Waterspots on Winshield Glass?

[silverghost]

Does anyone have any ideas of how to remove waterspots from tempered curved windshield glass ?
These can be felt slightly with your figernail.
I have tried various glass cleaners, vinegar, etc with little success!
Dad suggests Bon~Ami window cleaner in brick form or powder ? I do not see this in stores anymore.
The windshield still looks spotty after cleaning!
I suspect this was from hose water& used the sun !
The Water in Ocean City NJ must be acidic with heavy minerals in it!
Can any of these spots be polished out ?
All help & ideas appreciated!
Thank's

[gcarter]

In the water treatment industry we experience a phenomina that is related to chemical water softeners that are used in dish washing powder for electric dishwahers. When a person has soft water, the phosphates in these products will etch glass since they don't have hardness minerals in the water to counteract, or react with.
This also happens to glass shower doors(also tempered) when a person uses bar soap w/these same phosphate sequestering agents in them.
I'm not sure how this may apply to you but it may be the same mechanism in your situation.
The bad news is it is actually etched into the glass surface, not something located above the surface.
Any polishing would would probably leave an optical wavyness to it.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I did not know that glass could be etched by "normal" chemicals as George pointed out. Even if it is etched, there is a solution. If it were my glass, I would start with Limeaway or CLR. If that failed, I would try 3M super duty compund with a wool or foam pad on a buffer. The last resort is a glass rouge using either a normal compounding pad or the small felt pads that are sold for buffing out scratches in windshields. I worked out the wiper scratch marks in a 1967 Tbird windshield with glass rouge and it left no discernable distortion in the glass. It took me a few hours of intermittant buffing to do it, but in my case a new windshield was around $1000. If you have to resort to the rouge, keep moving with your compounding to avoid excessive heat buildup in a single area or the glass might break. Good luck. Bill

[VetteLT193]

Zaino Z-12. It should come out like new.

http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Z-12&Category_Code=Zaino&Product_Count=17

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Zaino Z-12. It should come out like new.

http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Z-12&Category_Code=Zaino&Product_Count=17

That sounds like the cat's meow. Does it work well? Bill

[VetteLT193]

That sounds like the cat's meow. Does it work well? Bill

Yes, and I also think it is very fairly priced.

When I bought my navigator, I had the typical South Florida hard water sprinkler spots all over the glass. Impossible to remove. With this stuff it took care of it in no time. The only odd thing about it is I seem to remember using more than I thought I would... Usually Zaino products last forever. This is one that you use more of. The bottle would probably still do 3-4 cars (all the glass, front back and sides) though.

This weekend I'm going to try to Zaino the the ZXO. We'll see how that goes :)

[Planetwarmer]

That sounds like the cat's meow. Does it work well? Bill

The bee's knees, the cat's pajamas, or the elephant's instep?

[MOP]

Google it the rave reviews are endless!!!! Thanks so much for the tip!!!

Phil

[Noble]

Have you tried regular glass cleaner with a fine steel wool? This works great for me, and its cheap to

[silverghost]

Thank's I have ordered zaino Z-12 and will give it a try!
Just remembered that we applied two coats of Rain-X to all the windshield glass in the spring.
My question?
Could Rain-X have caused or compounded this spot problem?
I assume Rain-X is some sort of glass coating ?
I might have to remove what remains of this stuff !
Still it could just be hard water spots or glass etching !

[VetteLT193]

Thank's I have ordered zaino Z-12 and will give it a try!
Just remembered that we applied two coats of Rain-X to all the windshield glass in the spring.
My question?
Could Rain-X have caused or compounded this spot problem?
I assume Rain-X is some sort of glass coating ?
I might have to remove what remains of this stuff !
Still it could just be hard water spots or glass etching !

rainX usually makes it better, not worse. The Zaino will remove the rainX too, so no need to do un-necessary steps.

[Barry Eller]

I just ordered some. I also ordered the plastic polish, I'm going to try it on the headlights on my Chevy Silverado, as they are turning opaque.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I just ordered some. I also ordered the plastic polish, I'm going to try it on the headlights on my Chevy Silverado, as they are turning opaque.

Barry,
My friends are always amazed when I offer to polish out their plastic headlight lenses that have crazed and yellowed. I use 3M no swirl (light duty) compound with a SnapOn adjustable speed polisher and a double sided cotton 3M polishing pad. Works like a champ. It is amazing how much more light the headlights produce when the lenses are back to clear and they look so much better, too. Bill

[VetteLT193]

Another good headlight cleaner is MAAS. It's like Flitz... It literally only takes a few minutes with a microfiber towel to get them clear again with MAAS. BUT: they turn yellow again quick after using it, I don't think there is any UV protection in it at all, so you have to apply something else after using MAAS.

As far as Zaino plastic cleaner goes, I haven't used it, but I have NEVER used a Zaino product that wasn't top notch so I trust that it works.