remove hard water from glass

**chuckie669** · 07-24-2011, 04:47 PM

Have a question for the detail guru's as I'm sure there's something simple I haven't thought of yet.

New used vehicle has hard water stains on the glass. They look as though the person I picked the car up from just washed and didn't dry completely so I thought it was typical stains, but they will not come off without a nuclear reaction.

Started small and have worked my way up in intensity of items.

*glass cleaner - no impact
*polish using porter cable - no impact
*swirl and scratch remover - no impact
*medium cut cleaner with porter cable - no impact
*rubbing compound with rag - no impact
*metal polish with rag - removes 80% after tedious amount of rubbing on small section applied. If you change the angle of light they are still ghosted on in
the background but almost completely invisible otherwise.
*someone mentioned metal polish with super fine steel wool, but I'm worried that may etch the glass and look just as bad if not worse.

This is unlike anything I've ever come across. They seem to buff out of the paint without too many woes sofar, but the glass seems like it was forged in the pits of hell. Does anybody have suggestions on what I could use? I will go insane having to rub every square inch of glass out 2" at a time on a full size pickup.

***pajeff02*** · 07-24-2011, 05:57 PM

I'll defer to the pros -- but try a cloth with some white vinegar on it. We have super hard water at our house and every now and then I'll run our glassware through the dishwasher with vinegar. Never fails to remove the hardwater stains.

**chuckie669** · 07-24-2011, 06:26 PM

thanks for the suggestion. Will give it a shot. just a amazed that something as course as a compound didn't seem to budge it.

**2001camaroSS** · 07-24-2011, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by pajeff02

I'll defer to the pros -- but try a cloth with some white vinegar on it. We have super hard water at our house and every now and then I'll run our glassware through the dishwasher with vinegar. Never fails to remove the hardwater stains.

use this trick on our boat all the time

**chuckie669** · 07-24-2011, 06:39 PM

turns out I only have apple vinegar. Does it have to be white

**KILLA-BLACK-Z28** · 07-24-2011, 06:56 PM

Try #0000 steel wool with some glass stove top cleaner, worked for me.

***35th-ANV-SS*** · 07-24-2011, 07:44 PM

I was also going to suggest vinegar. I've read a thread about this on here before and vinegar was the solution if I recall correctly.

***Y2KPewterSS*** · 07-24-2011, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by KILLA-BLACK-Z28

Try #0000 steel wool with some glass stove top cleaner, worked for me.

It works well ^

**chuckie669** · 07-25-2011, 05:39 AM

Well, went and picked up white vinegar and tried applying with paper towels. It had no effect on the spotting. Tried to take a picture as maybe its something other than what I think. I think I have the ultra fine steel wool. Do you just rub gently? I don't want to etch the glass.

**'02 WS6** · 07-25-2011, 06:50 AM

Distilled vinegar applied and waiting a couple minutes did the trick. One window took 3 times but eventually I got it off the windows and fender on my wife's G8.

**chuckie669** · 07-25-2011, 07:09 AM

will go back and let the vinegar sit. Tried the 00 steel wool and oven cleaner and it appears that it may etch the glass at least in the test section I tried.

Went to glass store and they suggested a marine supply shop. guy tried FSR sitting for 30-45 seconds and made no impact. Tried Krazy clean and it seems to have a minimal impact.

wonder if this would be some chemical and not hard water, but then it comes off fairly easy from the paint and trim.

**SMWS6TA** · 07-26-2011, 12:15 PM

it must be a coastal thing because I have the same issues.

Subscribed for results.

**2001camaroSS** · 07-26-2011, 01:47 PM

i will say that I used steel wool to remove over spray from a friends car and it worked well with no etching.

**chuckie669** · 07-26-2011, 05:22 PM

Took it by a detailer who looked it over and said no problem. Put his rotary buffer on it and gave it a good whirl. No difference. Went and put dif pad and material and tried again with the same result.

Said he hadn't seen anything that stubborn before, must be on the inside between the tint and glass. Told me to let him know what i do to fix it.

I continue chipping it a way an inch at a time with metal polish but have yet to find anything else that works. May pick up some glass top stove cleaner and give the steel wool a shot tomorrow. So far have a quarter of one window clear using the polish that seems to have no ill effects using a cotton cloth and lots of muscle.

***pajeff02*** · 07-26-2011, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by 2001camaroSS

i will say that I used steel wool to remove steel wool from a friends car and it worked well with no etching.

I know what you meant, but it was pretty funny reading it the first time.

***35th-ANV-SS*** · 07-26-2011, 05:31 PM

I laughed too

**2001camaroSS** · 07-26-2011, 07:54 PM

whoops I meant over spray. fixed

**chuckie669** · 07-27-2011, 03:30 PM

made an appointment to go to car toys on saturday. They said they can handle it and have an assortment of product and chemicals to handle most scenario's.

I'm skeptical, but will give it a shot. I believe what I need is some cerium oxide. Will probably order it on sat pending outcome from those guys.

**justinmc978** · 07-29-2011, 09:40 AM

I made the mistake of rubbing too hard, (used vinegar and the rough side of one of those double sided sponges) my glass is all etched up and still has spots to boot