What to do with the dew?

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

Pollen season here in NC finally lightened up, and now we are having a heat wave (don't laugh too hard those of you in Florida or Arizona) where temps are high 90's.

Dew is now forming more at night, when I leave in the morning for work the hood, top, trunk, front and rear glass are covered in it. It sits outside in the sun in the parking lot at work, and I always end up with water spots in a few places after it dries.

I was able to take a pic and capture how it looks with this cheap camera in my laptop. (Was shocked it actually showed up!)
In the bottom right corner.

These are not "etched" and will come off easily using a 2 bucket wash. I'm sure a rinseless wash would remove them as well, though I'm scared to death of scratching the paint in this area.

This area for me is one of the most susceptible area's of the car to accumulate dirt, and also the easiest to scratch. I wish a had a garage to alleviate this issue but I don't.

Anyone else having this issue? Have you used rinseless without causing micro-marring in this area?

I don't have a specific rinseless wash product, but do have Ultima WW plus concentrate, which states that it can be used as rinseless with 1oz to 3 gallons of water.

[myold88]

Even on my show cars overnight at the motel or left on the showfield, if I don't have a car cover
I've always removed dew with a damp cotton towel or two.
Of course your car must be otherwise clean. Then follow up with a detail spray if you have time.

[JTruck]

I would just hit it with detail spray in the morning.

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

Originally Posted by myold88

Even on my show cars overnight at the motel or left on the showfield, if I don't have a car cover
I've always removed dew with a damp cotton towel or two.
Of course your car must be otherwise clean. Then follow up with a detail spray if you have time.

This is my dilemma, the car has sat outside all night, even if I washed/dried it just before dark, 8 hours later it's going to have some dirt on it. Then it's driven to work, back home for lunch, then home after work. This is only a total of 3.6 miles, but, the car is accumulating dust and dirt.

If I wiped it with only a damp towel I cannot see how I couldn't scratch the surface, if it's not lubricated, to suspend the dirt before removal, it's going to rub against the clear coat. No way around that without lubrication.

That's why I like the foam gun / 2 bucket wash, lot's of lubrication to minimize chances of scratches.

But does it make sense to wash the whole car when all I'm trying to remove is 5 or 6 places on the car that have these "dew water spots"?

My problem is I don't trust the rinseless wash cause I haven't used it. I've seen excellent videos of the "rolling the towel" technique to get the dirt off without dragging it across the surface. I just can't bring myself to do it.

It's been my experience that the rear of my car scratches very easily, and now that I've got them out, I don't want them back in!

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

Originally Posted by JTruck

I would just hit it with detail spray in the morning.

Ok, so I break out my swirl finder light so I can see what I'm doing. But since it's sat outside all night, won't there be some dirt and grit that's settled on the car? The Adams does suspend stuff, I've used it to remove bird droppings, would the UWW provide more lubrication?

[67RS2010SS]

Originally Posted by myold88

Even on my show cars overnight at the motel or left on the showfield, if I don't have a car cover
I've always removed dew with a damp cotton towel or two.
Of course your car must be otherwise clean. Then follow up with a detail spray if you have time.

A Cotton towel probably not the best idea! Use some Adams waterless or diluted rinseless wash along with some microfiber towels.

[ihaveacamaro]

Rinseless with the Ultima you have. That will be fine. Make sure to do the alternative rinseless method where you only use a towel once and then put it away.

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

Originally Posted by Joe M 2012 2SS

This is my dilemma, the car has sat outside all night, even if I washed/dried it just before dark, 8 hours later it's going to have some dirt on it. Then it's driven to work, back home for lunch, then home after work. This is only a total of 3.6 miles, but, the car is accumulating dust and dirt.

If I wiped it with only a damp towel I cannot see how I couldn't scratch the surface, if it's not lubricated, to suspend the dirt before removal, it's going to rub against the clear coat. No way around that without lubrication.

That's why I like the foam gun / 2 bucket wash, lot's of lubrication to minimize chances of scratches.

But does it make sense to wash the whole car when all I'm trying to remove is 5 or 6 places on the car that have these "dew water spots"?

My problem is I don't trust the rinseless wash cause I haven't used it. I've seen excellent videos of the "rolling the towel" technique to get the dirt off without dragging it across the surface. I just can't bring myself to do it.

It's been my experience that the rear of my car scratches very easily, and now that I've got them out, I don't want them back in!

