Window water spots!!!!!!!!! Holy S***!!!!
 

So a little backstory on my situation first, I guess....

My water coming out of my hose is extremely hard and alkaline (I tested it, I have an aquarium lol), and sometimes it get extremely hot in the middle of the day.

So when I am outside one lovely Sunday morning, meticulously washing my new Z with the most love and care, and i am finishing up, making sure not to let the water BAKE off my car before I have a chance to actually dry it, as it magically became hotter than Satan's taint, I think I did a pretty decent job getting to the windows especially dry in time.

Imagine my freaking surprise when I get in to drive somewhere, now being a little later in the day with a low sun, when I see it... The windows actually looked WORSE than when they were covered with 1 million bug corpses (lots of fun little bugs here too, keeps me busy). It was literally so badly water-spotted that it was like stained glass!

No store bought product I tried would even phase the nastiness that covered my windshield, not 'Invisible Glass waterspot remover', no fancy window cleaner, nothing.

One goat sacrifice, and spray bottle of half distilled water and half white vinegar later and I THINK it helped. I sprayed it on the windshield, waited a couple minutes, and went at the windshield with a bug sponge and some decent force, then wiped it clean. So I gotta say funny little things sometimes work wonders.

I am looking for a bit of advice: Besides the bug holocaust that happens every time I drive out of town that can't be helped, what can I do at home to keep these terrible waterspots off after a wash??? I don't really have the best means of hooking some fancy filter system up to my hose at the wall, but is there a product out there anyone has tried, or any kind of hose attachment that can filter and do whatever to the water that might help??

RainX always does the job for me. Water can't even stay on the windshield long enough to dry.

Lol, I'll have to see if that will help!

Definitely Rain-x. Make sure and follow the directions on the bottle.
I've seen bad reviews on it before and it's due to the fact that people don't know how to read.

I had forgotten how great Rain-x was until rented an SUV awhile back and got hit with a rainstorm. Couldn't see a freakin' thing when I was driving.
I also use their windshield washer fluid.

Forget Rain-X ... that crap never lasts. Get some glass sealant. Stuff works wonders. Adam's is about $20 for 4oz but it lasts forever. Application only takes a few drops of the stuff. Ideally you would reapply every 1-3 months depending on the amount of driving you did in that time and any rain encountered.

Your local hardware store should have an inline water softener and any fittings that may be required.

I'll have to give it a look! thanks!

White vinegar will get them right off

EDIT: don't use if you have tint

wash in cooler temps when possible.. water spots on glass, use Iso. alcohol to remove.
x2 on glass sealer over the rain X. Also, Wizards mist and shine works great on glass, as well as the rest of your car, and has No Silicone, so its body shop safe. doesn't last as long as a sealer, but works great. Sooo much easier than rain X.
If I'm not mistaken, rain X is just acetone diluted (ridiculously) with water.

Will vinegar cause the tint to go purple like ammonia?

I mean, as long as you don't use it on the INSIDE of the window where the tint is, it should be ok....right? or no?

I did notice that speed detailer spray did wipe off the windows quite nicely, and that stuff removes spots and bugs pretty well.... Maybe I could have a go? Or would it leave a funky film??

Yes. It would be fine on the outside.
I was wondering about the inside

That I'm not sure of, but if the vinegar somehow seeps in between the tint and window, it'll eat the adhesive away from the tint. Best to be safe not use something else if you have tint

Detailing spray is pretty much safe for any surface. If it's safe for your paint, it's safe for glass. Just don't use it on dirty paint (hello scratch city). No problems on dirty glass. But it's just a cleaner. It's not going to protect the glass or bead water or anything.

If you're still having problems with various cleaners, your best bet is to clay bar the glass :twocents:

Also, I hope you are using glass towels. The proper towel can make all the difference when it comes to glass.

I did consider doing a clay bar on the glass, that only works if the glass is brand new and not pitted though lol. Ok so what is a "glass towel" lol. Just been using microfibers.

:icon14: Completely untrue. Based on that statement, I'm not sure you understand how clay works. A clay bar actually pulls embedded contaminants out of the clear coat on your paint. Same with the pitting on your glass. If there is pitting in your window so deep the clay bar is not working, then it sounds like you have chips that need repairing.

A glass towel is a specific type of microfiber towel with low pile and much tighter woven fibers. They will do a much better job than a standard microfiber towel when it comes to glass. Even cheap glass towels from the local auto parts store I find work far better than the high quality Eagle Edgeless microfiber towels I buy from The Rag Company.

:iagree:

I used Klasse auto polish once, worked well...think any polish will work as long as it has a little grit in it

So many post and no mention of filtering the water. You need to add a filtration system , and wash your car during the evening after the car cools down. :)

:ugh2: several mentions of it already...... even the op mentioned it.

That's essentially what I am talking about with pits, im not talking waterspots, im talking a ton of tiny tiny pits in the glass from weathering over several years. If the clay goes over these and gets trapped, I bet it wouldn't be fun to try and remove.

I know exactly what a clay bar is for, its just something I read on a detailing website about using clay on glass, and it kinda makes sense if it is a real old beat up windscreen.

I will clay bar my windshield every now and then to get rid of the gunk that chemical cleaners don't want to remove. It seems to be easier on the glass than using an abrasive cleaner. YMMV

For minor pitting of the glass, you might try polishing with an appropriate abrasive and an electric buffer. The pits will still be there but less visible.
I've seen products that are supposed to fill in the pits but have no idea how well they work.

It won't get trapped if you're properly lubing (detail spray) while you clay. I put over 95K miles on my first windshield before having it replaced recently. Never once worried about the pitting in it.

My post from a couple of months ago...
 

http://www.the370z.com/detailing-was...etup-home.html

Basically, get an inline water softener from lowes or home depot, with the necessary garden hose thread adapters (like the ones in the pics). If your water is too hard, you may have to get an additional de-ionizer filter too.

Well, that sure is reassuring!

Klasse does the job. I had a lot of water spots. I tried a few different polishes and water spot remover. Klasse was the only thing that worked. Also had an imprint of a leave on the hood. Nothing would get it out except Klasse. Good ****!

Buy glass stripper, many different brands but will resolve the issue