAQs - I don't think I'd recommend that.

"Can I use CLR on my car to remove rust?
No, it is not recommended to use CLR on a car. It may drip onto aluminum or a painted surface."

I think the detailer gift card is the way to go.

Us bluddy ozzies. I'm seriously considering shipping my car over there for a free cut and polish.

Tell her that once her cataracts start to develop with age the problem will go away.

Other than that she could try briskly rubbing it with a squirrel, Kris will like that

Del

(sorry, I couldn't think of any dumb remarks )

It's a big car. I think rubbing it with a cat would take her less time.

you beat me to that one!

The kitties are safe.

I'm going to find where she lives and send her a free detail for her car.

Our operating expenses are about 20% of gross. We can afford it.

She'll be happy, the arts center will be happy and everybody wins.

^{(I'll get an atta boy)}

Even better - buy her a new car and send me the one with the spots.

I'll give you two attaboys and a GA.

I'll send you a picture of the over-spray.

Can a local carwash put Cascade dishwashing detergent into its soap dispenser?

Don't polish it or compound it! Get some Ducky and be done with it.

Ducky, one of the best products on the market for water spot removal.

What happened to post #20?

Holly Molly - 20 feet away (!) from the CT this must happen all the time... How could it not. You should be asking how can we convince the parking people to shut down the upper level without us having to pay for the entire floor for the life of the structure ! Zounds I just spent $100 in Bakersfield for a guy named "car wash" ( nobody can pronounce his real name, not even him) to detail the old but sweet 1991 BMW 525i. It had, you guessed it, water spots from the hotel's sprinklers. Calcium and magnesium. Leave the black car in the hot sun with water spots, and there goes the factory finish.

I have a Black 2014 Corvette and hard water at my home. It will cause a buildup of mineral spots which won't wash off easily. Rubbing hard with a microfiber cloth and soap will take it off, but you run the chance of random grit scratching the paint. So I use vinegar with one of these:

It's adjustable to change the concentration. I always rinse well and have not seen any effects from doing it. (It also cleans the stainless steel exhaust tips!) After that I use a car wash soap and do a normal wash and dry.

A lot of detail sprays will get it off, but requires more rubbing.

Several polishing formulas work (Avoid compounding types).

Use microfiber cloths and NEVER rub hard! Rubbing hard with any type of material will most definitely put swirls in the surface. If it happens use the detail sprays to hide them.

Vinegar and water may work well in most cases, but not in others....It depends on the deposit....and it does remove the wax....

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/52347-using-vinegar-remove-water-spots.html

Nice ride.

Black is a color most people only buy once. :-) (-:

Black is beautiful. If kept pristine, as I suspect Bill H. does.

The nice lady has already told me that her husband ("off-sider" I guess in Australian terms) has used vinegar on the windscreen, but not the paint. With good result. I think they are not going to use it on the paint.

For the record, I appreciate the good advice, and the corny squirrel rubbing comment, but I have contacted the owner of the vehicle and offered to have the finish renewed to the condition it was in before their unfortunate experience, as first time attendees to our facility.

..as is white.....but I don't have to drive a clean car, and when it gets really bad, a wash in one of those car wash "thingies" is OK....but probably bad for the paintwork....

Silver/Grey generally can get quite dirty before you notice it I find.....

Depends on the dirt (however, nothing helps a black car). In Florida white does better than it does in other states.

Also, rain in Florida contains less dirt than I have seen in the north eastern part of the USA. I find I am washing the car far less because of it.

Now, the stinking brake dust is another story, just don't get me started there!

Final report on the chiller tower caper.

I called the nice lady today. She said her car was a present from her hubby and she was very protective of it.

I offered to buy her a detail job at a shop near her house.

She declined, saying that she never allowed anyone to touch her car but family.

She also said that she could still see specks and her son (who is knowledgeable of cars) suggested that she use a clay bar to remove the offending spots.

So, off to the store I went, bought her a clay bar kit (cat not included), and put it in the "post" as they would say. She'll have it tomorrow.

She was tickled pink. (Pardon the play on words)

For less than $30.00 I made friend for the Arts Center.

Thanks to all.

Very good, indeed. ;-)

Depending on how "nasty" the minerals in the water are, it could be a lot different from salt. Could be calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate, various silicates, a mixture of all of the above, silt clays cemented together with calcium silicate and iron corrosion products. Lots of stuff. There is a concrete cleaner product out there that claims to remove concrete from vehicles that have been splattered with concrete (in construction areas). I think the product is called Strong Arm, or Hammer strong, or something like that. It appears to be based on glycolic acid, so it will not harm paint, or corrode the vehicle....based on the manufacturer's propaganda.

As to the lady's statement: Washing the car with actual scrubbing should remove any adhered film in clearcoat finishes. Just rinsing off the car might not remove anything but salt.