What product/technique gets water spots off windows?

 

First try a GOOD glass cleaner like Stoner's.

If that doesn't remove it, then use a glass polish like Sonus or Zaino

 

Old, used up clay bar is great on glass as well. When your clay is dirty, or if you drop it on the garage floor, toss it in a plastic zip lock or spare airtight container and label it "Glass and Wheels" - stuff embedded in the clay that would scratch the paint won't harm glass or powder-coated rims, and gets them soopah sparkley.

 

I second that! Claybar is king for waterspots on glass.

An alternative is to use a paintcleanser (non-abrasive polish) with a PC and a light cutting or polishing pad on the glass. Four Star Ultimate Pre-Wax Cleanser is the strongest paint cleanser I know of.

I'd still try clay first though. Much easier!

-Heather

 

I used to use a razor followed by glass polish but now use sulfuric acid. Here the water spots are mostly hard calcium deposits (lime added to tap water for preventing too-soft water from corroding pipes) which dissolve rapidly in a strong acid, so it is far easier.

Better living through chemistry.

 

It was my understanding that once the spots apear, the glass is etched and they will never fully go away.

 

I used griots glass polish with my pc. It diminshed the spots but they are still noticable. I didn't work on it too hard since I didn't want to ruin my glass, but I'll probably give it another go soon.

 

I was going to say Bon-Ami Cleaning Cake. Been used for removing water spots from glass for over 100 years. But - it's no longer made !

Bon Ami powder is the same formula. Buy it at the grocery or hardware store.

 

Bon Ami...that's like...Soft Scrub, isn't it? And/or Comet?

Clay is the only thing out of all those suggestions that I actually have on hand, so I'll try it tomorrow...if it ever stops raining.

 

You may think of it as 'scouring powder' but it's very mild and does not contain bleach - not at all like Soft Scrub or Comet and doesn't scratch. Bon-Ami's website says...

"Many allergists recommend original Bon Ami because the natural ingredients contain no detergent, bleach, perfume or dye. Bon Ami still makes its 1886 formula Cleaning Cake the old-fashioned way – cutting the bars with piano wires and working them by hand. Bon Ami Cleaning Powder is the same 1886 formula but in powder form… and in a easy to shake round can. Both contain gentle feldspar abrasive for polishing and soap for cleaning all hard surfaces. Use to defog windows and mirrors. NASA even used Cleaning Powder to clean the windows on Skylab."

 

I know the powdered kind is still around, I can get it at Safeway. It's probably the most easily attainable option for me other than clay (which I already have.

 

This is great information, do you think clay will work on my paint? The whole front of my car has water spots (thanks to the sprinkles at my appartment complex ) I took it to the car wash but the price was high and I thought I can do it in one morning myself.

 

I'd start with that, yeah. Wash the car with classic blue Dawn dish soap or a wax-removing car shampoo first, then use the clay. The abrasives in clay were designed to strip off even things like paint overspray without damaging the paint finish, so they should be able to remove water deposits. Just be sure to lube the clay very well when you use it - ideally, it should just feel like it's gliding over the surface, but rest asured it IS working. If you feel tackniess or catching, use more detail spray or make a solution of car wash soap. I think you'll be very happy with the way your paint shines after a good claying.

 

Unfortunately, it depends. It depends on what kind of minerals are in the water spots, how long they've been there, and how badly the paint has been etched by the water spots (if it has been etched).

If clay doesn't get them out, next try a paint cleanser with a PC (or work it alot by hand). Four Star makes the strongest cleanser out there (called Pre-Wax Cleanser).

If neither of the above work, you'll have to get at them with a PC and an abrasive. Start with a light abrasive first and then a medium, etc. (ie, start with Prima Finish and then go to Prima Swirl)

We've seen cases where water spots come right out of paint with clay and other cases where they take some hardcore machine polishing with an abrasive. In some cases, they won't come out even with the PC and a fairly heavy abrasive. In these extreme cases, the minerals have etched the paint very deeply and they are likely out of you reach.

If they don't come out with the PC and Swirl, I would recommend taking it to a good pro who can do some more serious work on it (ie, with a rotary, compounds and/or wetsanding). For most hobbyists, these techniques/chemicals/tools are best left to the pro. Of course, be sure it's a reputable pro! There are sooo many out there who will do more damage than good. A good one should be able to get out any stubborn water spot etchings.

