Kirkland Baby Wipes: An Unexpected Way to Treat Tough Water Spots

[NightOwl]

So we’re out of town visiting family in the Houston suburbs and happened to park close to sprinklers at the hotel. Overnight, the sprinklers came on and by morning we found one side of the truck covered in tough water spots that I couldn’t easily remove. I tried the window cleaner, water, and microfiber cloths, etc., all to no avail. Being 800+ miles from the rest of my cleanings supplies and power washer, I was at wits end trying to remedy the situation.

I wear glasses so when returning to the hotel earlier tonight, I also tried one of the Tesla recommended approaches, which is using glasses cleaning wipes. But it didn’t help either. Now really frustrated, I happened to see the baby wipes (fragrance free) in the car (we had watched our grandkids and still happened to have a package of wipes in the car). At first, I thought it was hand wipes we had brought with us. Anyway, I grabbed one just grasping at straws. Lo and behold it worked!

The spots came off easily. I wiped a small enough area to keep it wet so I could use a microfiber towel to then clean it and dry it with little additional effort. Then moved on to the adjacent areas, etc. I followed this up by wiping all the areas down with a damp (from water) microfiber towel and dry microfiber towel.

Before everyone toasts me for even attempting this, note Tesla recommends a mild acidic cleanser for “surface contamination” as highlighted in one of the attached pictures.

The other neat finding is it works very well when used to wipe down the bug slaughterhouse section on the front of the truck. The bugs seemed to come right off.

Not sure if other baby wipes would work as well or not. Probably depends on their formulation.

Attached are pictures showing before and after shots of a few different areas, including the bug-slaughterhouse section. Also, the ingredient listing from the baby wipes package. Note one of the pics of the front shows the left side as having been quickly wiped down, and the right side before being wiped.

ChatGPT also says it makes sense, and is safe to use (for what it’s worth). It said the fibers are gentle enough not to scratch the stainless steel.

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[Dekeman]

So we’re out of town visiting family in the Houston suburbs and happened to park close to sprinklers at the hotel. Overnight, the sprinklers came on and by morning we found one side of the truck covered in tough water spots that I couldn’t easily remove. I tried the window cleaner, water, and microfiber cloths, etc., all to no avail. Being 800+ miles from the rest of my cleanings supplies and power washer, I was at wits end trying to remedy the situation.

I wear glasses so when returning to the hotel earlier tonight, I also tried one of the Tesla recommended approaches, which is using glasses cleaning wipes. But it didn’t help either. Now really frustrated, I happened to see the baby wipes (fragrance free) in the car (we had watched our grandkids and still happened to have a package of wipes in the car). At first, I thought it was hand wipes we had brought with us. Anyway, I grabbed one just grasping at straws. Low and behold it worked!

The spots came off easily. I wiped a small enough area to keep it wet so I could use a microfiber towel to then clean it and dry it with little additional effort. Then moved on to the adjacent areas, etc. I followed this up by wiping all the areas down with a damp (from water) microfiber towel and dry microfiber towel.

Before everyone toasts me for even attempting this, note Tesla recommends a mild acidic cleanser for “surface contamination” as highlighted in one of the attached pictures.

The other neat finding is it works very well when used to wipe down the bug slaughterhouse section on the front of the truck. The bugs seemed to come right off.

Not sure if other baby wipes would work as well or not. Probably depends on their formulation.

Attached are pictures showing before and after shots of a few different areas, including the bug-slaughterhouse section. Also, the ingredient listing from the baby wipes package. Note one of the pics of the front shows the left side as having been quickly wiped down, and the right side before being wiped.

ChatGPT also says it makes sense, and is safe to use (for what it’s worth). It said the fibers are gentle enough not to scratch the stainless steel.

View attachment 53312

Thanks for sharing, going to try on some spots that wont come off.

 

[ChiTownCT]

Good catch on this, will try tonight for sure.

 

[TECH49]

Interesting. Will try as well.

 

[Mdub]

Thats a great discovery. Thanks for sharing. Looks like salt and citric acid are in the baby wipes. Wonder if lemon juice and salt would work the same for crusty water spots and bug guts?

 

[Tedacules]

So we’re out of town visiting family in the Houston suburbs and happened to park close to sprinklers at the hotel. Overnight, the sprinklers came on and by morning we found one side of the truck covered in tough water spots that I couldn’t easily remove. I tried the window cleaner, water, and microfiber cloths, etc., all to no avail. Being 800+ miles from the rest of my cleanings supplies and power washer, I was at wits end trying to remedy the situation.

