Simple Tricks To Prevent Water Spots After Rain

It is frustrating when you keep on removing water spots from your car, and then it rains, prompting the reappearance of the ugly marks again.

You can always deal with the water spots, but you don’t have control over rain on your car unless you store it in a garage and never use it again.

However, don’t forget that there are preventive measures you can implement to solve this problem.

These save you the time and the frustration of constantly ridding the vehicle of water spots. So how do you do it?

You can apply car wax, a ceramic coating, or sealant on your vehicle to prevent water spots from forming on the surface after rain. These products make the car surface more slippery, making the rainwater slide off the vehicle surface. Hence, they prevent water from drying on the car, leading to water spot formation.

Does rain leave water stains?

How do you prevent water spots on vehicles after rain?

How do you keep the car clean after a downpour?

You probably ask yourself all these questions, and you will find their answers in this article.

Read to the end to learn more!

Table Of Contents

How Do You Prevent Water Spots After Rain?

Rainwater isn’t pure; it is laden with impurities and contaminants, thanks to environmental pollution.

It also has trace minerals like calcium and magnesium. When it rains on your car, you may notice white spots after drying, especially if the vehicle dries on its own.

These spots are the remnants of contaminants and the minerals left behind after the water has evaporated from the vehicle’s surface, and they harden over time if not removed.

Hence the need to know how to prevent them from forming in the first place.

The best water spots-preventive measure is drying the water off as soon as possible before the stains appear. Using car wax, sealants, or ceramic coatings, you can also prevent the marks. The products repel water off the surface as soon as it lands, preventing it from sitting on the surface long enough to cause water stains.

The following are tips to prevent water stains from forming after rain:

Dry the Vehicle After Rain

Dry the vehicle as soon as it rains to prevent water stains from forming on the surface.

Quickly drying it after rain is the best preventive measure if your car doesn’t have any protective coating that can make water slide down as soon as it lands on the surface.

Use a clean microfiber towel, an air compressor, or a water blade to dry the water off the vehicle after rain. Ensure that the car is clean and doesn’t have particles that may scratch the paint when you dry it. Also, the water shouldn’t have stayed long enough to evaporate and leave marks on the vehicle.

Wash or rinse the car first to prevent swirls and scratches from trapped particles when you wipe the rainwater off.

Use free-flowing water under low pressure to rinse, as high pressure causes tiny water droplets on the vehicle.

The particles dry quickly because of their small size, leaving other water spots on top of those from the rainwater.

Hence, you compound the stain problem rather than solve it, so it is best to avoid rinsing the car under high water pressure.

Apply Wax, Ceramic Coatings, and Sealants to the Car

Use waxes, sealants, and ceramic coatings on the car to prevent water stains after rain.

These products add a hydrophobic layer to the vehicle. Hence they have effective paint protection capabilities against water-dwelling on the surface and causing spots.

At the car wash, after washing, water drops and wax flow down the windows.

Here is how they work:

The products’ hydrophobic properties make the car’s surface water repellent. Hence, it glides off the surface without dwelling on it too much to form stains.
The products cause a faster drying of rainwater on cars, making it easy for individuals to remove the water before it causes spots.
Waxes make rainwater form beads on the vehicle rather than spreading out on the surface.

According to research by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Françoise Brochard-Wyart, and David Quéré, water has a weak adherence to wax.

Surface tension makes it cluster into beads on a waxed surface, hence their formation on vehicles with wax coatings. The beads easily roll off the waxed car surface and take longer to dry.

Thus, the water beads aren’t too many to remove, and you have more time to wipe them off the car before they evaporate and leave water stains.

You can purchase the paint protection products and apply them yourself or pay a professional to do it.

Always look for durable products with good hydrophobic results for better and long-lasting protection against water stains after rain.

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Will Rain Leave Water Spots?

Rain has impurities that it collects during the water cycle.

The water cycle is when water evaporates off the earth’s surface and collects in the clouds, falling as rainfall when the clouds are heavy enough.

The raindrops are laden with impurities and contaminants due to environmental pollutants like cars, machinery, and industrial emissions.

Rain leaves water spots on cars because the water contains impurities and contaminants collected during the water cycle. When the water evaporates, it leaves these impurities and contaminants- the chalky stains observed on the vehicle’s surface. Also, rainwater contains mineral deposits that remain as spots on cars.

Individuals shouldn’t take comfort by assuming rain doesn’t affect their cars and that it cleans them.

This isn’t true because rainwater can eat away at the vehicle’s surface by leaving impurities and mineral deposits as water spots on it.

When left to build up, the stains become more stubborn to remove, leading to vehicle corrosion.

How Do You Keep Your Car Clean After Rain?

Most car owners have borne the brunt of washing their vehicles in the morning, and then a heavy downpour reverses all their cleaning gains.

The rain can be unpredictable and pour when least expected, or it could be the rainy season when there is a lot of rain.

Cars should be kept clean if owners intend to avoid the adverse effects of rainwater on them.

Give your car a quick rinse, wash and lubricate it frequently, and consider wax protection to maintain a clean car after rain. Rain drags along dirt, mud, and other elements. The particles leave and seal in acidic residue that deteriorates the car’s exterior with time, hence the need to keep it clean after rain.

The following are ways to keep your automobile clean after a downpour:

Rinse the Vehicle

Hose the vehicle to wash away the pollutants and contaminants the rain gathered on it.

Then, wipe it down with a microfiber towel until it is dry.

This method is effective if you washed your car properly moments before the rain, so the vehicle hasn’t gathered that much dirt and grime.

Wash It Thoroughly

Use car shampoo and scrub the car properly to wash it after rain.

Do this if the car hasn’t been cleaned in about a week. You should wash the vehicle every 7 to 10 days, but you can wash it more or less frequently depending on the conditions it has been exposed.

When washing the car, use good quality car shampoo with lubricants and a microfiber cloth//towel.

The right car washing products and techniques protect the vehicle from scratches that degrade the paintwork, making it more susceptible to damage from acid rain.

Apply Wax on the Car

Use high-quality wax on the vehicles to keep them clean after rain.

While wax doesn’t necessarily clean cars, it offers a layer of protection against pollutants in the rain.

Cleaning up after a downpour is much easier when your car has a coat of wax protecting it.

Therefore, you won’t face as much trouble keeping it clean as when it doesn’t have wax protection.

Lubricate the Moving Parts

You should lubricate the vehicle’s moving parts, including windshield wipers and door locks, with an anti-rust, lubricating product to keep it clean after rain.

Lubricating the parts exposed to rain prevents their oxidation and subsequent corrosion.

When the parts rust, they appear dirty. Hence, anti-rust lubricant spray prevents it, keeping the vehicle clean.

Key Takeaways

Car wax, ceramic coatings, and sealants are paint protection products with hydrophobic properties that repel water off car surfaces, preventing water stains.
Dry water off the vehicle as soon as possible after it rains to prevent water-dwelling for too long on the surface to evaporate and leave water spots.
Don’t wipe the car after rain without rinsing the surface to remove surface contaminants and particles that cause swirls and scratches.
Rain leaves water spots on vehicle surfaces because it is laden with impurities and mineral deposits that remain after the water evaporates.
Keep your car clean after the rain by rinsing it, applying a coat of wax, and washing it thoroughly.
Frequently lubricate the vehicle’s moving parts exposed to rain, preventing them from rusting and looking dirty.