water spots

[Ronald]

Anyone ever use a vinegar water mix to treat water spots? A few guys at my dock use it. Their mechanics told them to use it. Anyone have experience with this. Tx
Ron

 

[cozilla]

After I removed my graphics from the hull if buffed it and waxed and it looked like glass. To fight water spots I use BoatBling Hot Sauce after an outing. If I don't have time to do the Hot Sauce which doesn't take long, I will wipe the hull down with a towel. I am on a lift though, but would do the same thing once the boat was on the trailer when we pulled the boat out at the ramp.

 

[BigVish]

I've been having good luck with this:
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/303-p...SN-_-Shopping PLAs-_-12914933&device={Device}

 

[jcyamaharider]

Another Hot sauce user here!! That stuff is amazing!

 

[scokill]

If you have water spots already on and they are "embedded", a detailer won't help...that would be more for prevention. Ducky Water spot remover works well as does dishwasher rinse agent like Jet Dry.

 

[Glassman]

Anyone ever use a vinegar water mix to treat water spots? A few guys at my dock use it. Their mechanics told them to use it. Anyone have experience with this. Tx
Ron

Use it all the time. It's cheap. So am I.

Typically, water spots are caused by minerals in the water. This water is considered a base (as opposed to an acid) Vinegar is basically mild acetic acid and will counteract the hard water.
Where I boat it's so damn hot that the boat is dry by the time you reach the top of the ramp so we rarely wipe down immediately - it's a waste of time.

We tow back to the hotel and if I can find a spot in the shade I'll douche the whole boat with vinegar and water, give it a good scrub - don't let it dry and then soak a hand towel in water with a little baking soda added to neutralize the acidic vinegar to do a quick wipe. Later on I'll come back with a detailer after things have cooled down to at least 90

Sounds like a lot of work...it is, but black hulls are a biotch to keep looking great. Right now I'd say my hull, on a scale of 1 to 10, is a WTF - time to polish that sucker! Then wax...a buddy turned me on to something I've been using lately that seems to hold up much better than the Meguiar's I've used for a long while:
http://www.amazon.com/15oz-Finish-Kare-1000P-Hi-Temp/dp/B002NZL6M6

If you boat often you should inspect the gel coat for signs of etching and polish and wax as needed. I've found that the water can vary between outings. Some days it seems that the water is yuckier (technical term) than others.

 

[Craig]

Hot Sauce user here too..

 

[aarons1k]

Vinegar and water is what I've been using for years !

 

[tdonoughue]

I do both.

I have been told (and it does make some sense) that the vinegar and water strips the wax on the boat. Hot Sauce is much more expensive, but does not strip the wax (and/or replaces it with its own wax). So I use vinegar and water more toward the end of the season right before I wax it and the Hot Sauce more at the beginning of the season.

 

[itsdgm]

I use vinegar and water. Just make sure you're standing upwind when you spray

 

[BlacklimitedS]

Hot Sauce as well...it smells like vinegar and works great. In Oklahoma with a black boat I am constantly battling water spots. Even baked on spots wipe right off. Hot Sauce is amazing (expensive) stuff!