Steel wool for hard water spots on glass?
 

We have very hard water where I live and it also comes hot out of tap so that worsens things. I try to be really careful when detailing but my efforts have been futile!

It's been less than a month since I've had my Z and I already have water spots on the windshield and all other glass surfaces :mad:

After looking around in the interwebs, first I tried some white vinegar but it didn't work at all; absolutely no change whatsoever.

Next I bought some 0000 steel wool after reading wonders about it and seeing some youtube videos. I was really excited at first but a bit skeptical, so I decided to try it first on my DD. It worked really good! It removed all water spots and contaminants... but after close inspection I noticed that it left a bunch of tiny scratches all over the window.:ugh2: So that ain't going near my Z.

As a last resource I took out my polisher and some meg's compound and polished the glass. After several passes I was able to get the windows perfectly clear but after washing I noticed that the water "sticks" really bad (even worse than before) where I polished, it doesn't drip down like it does on paint.

Am I doing something wrong?
Any recommendations?
Has anyone had good results with the steel wool?

I would never let steel wool anywhere near my car unless it was to polish my stainless exhaust.

There are several good glass polishes available on the market. I would try one of those. They generally have a very mild abrasive in them, so they are not as aggressive as steel wool. When I use glass polish on my car, I don't even need to use Rain-X.

Can you buy resin vessels in the US ?

A rinse off with this after washing will stop any white marks

Edit - It seems you can
US Resin | Resin, Filter Media, PE Tank Parts, Portable Deionized Water Systems, and Pro Chemicals | Residential & Light Commercial

Try an aggressive clay. I used this for some hard water spots on my windshield on my DD and it took them right off with some elbow grease. Make sure you have a good lube to use with the clay.

Yeah, like I said in my first post. After seeing how the steel wool scratched up my other car I stayed away from it.

After using the glass polish do your windows "repel" water? Or does it "stick" like mine?


Never heard of this before. Sounds very interesting. I did a bit of research but I couldn't find any technical data.

Can you elaborate a bit more on the subject? Do you use this?


Thanks, I'll try with some of the clay I have at home see if it makes a difference. How do you know if the clay is aggressive?

Repels water. The glass is completely smooth so there is nothing to stick to. And bugs, etc. wash off much easier.

AutoGlym
 

I had good results with Autoglym's Glass Polish, but I don't see it on their website now.
I recall I applied it with a crappy microfibre cloth. It had a real fine grit in a liquid. It had the consistency of a liquid car wax.

104

Most pro detailers use one and so do I although I'm not a pro , just used to have a black car that suffered a lot of water marks after washing , you dont need to dry the car after washing , no more water marks anywhere

The Worlds Largest Resource for Detailers, Valeters and Car Cleaning

Have a good search on this site lots of good information

Basically its a water filter which filters all the limescale out of the water leaving it very pure

No don't used steel wool for glass ... you'll scratch the glass don't tell me how I know ... lol use it think it's called lime out ? It's for bathroom shower glass or plastic doors

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If you would like to get an easy product to use on the windshield for a very decent price try this....
https://www.detailersdomain.com/coll...e-medium-grade

If you want to clay Meguiars has indications like mild, and aggressive on their bars. I believe the higher the number the more aggressive but dont quote me on that.

I love the autoglym glass polish. Smells like it is going to straight up burst into flames if there is a spark nearby, but it works great. :tup:

u should look into water filters..

also dont let water dry and just wipe it while you wash the car in sections. i wash my car in the sun often because i dont have the luxury to chose when i wash the car. i wash a few panels at a time and wipe down with a wafflewave. no water spots.

also make sure to put some sealant on ur glass and paint. i usually spritz Prima Hydro on my glass and paint (safe on seals, plastics, etc) while i dry.

If the vinegar (acetic acid) didn't get rid of the spots then it's either not hard water spots or you didn't apply the vinegar for long enough and/or at high enough concentration. Vinegar can be any where from 5-20%, use the strongest you can find. And the type of vinegar doesn't matter, it's the acetic acid concentration that counts - white is just easier to find.

