Water spots on trim

[crh28]

Hello everyone,

My 2012 Ford Focus Titanium Hatchback has some water spots on the plastic aluminum/metallic like trim that runs across the side of the car underneath the windows. I'm not quite sure what I can use to get the water spots out on this type of surface. Anyone have any suggestions or experience dealing with this? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone!

[Sponsor]

[cbdallas]

Try vinegar & a microfiber cloth. Don't use anything abrasive.

[lyonsroar]

^that might work although I've had no luck with vinegar in the past.

That is this stuff made of? If it's brushed aluminum you could use a metal polish or something. Perhaps a mild buffing compound.

[Nickgt40]

Try a clay bar with some detail spray.

If that doesn't work, try a very small amount of rubbing alcohol directly on the cloth.

[F'nClassy]

Slightly damp microfibre cloth is all you need.

[scott7278]

Originally Posted by crh28

Hello everyone,

My 2012 Ford Focus Titanium Hatchback has some water spots on the plastic aluminum/metallic like trim that runs across the side of the car underneath the windows. I'm not quite sure what I can use to get the water spots out on this type of surface. Anyone have any suggestions or experience dealing with this? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone!

I just noticed the same problem last night. I had a bottle of Rain-X window cleaner on hand, and it seemed to help, but not eliminate, the problem. The tricky thing is, it's just plastic.

[crh28]

Thanks for some of the suggestions everyone. I tried the rubbing alcohol and vinegar, but neither really seemed to do too much. I also tried some Ultimate Compound to no avail. So this really has me stumped. If anyone has any other thoughts or suggestions, please feel free to share.

Originally Posted by scott7278

I just noticed the same problem last night. I had a bottle of Rain-X window cleaner on hand, and it seemed to help, but not eliminate, the problem. The tricky thing is, it's just plastic.

Yeah, that's what got me wondering about the way to handle this. The plastic like surface had me thinking about what it would take to actually remove the spots. That's why I was hoping that someone may have had this problem before and could offer some advice in eliminating these spots.

[lyonsroar]

Meguires Plast-X polish?

I'm real surprised the UC didn't knock it down.

maybe post a pic?

[scott7278]

Originally Posted by lyonsroar

Meguires Plast-X polish?

That's an idea! I got mine semi-shiny again with window cleaner, but it's going to take some sort of polish to make it good again.

I don't know about the OP, but mine looked like breath on a mirror that you can't wipe away. That's the best way I can describe it.

My car gets washed 2-3 times a week. I think it was one of those things where it slightly got worse and worse until I finally noticed it.

Sent from my Android using FF Mobile, fool!

[crh28]

Yeah, may have to look into the Plastx and see if that does anything.

Basically, it looks like a bunch of dots running across the trim. And you can tell the spots came from the water. I'll see if I can get some sort of picture of it and post it.