Why a filter is better than a softener for car washing.

Morethanpolish

Senior Member
Authorised Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
329
Reaction score
278
Location
Stamford
Your Mercedes
CLK 200 Kompressor
'I have a water softener so why do I need a water filter'?
This may be useful if you were wondering...

This is a not unreasonable question as both systems improve the quality of your mains water but in very different ways.

A water softener alters the make up of the dissolved minerals in the water whereas a water filter actually removes them to produce pure water with no dissolved mineral content. The resin in a water softener exchanges calcium and magnesium minerals for sodium based minerals. The limescale that you see around the house is basically calcium carbonate and a water softener converts the dissolved calcium carbonate to dissolved sodium bicarbonate, which is much more soluble than its calcium equivalent and does not form limescale and therefore allows soaps to work better and stops scale build up on things like bath taps, showers and shower screens and any other water using device.

A Race Glaze water filter uses a slightly different resin that doesn’t exchange anything, but simply absorbs all of the dissolved minerals in the water leaving nothing behind.

For example, if you took an average 1 litre jar of hard water, the same volume of softened water and also filtered water, and then evaporated away the water and measured what was left, the hard water would typically have between 280 and 380 milligrams of minerals left behind (for a typical hard water area), the same for the softened water (only the minerals would be in a different form) while the filtered water would have less than 5 milligrams, probably closer to 1 milligram of dissolved minerals.

It is these minerals that cause spotting on the car once washed and while the spots that occur with softened water are generally paler and not as noticeable as with hard water, they still occur. The filtered water with the close to zero mineral content will leave no spots however, as there is nothing left in the water to cause the spots.

Race Glaze Refillable 0ppm Water Filters are available in 3 sizes at www.raceglaze.co.uk, from £99.00.
 

carnut13

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
1,345
Reaction score
27
Location
Nr Sherborne, Dorset
Your Mercedes
R231 SL400 & Audi A1 Sport
What would be the running cost? How many washes do you get for a £45 refill?
 

BernardB

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2013
Messages
146
Reaction score
15
Location
Norfolk
Your Mercedes
CL600 (W216) 2006
I bought a Race Glaze filter and it worked fine until the time came for a refill. I found emptying the resin very, very difficult. When I'd finally managed that, I found inserting all the new resin not merely difficult but impossible. So I gave it up as a bad job.

I think the best way to avoid water spotting, even where I live which is one of the hardest water areas in the country, is to use a quick detailer after washing.
 
OP
Morethanpolish

Morethanpolish

Senior Member
Authorised Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
329
Reaction score
278
Location
Stamford
Your Mercedes
CLK 200 Kompressor
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #4
Sorry to hear that Bernard, but I'm also very surprised. We cant recall having heard it hard to empty the unit before to be honest.

To empty the resin you just need to undo the top and pour it into your dustbin, rinsing out the last few bits. The trickier bit is getting the new resin into the vessel, but again, if you take your time, you can pour it in direct from the bag it comes in, tamp it down by tapping the filter on the ground and just do it up again.

Our Refill Kits do make it easier. See: http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/race-glaze-water-filter-funnel-cap/
 
OP
Morethanpolish

Morethanpolish

Senior Member
Authorised Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
329
Reaction score
278
Location
Stamford
Your Mercedes
CLK 200 Kompressor
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
How many washes ?

We recommend that you use a filter for rinsing off the tap water left on the car after washing off your shampoo. This minimises the use of the filter and gives greatest economy. Normally customers with 1 car, washed weekly, get around a year before needing a refill. it saves loads of time, and potential marring too.

Drop your water hardness (from your local water company website) into this handy calculator on our sister website: http://www.morethanpolish.com/maxi-filter-refillable-long-life-water-filter-system.asp
 

Submariner1

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
4,689
Reaction score
785
Location
Windsor Berkshire
Your Mercedes
CL500 2009 5.5
I bought a Race Glaze filter and it worked fine until the time came for a refill. I found emptying the resin very, very difficult. When I'd finally managed that, I found inserting all the new resin not merely difficult but impossible. So I gave it up as a bad job.

I think the best way to avoid water spotting, even where I live which is one of the hardest water areas in the country, is to use a quick detailer after washing.
I live in an exceedingly hard water area ... the stuff comes out of the tap like diluted milk!!
The best way I found was to wash the car and use a little Bosch garden blower ( reserved purely for the car ) and I just blow off the water.
Never leaves a residue or any streaks and has the benefit of dry all the oodles of little chrome trim bits on a CL. So its all nice and dry for polishing etc.

And you dont have to bend to dry it! No contaminated drying towels etc.
Transformed washing this car .... whichever way you look at it, this is a BIG car! Lots of acreage to dry off.

Also no cost of filters, which is good, as I am an avid advocate of copious rinsing pre and during the wash process to wash off grit.
 

such

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2016
Messages
353
Reaction score
148
Location
Sunny Essex Coast
Your Mercedes
W212 Eclass 350 CDI Sport 2012
i'm going to try using de -ionised water to rinse.
I bought a load from ecp when on offer for less than £1.30 for 5l.
I believe it should do the same thing - not leave any water marks when drying
 

Craiglxviii

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2015
Messages
17,781
Reaction score
7,426
Location
Cambs UK
Your Mercedes
970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
i'm going to try using de -ionised water to rinse.
I bought a load from ecp when on offer for less than £1.30 for 5l.
I believe it should do the same thing - not leave any water marks when drying

About ten years back I had a Hozelock car cleaning thingy that fixed to the hosepipe. It included a final spray that went through a "de-ionising filter". After rinsing the car off, one would spray this over the car and it would genuinely dry with no water spotting.
 

turbopete

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
14,209
Reaction score
331
Age
48
Location
Spennymoor
Your Mercedes
2017 '17' Ford Mondeo 2.0TDCi ST Line X 180 (sorry)
unless its a car than never gets used, im not sure why anyone would bother with filters etc. ok, you dont get spots when the car dries after washing it, but so what? as soon as it rains, thats it stuffed anyhow!
 

