Spot free washing!

I've tried rinsing the car with water from our domestic water softener. I tested the hardness, it's at the lowest hardness scale. The car still had faint spots when it dried. I now final rinse with demin water in a camping pressure sprayer followed by blow dry with a pet drier. The demin water costs me about £1 for 25 litres, lasts for 3 or 4 rinses. No spots, no towel swirls.
 
Our softener is primarily used for the dishwasher (more often than not...me!) and the drinking water tap via a special RO filter.

We have hard - very hard water. I always wash in the shade, and if there's a drop or two lurking, the residue is only just noticeable.

Occasionally, I have been caught out at car shows where the only supply is hard and I'm parked in the sun...that's when the vinegar comes out and that removes anything that's left. And, leaves the car smelling like a chippie!
I travel to shows now with 2L of softened water so I don't have to use vinegar any more!
 
The tap water here is measured at 250ppm. I always use the water-softener water (even though that measures 200ppm) for the wash bucket, but rinse with the 0ppm water. I made the mistake of trying to hook the pressure washer through the 0ppm tank and it went through the original resin before you could say "whoops, that was a stupid idea" :D . I check that water every month now, just to make sure it's still good.
 
Our water out the tap is 96ppm so not too bad but as picture shows still leaves a huge mess
Too early to know how long it lasts but currently still 0ppm and had plenty of use.
 
A silly question...but if I buy one of those DI filters, do you use it just for the rinsing ? I was thinking of using a snow foam thing on my pressure washer and wondering whether you put the water through the filter before the hose goes into the pressure washer, ie filtered foam ??

What is the difference between the 7lt version and 11lt version ? (4 ltrs obviously and a few quid, before anyone offers that response! )... I guess my question is "does size matter ?" :lol:
 
Don't run it through the pressure washer, unless you want to replace the resin every 5 minutes! Trust me, it's a bad idea to do that so yes, just use it for the rinse phase :)

EDIT: Also, get yourself one of the little TDS water meters so that you can tell when the resin needs changing. They only cost £15 or so for a basic one.
 
I have used a Daqua, plus 115, for many years now with outstanding success. The Angelwax detailer for ceramic which I use afterwards has to be applied to a damp/wet surface, so the car gets dried as a matter of course. I use the softened water to rinse 2 cars, and a 25kg bag lasts about 12 months. As we have exceptionally hard water here (450 ppm +) this seems a fair expense compared to the elbow grease of removing the water marks.

From experience, water marks left on ppf can be a lot more difficult to remove than from paintwork.
 
For final rinse I use a camping shower, one where you pressurise the container with the included hand pump. Filled with demin water from a Spotless Water dispenser. Costs pennies per wash. I think 25litres is about £1. Followed by a blow dry from a pet dryer.
 
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