hard water spot removal

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terry1167
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Re: hard water spot removal

Post by terry1167 »

I have used 2 products to remove hard water stains on windows and mirrors. If not too stubborn, you can try the CLR product. It is a liquid that will remove stains from calcium, lime, rust, etc. I have also used this product on rust spots on floors, linoluem, etc. If the water is stain is really stubborn, use the Xspot water stain remover. It is a dry powder that you sprinkle onto one of those scrubbing cloths/pads with some water to make a paste. Lightly scour the stain and they should come right out. Don't scrub too hard or you might leave some scratches on your glass. BTW, they also work well on shower doors, etc. I think you can buy it at HomeDepot.

Good luck!
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cdeal28078
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Re: hard water spot removal

Post by cdeal28078 »

Or just try either a baking Soda mix with just enough water to make a paste or some sort or toothpaste. Just try to keep the abrasiveness down so it doesn't haze your widows. I bought a $2 bottle of window haze remover from a truck stop years ago that did a great job of hiding the rain spots until the next time you washed the windows. Normal paste wax will help hide the spots for a little while. Problem is most of the water spots are etched into the glass. You can hide them but will never remove them completely
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70_F100
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Re: hard water spot removal

Post by 70_F100 »

cdeal28078 wrote: Problem is most of the water spots are etched into the glass. You can hide them but will never remove them completely
clint
:yt:

It's called acid rain, unfortunately... :doh:
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cdeal28078
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Re: hard water spot removal

Post by cdeal28078 »

I would take even odds that if you clean the windows a couple of times with a good window cleaner that the spots will mostly come back. I have used several things over the years that made the spots disappear only to have them come right back after cleaning the windows. I hope your are gone though
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Earthling789
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Re: hard water spot removal

Post by Earthling789 »

The metal cleaner pastes (depending on ingredients) would provide an excellent abrasive to "dig out" the stain. If it says "not safe for chrome", then it probably has aluminum as the "grit" along with any one of dozens of acid or alkaline components. Bottom line, the metal cleaner works by abrading the stain out of the micro-scratches in the glass. I'm glad the one you used did the trick for cleaning your glass so well.

The Rain-X has inorganic silicon as the "active" ingredient (along with a methyl-compound) to "seal" the imperfections of your glass, thus providing a lower-surface tension of the glass. This low surface tension is what causes things with high surface tension (like water) to bead-up and repel so easily.

So... long chemistry lesson short... paste grinds out the stain, Rain-X seals it, but like everyone has said... it probably won't last long as the Rain-X degrades.

For a more permanent sealant, you might want to consider a higher-end or professional glass polish/sealant. I haven't used any of these in years and wouldn't dare try to recommend one, but I would have to say there are dozens of them on the market that have a nano-polymer base that are simple, wipe-on, wipe-off process and should last for many, many months before you need to re-apply.

Let us know what sealant you ultimately use, and how well it works... I'd say a lot of us could use a suggestion for sealing our freshly abraded 40-ish yr-old glass!
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Swegner99
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Re: hard water spot removal

Post by Swegner99 »

At the dealership here the lot porters use a soft steel wool and straight ammonia, just make sure you dont breath too much of that ammonia!
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Re: hard water spot removal

Post by BobbyFord »

Corn starch will work also. My dad used it on his black 67 Fastback.
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