I wear glasses so when returning to the hotel earlier tonight, I also tried one of the Tesla recommended approaches, which is using glasses cleaning wipes. But it didn’t help either. Now really frustrated, I happened to see the baby wipes (fragrance free) in the car (we had watched our grandkids and still happened to have a package of wipes in the car). At first, I thought it was hand wipes we had brought with us. Anyway, I grabbed one just grasping at straws. Lo and behold it worked!

The spots came off easily. I wiped a small enough area to keep it wet so I could use a microfiber towel to then clean it and dry it with little additional effort. Then moved on to the adjacent areas, etc. I followed this up by wiping all the areas down with a damp (from water) microfiber towel and dry microfiber towel.

Before everyone toasts me for even attempting this, note Tesla recommends a mild acidic cleanser for “surface contamination” as highlighted in one of the attached pictures.

The other neat finding is it works very well when used to wipe down the bug slaughterhouse section on the front of the truck. The bugs seemed to come right off.

Not sure if other baby wipes would work as well or not. Probably depends on their formulation.

Attached are pictures showing before and after shots of a few different areas, including the bug-slaughterhouse section. Also, the ingredient listing from the baby wipes package. Note one of the pics of the front shows the left side as having been quickly wiped down, and the right side before being wiped.

ChatGPT also says it makes sense, and is safe to use (for what it’s worth). It said the fibers are gentle enough not to scratch the stainless steel.

Costco FTW! again.

 

[CyberTW]

So we’re out of town visiting family in the Houston suburbs and happened to park close to sprinklers at the hotel. Overnight, the sprinklers came on and by morning we found one side of the truck covered in tough water spots that I couldn’t easily remove. I tried the window cleaner, water, and microfiber cloths, etc., all to no avail. Being 800+ miles from the rest of my cleanings supplies and power washer, I was at wits end trying to remedy the situation.

I wear glasses so when returning to the hotel earlier tonight, I also tried one of the Tesla recommended approaches, which is using glasses cleaning wipes. But it didn’t help either. Now really frustrated, I happened to see the baby wipes (fragrance free) in the car (we had watched our grandkids and still happened to have a package of wipes in the car). At first, I thought it was hand wipes we had brought with us. Anyway, I grabbed one just grasping at straws. Lo and behold it worked!

The spots came off easily. I wiped a small enough area to keep it wet so I could use a microfiber towel to then clean it and dry it with little additional effort. Then moved on to the adjacent areas, etc. I followed this up by wiping all the areas down with a damp (from water) microfiber towel and dry microfiber towel.

Before everyone toasts me for even attempting this, note Tesla recommends a mild acidic cleanser for “surface contamination” as highlighted in one of the attached pictures.

The other neat finding is it works very well when used to wipe down the bug slaughterhouse section on the front of the truck. The bugs seemed to come right off.

Not sure if other baby wipes would work as well or not. Probably depends on their formulation.

Attached are pictures showing before and after shots of a few different areas, including the bug-slaughterhouse section. Also, the ingredient listing from the baby wipes package. Note one of the pics of the front shows the left side as having been quickly wiped down, and the right side before being wiped.

ChatGPT also says it makes sense, and is safe to use (for what it’s worth). It said the fibers are gentle enough not to scratch the stainless steel.

This is why this forum is awesome and one of the better ones in the car world!

 

[NightOwl]

Thats a great discovery. Thanks for sharing. Looks like salt and citric acid are in the baby wipes. Wonder if lemon juice and salt would work the same for crusty water spots and bug guts?

I think lemon juice/water mixture indeed might work. Was thinking of trying something like that myself at home; but this is so easy that will likely just keep with this.

 

[NightOwl]

This is why this forum is awesome and one of the better ones in the car world!

I agree!

 

[Spacenoddle]

Damn, costco will soon sold out the baby wiper and lots of mom won't be happy!

Another reason CT drivers get one figure solute.

Hahaha

 

[Cyber_95]

The baby wipes are also the Tesla recommended way to clean the vegan leather. I've used another brand of baby wipes for years to clean almost everything on my Y's interior except the display and windows. So it's truly a one-stop solution to most problems.

 

[XQUIZIT]

The results look really good. That’s awesome.

 

[getsometom]

These wipes are one of the essentials I keep in the truck’s cabin for their cleaning versatility. You never know what you may have to wipe down.

 

[g7bupw9z]

This will soon be on the official Owners Manual! ?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Loudness]

That's awesome. I keep a pack of Sprayway wipes on hand for the same purpose, they sell them at Walmart. They seem to work as well as the Sprayway foaming glass cleaner spray, which is what I use when I'm cleaning the whole exterior.

I tried the whole BKF/Windex thing early on, but just cleaning with Sprayway alone does a perfect job so far.

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