Did I just ruin my glass or is there any way to fix this (etched or stained)?

[vwite]

Hey guys, I think I screwed up pretty bad.

Last week I was washing my car and used an acid based wheel cleaner & water spot remover (it's called Pure Magic Cleaner), it's not HF Acid, it says it's much safer but it's still an acid based cleaner.

The issue is I was washing under the sun and decided to remove the water spots on the glass, it did work and removed the recent water spots, I was using at a 4:1 dilution ratio and tried to rinse very fast within seconds, however, this was still under the sun.

Next morning I noticed a pretty nasty effect on ALL windows and I can't seem to remove it with anything, tried more magic cleaner at the same dilution ratio but now in the shade, tried rubbing alcohol, tried clay bar as well but the "effect" is still there.

It may be worth noting if I use a disposable glass paper towel they kinda "stick" at certain sections (as if there was some glue residue from a previously removed sticker or something like that) but other areas the towel does slide as regular glass., Other than the blue paper towel feeling "sticky" at some zones, if I run my fingernail instead, I don't feel "roughness", it just all feels like regular glass so I'm hoping there is no super severe, irreversible etching.

Here are a couple of pictures of how the damage looks like:

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Do you think I should try something like a dedicated cerium oxide glass polish? or that wouldn't help either? I'm not sure what to do now.

[Big Dave]

It's hard to tell from the pictures exactly what condition it's in, but a cerium oxide polish could work. I've used it in the past to remove scratches left by wiper blades on my windshield, and it removed most of them, but left all the small pits caused by rocks untouched. But I would probably start with something less aggressive at first, and do an inconspicuous test spot, try something like Duragloss Nu-Glass, if it's only stained and not etched, it may be effective. I wouldn't use Autoglym Glass Polish as it's really only a cleaner. Others on here may have seen glass in a similar condition, they may have a better idea of what will remove the staining/etching.

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[vwite]

It's hard to tell from the pictures exactly what condition it's in, but a cerium oxide polish could work. I've used it in the past to remove scratches left by wiper blades on my windshield, and it removed most of them, but left all the small pits caused by rocks untouched. But I would probably start with something less aggressive at first, and do an inconspicuous test spot, try something like Duragloss Nu-Glass, if it's only stained and not etched, it may be effective. I wouldn't use Autoglym Glass Polish as it's really only a cleaner. Others on here may have seen glass in a similar condition, they may have a better idea of what will remove the staining/etching.

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Thanks! I just tried Meguiars Ultimate Compound but unfortunately did absolutely nothing, I did like maybe 30 to 40 slow passes but after wiping with MF towel the effect came right back.

I'm not sure if I should try a compound with even more cutting power or if I should go to cerium oxide now given that the meguiars compound didn't even reduce it one bit.

Maybe the only difference I notice now is the compound added more like scratches on the glass.

[PA DETAILER]

Stoner Glass Stripper with Applicator Sponge - 3.8 oz - Detailed Image

[UncleDavy]

Polishing glass is an arduous process. Scratches can only be removed by polishing with cerium oxide but it creates a lot of dust and it has a short work time. Most glass polishes or car polishes only work for removing road film or water spots. The Stoner Glass Stripper looks like an interesting product. It won't remove any scratches but it will prep the glass surface properly for a coating.

[Setec Astronomy]

I've heard about this guy "Jimbo" but I don't know anything about him. However, when I see product descriptions that say "Be safe and don't settle for harsh hydrofluoric acids" that sometimes means that they are using "unharsh" hydrofluoric acids...which is an old trick to say that a product doesn't have hydrofluoric acid in it, because it uses ammonium bifluoride (ABF), which is a salt. Of course, once you mix that salt with water to make a wheel cleaner, what does it become? Hydrofluoric acid (HF).

My point is that HF etches glass. So that could be your problem. In which case you're going to need a cerium oxide polish and are in for a lot of work. Dr. Beasley does have NSP GL which is supposed to work better than cerium oxide polishes, I can't speak to that.

[vwite]

I've heard about this guy "Jimbo" but I don't know anything about him. However, when I see product descriptions that say "Be safe and don't settle for harsh hydrofluoric acids" that sometimes means that they are using "unharsh" hydrofluoric acids...which is an old trick to say that a product doesn't have hydrofluoric acid in it, because it uses ammonium bifluoride (ABF), which is a salt. Of course, once you mix that salt with water to make a wheel cleaner, what does it become? Hydrofluoric acid (HF).

My point is that HF etches glass. So that could be your problem. In which case you're going to need a cerium oxide polish and are in for a lot of work. Dr. Beasley does have NSP GL which is supposed to work better than cerium oxide polishes, I can't speak to that.

wow thanks a lot, I didn't know all that, so I guess I should be also extremely careful when washing wheels and need to use gloves, etc. right?

Regarding the etching, it's pretty interesting because M105 did remove the effect on all windows except for the one that looked the worse (driver's side, rear side window) so maybe in those, even though it looked pretty similar it was actually staining and not etching. But that calmed me down a little bit, at least it won't be noticeable while driving if I decide to give up and leave it as is.

But yeah as I said previously M105 didn't do absolutely nothing on that specific window, didn't even faded it or something.

I'm a bit scared of Cerium Oxide because of the things you mentioned plus some say it can either improve it or worsen it so it's kind of a gamble when you have nothing to lose.

I'd replace the window eventually but then that'll also create another issue of trying to match the window tint so I may just leave it and move on, lesson learned the hard way this time.

[Setec Astronomy]

Well, I don't know that the product you used is ABF/HF, it just kind of sounds that way based on what happened. FWIW Optimum also says that straight Power Clean will etch glass (that's from the sodium metasilicate and/or sodium hydroxide in it). I've used cerium oxide compounds, I don't see how you can make things worse, it just takes a long time to do anything at all (for scratches), I would think it would work well for what you are trying to do.

[vwite]

Well, I don't know that the product you used is ABF/HF, it just kind of sounds that way based on what happened. FWIW Optimum also says that straight Power Clean will etch glass (that's from the sodium metasilicate and/or sodium hydroxide in it). I've used cerium oxide compounds, I don't see how you can make things worse, it just takes a long time to do anything at all (for scratches), I would think it would work well for what you are trying to do.

Thanks I may try cerium oxide next month, I think you're right I don't have much to lose on that specific window.

I think you're completely right about the product though, I saw a comment on youtube that said:

"It doesn't contain HF but does contain a small amount of ammonium bifluoride according to the SDS which becomes a weaker form of HF when mixed with water. I would use it with proper precautions and don't let it dwell glass."

I'm not sure what to do with a gallon of that thing now lol. It was kinda of an impulse purchase but I'm not a detailer, I only do my own cars but wheels are usually well maintained that I could clean them with soap and water or even with rinseless wash in some cases.

It seemed like a good idea for some "touchless" washes on wheels once in a while, just spray and rinse with pressure washer but there may be too many health concerns to do that often so idk now lol

[Setec Astronomy]

I simply googled the product and found the website, I didn't see any SDS however. I've had this discussion on here before, HF is a very insidious acid, it's not easy to neutralize like other acids, it requires special bases with calcium (calcium gluconate is the preferred). I personally don't think it should be allowed in consumer products...of course what is a consumer product has become blurred in the internet age, when you can pretty much buy anything on the internet.

Anyway, I understand the desire to have a "touchless" wash, there are wheel cleaners with other acids, but they seem to be difficult to find. The ValuGard Custom Wheel Cleaner was a good one, but think the smallest size that comes in now is 5 gal.