Detail spray with a quality microfiber will cover you if it is only an overnight's worth of "dirt." You're thinking too deeply into it. Remember, it's impossible to avoid swirls entirely, especially on the rear of the car since it is the area of the car that gathers the most soiling. While you're driving, there is a spot of negative pressure in the back that causes dirt and dust to kick back up against the bumper, trunk lid, and rear panels. I've pretty much accepted I'll have some swirls on the rear bumper at any given time.

My honest opinion?

If you're getting into this "my paint needs to look good most, if not all the time" mentality (which I see happening), if you have the $$$$$, I would invest in a POS $2000-$3000 beater car and keep the Camaro under a cover most of the time (Covercraft's Weathershield HD is the closest thing to having a garage), driving it only when the conditions warrant and always washing it before putting the cover back on.

I've found that most people who give a damn about their car's paint and conditioning at the level you and I do have a tendency to succumb to more stress knowing their car isn't perfect all the time than finding pleasure in knowing that they can drive it all the time. People like us are born with the "weekend warrior" mentality, so you might as well submit to it, because you can't beat the fact that you'll always hate when your car is dirty and has water spots. LOL As much control as we think we may have with fancy waxes and coatings, the fact of the matter is, we CANNOT beat the elements and the only way to prevent your car from deteriorating or wearing is to not expose it to them at all; in particular the sun. I DD my car as well and it sits outside, and for the past year I've been buying some parts to replace on my car because they've been damaged or worn by constant use and the number one thing I think about is how good I'll feel by the end of this year when I have a beater and my Camaro is finally retired from daily use and will be sitting under a cover when I'm not driving it (which will be only during good weather, I might add). I've had nearly 5 years of driving it daily, and I've had some great times with it... but if I'm going to keep it indefinitely like I plan to, I need to start thinking about preserving its integrity as best I can.

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

Originally Posted by ihaveacamaro

Rinseless with the Ultima you have. That will be fine. Make sure to do the alternative rinseless method where you only use a towel once and then put it away.

Did this today before work, worked great. Thanks Roshan!

I was afraid my Rag Company Everest 800 towels would be turned mint green from the UWW, so I put them in the washer as soon as I was done, along with the Everest 1100 I used to remove the UWW residue, when I came home for lunch ran them in the dryer for 15 minutes, no green stains!

I'll need to get another bucket with gamma seal lid to have this ready when needed.

How long will this 3 gallons of solution stay usable when stored in the bucket? With the 5 towels I'm using, based on what was left in the bucket, I should get around 5 uses from 3 gallons of mix.

I have an empty 1 gallon container of Adams Car Shampoo I can keep a mix of the solution, for use to "top off" the rinseless bucket so there is enough solution to saturate all 5 towels.

Oh and just in case I did it wrong it any way, I wrung the towels out, just until they weren't dripping wet, held it by 2 corners and slowly lifted it up as I was letting it drag across the surface and remove the dew, to use the whole surface of the towel, or as much as possible. Then flipped it over, used the other side, repeated again with fresh towel. It worked out to using 2 towels on hood, 2 on top, 1 on trunk lid.

Thanks again for your help!

Adding a pic so you can see, no water sports, no scratches! I seriously stoked!

[ihaveacamaro]

Originally Posted by Joe M 2012 2SS

Did this today before work, worked great. Thanks Roshan!

I was afraid my Rag Company Everest 800 towels would be turned mint green from the UWW, so I put them in the washer as soon as I was done, along with the Everest 1100 I used to remove the UWW residue, when I came home for lunch ran them in the dryer for 15 minutes, no green stains!

I'll need to get another bucket with gamma seal lid to have this ready when needed.

How long will this 3 gallons of solution stay usable when stored in the bucket? With the 5 towels I'm using, based on what was left in the bucket, I should get around 5 uses from 3 gallons of mix.

I have an empty 1 gallon container of Adams Car Shampoo I can keep a mix of the solution, for use to "top off" the rinseless bucket so there is enough solution to saturate all 5 towels.

Oh and just in case I did it wrong it any way, I wrung the towels out, just until they weren't dripping wet, held it by 2 corners and slowly lifted it up as I was letting it drag across the surface and remove the dew, to use the whole surface of the towel, or as much as possible. Then flipped it over, used the other side, repeated again with fresh towel. It worked out to using 2 towels on hood, 2 on top, 1 on trunk lid.

Thanks again for your help!

Adding a pic so you can see, no water sports, no scratches! I seriously stoked!

Glad it worked! Sounds like you did it right.

I'm of the mindset of one time use. I throw out the excess regardless of how much is left. At $0.50 a use (may be a little over a dollar for you depending on what size you got of the concentrate), it's just not worth my time to try to resuse.