:eek:
NEVER use steel wool, or any other harsh abrasive, on glass. There are many mildly abrasive products available that are specifically designed for cleaning glass.

The reason the water is sticking is because of all the scratches you made when you used the steel wool. If you didn't use the proper materials and procedures to do the polishing, you may have made things worse.

Yes.

Get some good glass polish and make sure you use the proper equipment and procedures. If the scratches are deep enough, you'll never get them completely out :( but you should be able to make them barely noticeable :) .

Not that I know of.

Thanks for all your replies.

Here's an update:

First of all, to all of you saying I should not use steel wool; like I said in my first post "I tried using steel wool on my other car and scratched the glass, so I'm not using steel wool on the Z"

I tried using the only clay I could get my hands on (which I assume it's "normal" not aggressive) and that didn't do anything :(

I've been looking for the products you've mentioned but having trouble finding anything locally. I'm going to the US in a couple of weeks so I'm going to get some of that Autoglym's stuff and try it out. I got some 3m rubbing compound and rain x to try out today, see if that helps with beading the water.

I'm also thinking about buying a DI filter to rinse the car with, but in the meantime I'm dealing with the problem by using a squeegee to dry the windows as fast as possible. It doesn't matter how fast I try to dry the car with a cloth I always seem to get water spots in the last window I dry. Its daemon water I'm dealing with here :icon14:

Just FYI, this is what I'm dealing with on all my windows:
http://www.the370z.com/members/quarr...ater-spots.jpg

If an acid (vinegar, Coke, lemon juice, &c) doesn't do any good, those are not mineral deposits (hard water). That would leave me to believe you are using water contaminated with something.

A water softener will help with hard water. Might not do any good for contaminants.

Vinegar should be #1 against hard water.
You can try a razor blade too. Like taking off an old sticker. Be super careful not to catch an edge, it will cut into the glass if you do it right. I will leave scrape marks if your not careful. Like anything, make a test spot somewhere you won't be looking at it every time you drive your car.
You can look into CLR too. I wouldn't risk it on a car but it works great in bathrooms.

Update
 

Yes, I've thought about this too. It's just not normal to have this much of a problem after only one wash.

I'm going to find someone to do a test and see what's going on with my water.

I've been wanting to try CLR but haven't been able to get any yet :(


---------------- UPDATE ----------------------

So like I said, I got some 3M rubbing compound, masked off all the edges, and with my orbital polisher and a lot of elbow grease I was able to achieve pretty good results after a couple of hours.

http://www.the370z.com/members/quarr...fore-after.jpg

I applied some rainX to see if that helps with the beeding and we'll see what happens next time I wash the car...

Can you get enough DI or distilled water to do a final rinse? Both are rather expensive when bought by the gallon but may be cheaper than having to polish your glass.

Edit: FWIW, CLR is lactic acid. Approximately 10x more "acidy" than acetic acid (vinegar), so be VERY careful if you use it on a car.

Thanks for the tip. And yes, like Maddog originally suggested I'm looking into getting a DI filter to do the final rinse.

Just so I know... How do you use the vinegar? Do you just wipe with it? or let it sit for a while?

I just dampen a cloth enough that it doesn't drip, wipe the glass (being careful not to get the vinegar on anything else) a few times, and rinse with plenty of water. Make sure to rinse any places that water might collect extra well. May have to repeat a few times for heavy deposits. Pretty much the same procedure that many use with glass cleaner - just a more thorough rinse.

vinegar needs to sit a good 5-10min inorder for all the calcium to break down. so i usually place a towel over the area i want to apply (place something heavy on it so it doesnt get blown away if outdoors) and pour the vinegar on the towel. keep applying more vinegar if it starts to dry.

Hey all. What about that CLR cleaner? I remember I had to use that stuff to clean my shower and glass while living in the desert.


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no idea. i will warn not to use harsh chemicals as it can damage the seals. it aint like ur car is a toilet/bath tub