What Causes Water Spots On Cars?
If you’ve ever owned a car, you’ve seen a water spot. Small, white-ish stains on your otherwise immaculate finish, they leave many asking just what causes water spots on cars. Simply put, they come from beads of water resting on your paint, which dry and leave behind a residue. This is why it’s so important to have a ceramic coating that will either help the water to bead and roll away or sheet them off immediately before they have a chance to dry.
Ultimately, water spots are a common nuisance for car owners. They can appear on various surfaces of your car's exterior, including the paint, glass, and chrome. But what is it exactly about those beads that forms the water spot? What’s happening inside a bead to cause such a nasty stain? Well, as with anything, there’s a simple answer and a not-so-simple answer. We’ll give you both and give some ways to remove them and stop future water spots from happening.
What Are Water Spots?
Simple Answer
Water can be split into two types: hard and soft. This doesn't mean how much alcohol is in it but what minerals are inside. When water has lots of magnesium or calcium, we call it "hard." If it has less of these minerals, it's called "soft."
The kind of minerals in water mostly depends on the rocks around where the water comes from. So, here in Florida water is considered hard to very hard
When water with minerals in it dries up, it leaves those minerals behind. Unlike water, these minerals can't disappear into the air. They become a kind of dirt, which, at first, is easy to clean. But as time goes by, it can turn into a tough stain that might even damage the surface it's on.
Not-So Simple Answer
Imagine a tiny ball sitting on paint. Because the ball is round, there's less water on the sides of it. When there's less water, it dries up faster. So, the edge of the ball dries up first, and that's when things get interesting.
The edge of the ball doesn't move, so when the water disappears there, more water from the middle of the ball goes to the edge to take its place. It brings along some stuff from the water, like tiny bits of minerals. When all the water is gone, the Sun's rays make the leftover stuff stick to the paint. That's when you get a water spot.
Strangely enough, the same thing happens when you spill coffee. Instead of minerals, it's coffee bits that stick to the surface.
What To Do About Water Spots?
Now that you know what a water spot is and how one forms, how exactly do you prevent them? And if you can’t prevent them, how do you remove them? Look for the answer to those questions over the next few weeks—stay tuned.