Having said all that, even if multiple steps and products don't completely remove the spots/etchings, they are very likely to at least minimize them.

Then again, you might get lucky and be able to get them out with clay or the paint cleanser. Hard to say until you try!

Last tip: If you ever find water spots on your paint, get your car out of the sun as soon as you can and try to remove them as quickly as possible. Although much of the damage happens pretty quickly, they will etch further with time and heat. Same story with bird droppings.

Good luck! Keep us posted on your results.

-Heather

 

How about a hammer and chisel?
Really though Sulfuric acid is a little overkill and dangerous too. How about starting with Acetic acid (vinegar)? If it is calcium carbonate scale the vinegar should clean it right up with out any of the nastiness of Sulfuric. You can even wet a paper towel with vinegar and let it soak on the water spots if needed.

 

See, stuff like this worries me.. I have some water spots on my windshield and just noticed them in my paint... Ugh..

Good thing I will be washing it soon, and with some help ( ) a claybar session will follow soon to get the car ready for winter!

 

Actually I use a paper towel to wipe on the sulfuric acid, then rinse well with a hose. The paper towel vanishes by the next day, so it is like self cleaning litter Vinegar is only ~5% acetic acid so you'd probably have to treat it like paint remover (apply wet paper towels, cover with plastic, wait hours). Sulfuric acid is perfectly safe for glass; it's hydrofluoric acid that the graffiti artists use to etch glass.

Here is really where an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure: keep the car waxed, and the windows coated. I don't really like the way Rain-X or wax makes those tiny little droplets that result in less visibility than a sheet, but I like water spots a lot less! Perhaps we should wash our windows with Cascade?

 

I wasn't even talking about the glass. Sulfuric is bad in many ways. Dropped on to iron you get Hydrogen Sulfide (very poisonous gas) and iron sulfide (spontaneously combustible solid). It will absorb into your skin and attack calcium in your bones and teeth - who cares that much about the glass? Use some lime away (HCl) if you're really impatient.
Or just do what you're doing. Whatever.

 

I thought this thread was about Water marks on glass? At any rate, while sulfuric acid can cause nastier burns than hydrochloric acid (because it can dehydrate the skin and cause thermal burns in the process) it isn't really any more dangerous than HCl and should be treated with the same care. I just mentioned it because it is a household product that many people already have in drain cleaners or for motorcycle batteries. I have it in a product called PH Down for aquariums which certainly did not cause my fishies to self-combust, but if you have pool acid around the house then that'll certainly work too.

Hydrofluoric acid is the really dangerous one that can go right through your skin and react with enough calcium ions in the blood to stop your heart. But you'd have to go to the arts and crafts store for that one rather than the supermarket.

 

if you have to use sulfuric acid to clean your windshield, buy a new freakin windshield or enjoy the spots. how about: Lemon juice on a cotton ball? Or, griot's has a polish for that.

I remember messing with strong lab acids. They never fully wash off of anything. They get shifted around but eventually dry out somewhere you never would want them to. It takes a lot of water to remove such an insanely (and i mean all forms of the insane word) strong acid like sulfuric acid from any mildly porous thing, like your hand, rubber, cloth, etc. The concentrations of just outright buying sulfuric acid are way more than in fish ph Plus. I would hope so at least for the fish!. eek

HF should be legal for consumers to obtain. I guess it is not.

people worry about detailing their car and yet they will use sulfuric acid on it.

 

I tried clay and it helped a little but I have a feeling I will be at it for hours to get it to work. So I started digging around and came up with a shower cleaner (sort of an "uhhh-duhhh" moment, why didn't I think of that before??). I let it soak in for a few minutes and then went several rounds of towels soaked with water to remove it and it got most of it off, but not all of it. I just read about soaking paper towels in vinegar and letting them sit on the area for a few minutes. I'm going to try that tomorrow.

 

Another option - on Amazon. The reviews say it works great.

 

Hello all,
I'm new to the MINI camp, but have been a BMW-aholic for years. I use water for my car wash from a well and it is full of calcium and other nasties. The best product I have found is "Nu-Glass" by Duragloss. There is no web-site on the bottle but the manufacturer is: BROTHERS RESEARCH CORP. in Burlington, NC.
It takes a little elbow-grease, but the results are fantastic. I follow up with RAIN-X. I find that a treatment lasts about six months here in NC.