Vinegar made my water spots worse!
 

I originally used a clay bar, then polish, then wax to clean my front windshield. It looked pretty good but I wanted to get rid of some water spots. So I used undiluted white viegar with a sponge. I probably spent a half hour going over the windshield with the sponge, rinsing as I went, then washed and dried my windshield like regular. It didn't get rid of the water spots, in fact, it made them worse. Especially at night, it looks like the waterspots multiplied and is worse than any windshield I have ever sat behind!!:mad: :bawling:

So...what the heck now? Try the clay bar again? Get a more aggressive clay bar? More vinegar? Different product? Seek a professional? HELP! I'm going on a 2-day drive next week and I don't want to drive it that way!!

Tony

i use a real fine steal wool and glass cleaner and that works wonders when i have hard water spots that just dont go away.

steel wool works wonders
thats how i got a window rull of unremovable tint glue off

409 and the steel wool = :D

Stoner Invisible Glass.

Anyone remember what specific kind of steel wool? Isn't it graded by number similar to sandpaper grit?

Thanks!

Tony

1. Make sure you have full glass insurance through your insurance company.
2. Take a big rock and throw it at the middle of the driver's side so it cracks.
3. Make claim.

:lol:


how did you get water spots on a windshield? forget to dry after you wash??? I never had this problem... :confused: :gotme:

I use "fine"

Well, the "problem" wasn't too bad until I decided to "fix" it with the vinegar. Now it's a problem!

Tony

I heard from a few people that "Bon Ami" household cleaner is great for windshields. I think that the name of it but I might be wrong.

The guys on either crank and chrome or 2 guys garage were cleaning a windshield and used something called "Barkeeper's Friend". I've been meaning to try it since moms keeps it for household cleaning, but haven't yet.

I do hope you do not have any tint on your front windshield as vinegar is the quickest way to turn your tint from black to purple and cause bubbles or ripples in the tint...

Asu174 - LOL not everyone can rip off their insurance company like that, although next time I see that my fender is dirty i'll just bash it in with a shopping cart and make a claim! hahaha

I thought you ammonia was bad for the tints, but vinegar was safe. The guy that did my windows told me vinegar was fine.

Use neither ammonia or vinegar. Go do yourself a favor and buy some Stoner Invisible Glass. After you spray down the glass with it, get one of those SOS sponges (the ones with the wool on one side, sponge on the other), and scrub then wipe. Do this like 1 or 2 times and you should be fine.

No...no tint.

Use the finest steel wool you can find b/c you CAN scratch the glass. Different manufacturers use different gradings. If they use a decimal system then you'll usually do better with the one with the most "0"s in front of the number.

Are these spots on the inside or outside? Cause tint is on the inside. If the spots are on the outside, it wont make any difference what you use.

The people that did my tints 2 years ago also mentioned that Bon Ami is good to remove water spots on windows.......

How did you get water spots that bad?

I have never has this problem before.

I don't know what to say. The spots weren't that bad until I used the vinegar. I went to Schucks yesterday. The guy that worked there said he used to work at a detail shop. He gave me some Turtle Wax polishing compound. He suggested unsing an orbital buffer, but I didn't want to spend the money. I'll try using it by hand. He said you should NEVER use steel wool. He didn't carry any of the other stuff everyone's been mentioning, and I don't have many other choices where I live.

I'll try the polishing compound and see if that works.

Tony

Im tellin you, just get a good strong glass cleaner, or even some tilex and use that. but dont spray the tilex on the windshield, put it on a towel first, then do it or else you can kiss your paint goodbye.

Steel wool is used to remove the cowl that the wipers make when they run. Then you have to go over it with residual wax on an orbital buffers pad (like after you get done buffing your car). It will leave you with a perfectly clear and water resistant windsheild.

I saw the same show. The stuff is awesome. Cheap as hell too.

It is in a cardboard tube and looks like baking soda. Spray the windows down with the hose. Sprinkle Barkeeper's Friend on. Take a damp cloth and scrub the windows with it. It will make a huge mess leaving white residue all over the place but afterwards the windows will be spotless. Do not dry the windows or use a California water blade. For some reason it will cause streaks on the window.

I love that solution. I wish I could use that one for my 02 Altima 2.5S.

Yeah, and I use Barkeeper's Friend on kitchen countertops, too. It's not as abrasive as say, something like Comet so I'd trust it on my windshield. Just have plenty of water around and don't even rub it if it gets on the clear coat.

Buzz

USe C.L.R

I love the sticker on top of the bottle of Stoner Invisible Glass-
"This is proof of purchase of a STONER product." :laugh:

I would never, never, never think to use vinegar.

Yikes.

I recommend cleaning windows with a few drops of baby shampoo or JOY dish washer solution with water if you have tints.

I've always heard vinegar is a good substance to use to get waterspots out. Regardless, I thoroughly searched the Internet before using it and got TONS of sites that advocated the use of vinegar for cleaning glass. Here is just one example (the first I found...I didn't want to spend all day looking)...it's from the Environmental Protection Agency website.

"Vinegar is made from soured applied juice, grain, or wine. It contains about 5 percent acetic acid, which makes it a mild acid. Vinegar can dissolve mineral deposits, grease, remove traces of soap, remove mildew or wax buildup, polish some metals, and deodorize. Vinegar can clean brick or stone, and is an ingredient in some natural carpet cleaning recipes. Use vinegar to clean out the metallic taste in coffeepots and to shine windows without streaking. Vinegar is normally used in a solution with water, but it can be used straight."

Hence the reasons why I THOUGHT I was doing something safe!!:mad:

Tony

Man, what ever happened to windex?

Windex won't even touch hard-water spots.

Tony

I use vingar to clean the windows on my house, but we dilute it with water like 20:1