Frontstep

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
9,201
Reaction score
3,436
Your Mercedes
T210 320cdi
unless its a car than never gets used, im not sure why anyone would bother with filters etc. ok, you dont get spots when the car dries after washing it, but so what? as soon as it rains, thats it stuffed anyhow!

Heretic alert, I shall report you to detailers (car cleaners) UK !!

I wash my car in Evian water, dry with organic cotton cloths then finish with a wax collected from bumble bee wings first thing in the morning.
 

carnut13

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
1,345
Reaction score
27
Location
Nr Sherborne, Dorset
Your Mercedes
R231 SL400 & Audi A1 Sport
Ok! Possibly a stupid question but what's wrong with rinsing down with a spray of rainwater from the rainwater butt? And then a quick wipeover drying it off?

I live in a hard water area with a very dark blue car and spots from hard water from my mains supply drive me mad. Rainwater seems to be a satisfactory solution ( at no cost!!)
 

MalcQV

Senior Member
Joined
May 4, 2017
Messages
278
Reaction score
85
Location
Manchester
Your Mercedes
Mercedes CLA200
Ok! Possibly a stupid question but what's wrong with rinsing down with a spray of rainwater from the rainwater butt? And then a quick wipeover drying it off?

I live in a hard water area with a very dark blue car and spots from hard water from my mains supply drive me mad. Rainwater seems to be a satisfactory solution ( at no cost!!)
There is probably an amount of grit in that rainwater, especially if it comes off your roof.
 
OP
Morethanpolish

Morethanpolish

Senior Member
Authorised Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
329
Reaction score
278
Location
Stamford
Your Mercedes
CLK 200 Kompressor
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #14
A wash bucket gritguard wont filter out the fine granules of grit off your roof, you'd have to filter it through fine gauze to do that, but if you rinse off with rainwater, why bother drying off with a towel after anyway ? Its defeating the object of using pure water to leave to evaporate, which saves the time and marring from physical drying.
Water spots on cars are actually quite hard to remove, so if you do let them build up its creating a machine polishing job which will cost you in either time or cash. No-one seriously leaves a car to air dry after a tap water rinse do they ? (Or have I spent too long in the world of detailing?).
 

turbopete

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
14,209
Reaction score
331
Age
48
Location
Spennymoor
Your Mercedes
2017 '17' Ford Mondeo 2.0TDCi ST Line X 180 (sorry)
A wash bucket gritguard wont filter out the fine granules of grit off your roof, you'd have to filter it through fine gauze to do that, but if you rinse off with rainwater, why bother drying off with a towel after anyway ? Its defeating the object of using pure water to leave to evaporate, which saves the time and marring from physical drying.
Water spots on cars are actually quite hard to remove, so if you do let them build up its creating a machine polishing job which will cost you in either time or cash. No-one seriously leaves a car to air dry after a tap water rinse do they ? (Or have I spent too long in the world of detailing?).

yes you have. many people have to wash the car then take it out down the road 10 minutes later by which time its probably raining!

i get the point of it all if the car is a garage queen/show car/little used toy, but for a daily workhorse?
 

Submariner1

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
4,689
Reaction score
785
Location
Windsor Berkshire
Your Mercedes
CL500 2009 5.5
A wash bucket gritguard wont filter out the fine granules of grit off your roof, you'd have to filter it through fine gauze to do that, but if you rinse off with rainwater, why bother drying off with a towel after anyway ? Its defeating the object of using pure water to leave to evaporate, which saves the time and marring from physical drying.
Water spots on cars are actually quite hard to remove, so if you do let them build up its creating a machine polishing job which will cost you in either time or cash. No-one seriously leaves a car to air dry after a tap water rinse do they ? (Or have I spent too long in the world of detailing?).

You do that at your peril around here!
A new neighbour not into cars did that 2x per week for 3 months and was left with white residue water marks. Even claying didnt remove it! ( not sure how well he did that ) but ended up paying for a machine polish. :(
He has now bought a bosch garden blower :)
 
OP
Morethanpolish

Morethanpolish

Senior Member
Authorised Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
329
Reaction score
278
Location
Stamford
Your Mercedes
CLK 200 Kompressor
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #17
Every week I wash our daily drives, our CLK and my old Range Rover, using the water filter, which saves me a good half hour each week.
Irrespective of the additional benefit of no marring, not having to worry about drying and consequent water marks is well worth it. Plus the RR is huge.
My garaged car is treated the same way, put into the sun to dry after its wash.
 

Craiglxviii

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2015
Messages
17,781
Reaction score
7,426
Location
Cambs UK
Your Mercedes
970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
What is this "sun" to which you refer?
 

BernardB

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2013
Messages
146
Reaction score
15
Location
Norfolk
Your Mercedes
CL600 (W216) 2006
Every week I wash our daily drives, our CLK and my old Range Rover, using the water filter, which saves me a good half hour each week.
Irrespective of the additional benefit of no marring, not having to worry about drying and consequent water marks is well worth it. Plus the RR is huge.
My garaged car is treated the same way, put into the sun to dry after its wash.
Well, you would say that, wouldn't you, seeing as you sell this stuff?
 


Welwyn Merx Limited is a family run business with genuine passion, dedication and 25 years of experience dealing with Mercedes-Benz and AMG passenger cars.
Tel: 01707 395999www.welwynmerx.uk
Top Bottom