Water Spot on Glass Removal

[Pepperjam]

For some strange reason, my Volkswagen Jetta came with the worst waterspots on the glass I had ever seen and have since ever seen. I had tried a number of different ideas with not even the tiniest results.

I asked a friend that runs a body shop and he told me to use #0000 Steel Wool with syme Hydrochloric Acid. Basically what I did was cool the glass down with water, wet it and the body down, then I put some acid on the wool and ran it across glass with no pressure. I also made sure I had a towel under where the wool was to soak up any of the acid. It seriously destroyed the water spots and my windows have never looked better, no joke, there was absolutely nothing left.

Only side effect is that on a really sunny day if you look at the windows at an angle you'll get a rainbow effect.

Anyway I have never heard this method discussed on the forums or elsewhere. Other than the nasty chemicals, is there a reason why?

[Mike Phillips]

Don't use steel wool when there are less abrasive option.

There are glass cleaners in the Diamondite Line just for this.

Diamondite® Glass Resurfacing Crème (http://www.autogeek.net/dia-glass-resurfacing-creme.html)

As a person that's owned a lot of older cars many of the cars I've owned, the windshields have always bee hazy with millions of fine scratches and I attribute it to all the people that have taken bad advice from others and scrubbed their glass with steel.

There are plenty of less abrasive options to removing water spots off glass that won't scratch the glass and instead will leave it smooth and clear.

Diamondite Website (http://www.autogeek.net/diglclsy.html)


:)

[tkc]

One thing i use is a product called "wink" it is a rust and stain remover. You can buy it at wal mart on the grocery side with all the plumbing stuff.. Put it on a rag, wipe it across the glass a couple times, (with a lil elbow) and the spots are gone! I love it! Use it all the time!

And it's cheap!!!

[BobbyG]

For years I just grab my clay bar and go over the entire windshield. A quick once over with Invisible Glass cleaner and an appropriate cloth solves the problem. :xyxthumbs:

[Bobby B.]

Don't use steel wool when there are less abrasive option.

There are glass cleaners in the Diamondite Line just for this.

Diamondite® Glass Resurfacing Crème (http://www.autogeek.net/dia-glass-resurfacing-creme.html)

As a person that's owned a lot of older cars many of the cars I've owned, the windshields have always bee hazy with millions of fine scratches and I attribute it to all the people that have taken bad advice from others and scrubbed their glass with steel.

There are plenty of less abrasive options to removing water spots off glass that won't scratch the glass and instead will leave it smooth and clear.

Diamondite Website (http://www.autogeek.net/diglclsy.html)


:)





:iagree:

[Pepperjam]

I'll have to look at the Diamondite. Because of the rainbowing effect we never use the wool on the windshield. However, my understanding is that its almost impossible for non-hardened steel to scratch window glass, according to the Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness,

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/####/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness)

According to the Mohs harness rating the steel wool (hardness of 4.5) shouldn't scratch the glass (hardness of 5.5).

Heres a video demonstrating the hardness of glass:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtEMP_Bd5Gs&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - Zune 120 Screen Durability Test[/video]

All that said I don't know about older glass on older cars, and I wouldn't trust it to be as hard as today's modern glass.

[mcpp66]

Don't use steel wool when there are less abrasive option.

There are glass cleaners in the Diamondite Line just for this.

Diamondite® Glass Resurfacing Crème (http://www.autogeek.net/dia-glass-resurfacing-creme.html)

As a person that's owned a lot of older cars many of the cars I've owned, the windshields have always bee hazy with millions of fine scratches and I attribute it to all the people that have taken bad advice from others and scrubbed their glass with steel.

There are plenty of less abrasive options to removing water spots off glass that won't scratch the glass and instead will leave it smooth and clear.

Diamondite Website (http://www.autogeek.net/diglclsy.html)


:)

The Diamondite Glass Cleaning System Kit has worked well for me.

[flawbolt]

Pepperjam has a valid point but the Mohs scale has some peculiarities to it.

The definition of 'Hardness' refers to the ability of a mineral to scratch something else. Looking at the Mohs scale allows one to determine whether one material can scratch another material - it depends on the 'hardness rating' from the scale. With this said, looking at the Mohs ratings for non-hardened steel and window glass leads to the conclusion that non-hardened steel can't scratch glass.

BUT, the the Mohs scale is only applicable to situations where the rate of movement between the two minerals is slow. In addition, the Mohs scale does not take into account applied pressure (Force/unit area) and the interference of 'other' things such as acid. So, if you take a lower rated Mohs material you can indeed scratch a higher rated Mohs material if you proceed to move the lower rated material quickly and with a lot of pressure across the surface of the higher rated material. A dog can actually scratch window glass and the Mohs rating for fingernails is about 2.5.

'Use the least abrasive method first' applies to every and all parts of a car - Mike Phillips seems to preach this - yet we all fall into the trap of wanting to see results quickly and using abrasive methods allows us to do just that at the expense of creating more damage. This is not to say that Pepperjam scratched the window with the steel wool but it is certainly possible.

Albert Einstein one remarked "People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results". Chopping wood is akin to using an abrasive method.

[ScottB]

I have used the DP Glass Restorer with nice results. Place a coat on, let it sit then wipe off. Then put some on light polishing pad and rehit it with buffer.

[mr.haributo]

Here's a writeup I did for tackling waterspots.

How To Remove Water Spots off Glass using M04 with an RB - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online (http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31751)

[Pepperjam]

Working off what flawbolt said, hydrochloric acid and steel wool was my very last resort. You name it I tried it, window cleaner with various amounts of pressure, newspaper, vinegar, rust remover, window polishers, clay bar, alcohol, standard polish, rubbing compound, simple green, and liquid clay bar are the ones off the top of my head, none of them removed a single spot of water.

[flawbolt]

Pepperjam...hydrochloric acid is a nasty chemical and a very strong acid - very strong! Seems like you did try the least abrasive product first to no avail. Hydrochloric acid is often used to clean glass slides and chemical glassware by slightly etching the glass. The rainbow effect can be due to a few things...there could be residue remaining on the window but I am sure you cleaned it well afterward...but more probable is that you etched the window in a non-uniform manner.

The rainbow effect is caused by the sunlight reflecting off of the surface and interfering...this is often observed, for example, when you see an oily film on a road surface. In your case, the light reflects off of the top surface of the glass and then the bottom surface and upon reflection it interferes...this normally wouldn't be a problem for a glass surface with uniform thickness but in your case, if you did indeed etch it, the thickness of your glass varies along the surface and the interference is pronounced. By the way, a thin film of 'stuff' on the surface will cause the same rainbow effect. If you look at the window from a very shallow angle, like grazing incidence, you may also be seeing the reflection of the light off of the pitting (etching)...much like when you get reflection off of a CD...sort of like diffraction grating interference.

In the end, none of this really helps you fix it...but at least it might help you to understand why it happened.

[Pepperjam]

That's very interesting I'm glad you told me that because I was never sure why it rainbowed. I became very aware of how nasty the acid was when it ate through the steel wool I was using. It first made the wool rust, then it the wool got hot -- too hot to handle, so I went through about 6 pads of steel wool because I couldn't handle it without burning myself.

I will get some pictures of the windows tomorrow, I'll be out there anyways getting before pictures on my paint as I just ordered a Flex 3401.

[Matt]

I have also heard of using wheel acid to clean the waterspots on shower doors but I'd never even dream of trying it, let alone on my beloved automobile!

[sullysdetailing]

DP High Performance Glass Restorer also works great.