Pressure is the difference -- and, in my opinion, a very important and significant difference.

Too much water is 'held up' on the vehicle in various nooks and crannies after a final rinse of your suds... this, in turn, re-calcifies in the nooks and crannies and/or comes out and streaks down the side, drips, runs, etc... etc...

I've pulled my hair out with OODLES of tricks too (including the pump and sprayer trick with DI), I finally came to the conclusion that I was going to try something different too...

The Mr. Clean system, believe it or not, is a GREAT idea in that it utilizes a resin (similar to what is in this system within this thread) but, it spends rather quickly and doesn't offer any type of recharge (other than buying new filters). Also, the pressure drop across that particular filter is substantial.

If you have VERY hard water like me, you burn through those filters in VERY short order thus equaling frustration and $$$ (not to mention that the device itself is ultra-flimsy and feels like something made by Fisher-Price for a 4-year old).

For me, I went with the Spot-Free Water Filtration system. Basically, mine is a glorified mini-water softener. It, too, utilizes a resin material that can be regenerated on site with the use of softening salts. Certainly not trying to hijack the thread but, HERE'S A LINK to the review that I wrote on that particular system.

Head to head, these two are apples and oranges with the definite nod of water quality going to the IC above but, like any system they all have their pluses and minuses...

The Spot Free, for example, can be regenerated at home where as the IC needs to be sent off for an acid strip.... the IC offers true DI water output whereas the Spot Free offers 'softened' water that doesn't totally remove all ions...

Frankly, any which way about it, I'm thrilled that vendors are realizing that this is a significant market that is relatively untapped. There are some other systems out there on the market too... all seem to work pretty well from what I read about them...

RP

 

Choices are a good thing. I looked at several systems including the CR Spotless
www.crspotless.com and this one from autogeek that is similar to Rockpicks.

http://www.autogeek.net/deluxe-filter-system.html

In the end, I liked the one I purchased the best. I used it again this weekend, and the results are simply stunning. Everything rinses clean and clear. I had a little pool of water on the roof that ran down the back glass when I ran an errand. By the time I was out of the store, it was gone without a trace.

I am now thinking of buying a cheap whole house filter and getting a softener cartridge from autogeek to use for my wash water and general rinse water. I don't really need it, but for 40 bucks why not? I sometimes go to extremes.

 

My Dad bought the one from WallyWorld. I used it on my motorcycle. Fantastic. It works just like advertised. Amazing what distilled/purified/demineralized water does.

 

Tried this last weekend. Worked great.
Sprayer-$9
Distilled water-$.64/gallon
Spot-free truck without having to hand dry-PRICELESS

 

What's the difference between this and having a water that runs through a house water softener?

I'm asking because I installed a softener in February and plumbed a line to a hose bib in my garage that has softened water just for the purpose of washing cars. I set it up so the other hose bibs on the front and rear of the house (for watering the lawn) come from the water line before the softener.

 

Softened water will still have a certain degree of mineral content however, deionized water will contain nearly no mineral content and be generally devoid of anything other than H20.

In short, deionized will yield perfection .... softened water will do better than tap.