1 reply to this topic

[Hamilton]

Dr. G,

Do you know of any long term damaging effects of washing painted automotive surfaces with softened water ( potassium chloride)? I like it because my soap lathers better and the spots, which I do my best to avoid, are easier to remove than the spots created by the regular hard southern California water that comes out of my tap. I use an inline hose filter with the softening filter, and to my understanding, all it does it swap the calcium and or magnesium with potassium, it does not add minerals to the water.

Thanks
Hamilton

[Anthony Orosco]

Hamilton, on Aug 16 2009, 04:51 PM, said:

Dr. G,

Do you know of any long term damaging effects of washing painted automotive surfaces with softened water ( potassium chloride)? I like it because my soap lathers better and the spots, which I do my best to avoid, are easier to remove than the spots created by the regular hard southern California water that comes out of my tap. I use an inline hose filter with the softening filter, and to my understanding, all it does it swap the calcium and or magnesium with potassium, it does not add minerals to the water.

Thanks
Hamilton

Hello,

PC is non-toxic (in low doses) to humans and should have no ill effects on your car and its materials. It is still possible for soft water to spot up but as you noted they can be easily removed.

Treated water is also best for mixing up your ONR because the polymers are not binding to the minerals in the water. In our shop Ron and I use soft water in just about everything except our extractors as it can be difficult to thoroughly flush out cleaners from fabrics.

Anthony