Carpro Spotless Problems

R

Roger V

New member
So, I used spotless for the first time this weekend. Sprayed directly on the glass and spread with a LC hand foam applicator. Found that the product turned white, chalky and streaky almost instantly. I'd then spray more, spread quickly and immediately wipe off with ONR.

It did remove all the spots, but now when I run water over the windows there are "Streaks." By that I mean it looks like the water is sticking to the glass differently in different spots.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

Other issue was that I left the pad sitting on the lower portion of my windshield for about 2 minutes while I worked on cleaning the streaks off the windshield and now it looks like the shape of the pad is "Etched" on the windshield. I tried going over it with spotless again to no avail.

I then tried a little SSR 2.5 via hand but it didn't totally get rid of this ghosting. I had no clue this stuff was so caustic and it certainty doesn't tell you about it on the bottle.
 
Try the ssr by machine

Havent used spotless, but not sure how it would like onr. Mebbe good old fashioned car sopa and water
 
I did the same thing to my Toyota last year mine is still not fixed I think but don't know if the Toyota has a coating on the glass from the factory
hopefully some one will help you so I can fix mine too.
 
Ronkh said:
Try the ssr by machine

Havent used spotless, but not sure how it would like onr. Mebbe good old fashioned car sopa and water
Click to expand...

Next step is try it via machine. It's in a weird spot because the pad was resting on the windshield wiper so it's fairly close to the bottom of the windscreen.

ONR is currently the only option that I have as far as car wash goes.

Think I need to go to the coin op to pressure was the car and wash with soap or do we think the ship has sailed on that one?
 
Roger V said:
Next step is try it via machine. It's in a weird spot because the pad was resting on the windshield wiper so it's fairly close to the bottom of the windscreen.

ONR is currently the only option that I have as far as car wash goes.

Think I need to go to the coin op to pressure was the car and wash with soap or do we think the ship has sailed on that one?
Click to expand...


Dunno

But worth a try
 
Guys, I hate to tell you this but the Spotless is acidic. You are not suppose to let it sit too long. It is designed ot remove mineral spots. I actually purchased a bottle and decided not to use it on the glass because of what I have heard. You need to get someone to polish the windshield with cerium Oxide. Its the only polish that will remove the etch from glass. it needs to be done by a pro bc if performed unevenly it can cause waves that will blur vision.

On youir side window I would use a cutting pad, M105 or SSr2.5 and slow arm speed, then a polishing pad with pro polish or M205 or any finish polish you have. Follow with an IPA wipedown and a good glass sealant like Opti Glass coat or GTECH G1/G2. Or good old rain X.
 
JSFM35X said:
Guys, I hate to tell you this but the Spotless is acidic. You are not suppose to let it sit too long. It is designed ot remove mineral spots. I actually purchased a bottle and decided not to use it on the glass because of what I have heard. You need to get someone to polish the windshield with cerium Oxide. Its the only polish that will remove the etch from glass. it needs to be done by a pro bc if performed unevenly it can cause waves that will blur vision.

On youir side window I would use a cutting pad, M105 or SSr2.5 and slow arm speed, then a polishing pad with pro polish or M205 or any finish polish you have. Follow with an IPA wipedown and a good glass sealant like Opti Glass coat or GTECH G1/G2. Or good old rain X.
Click to expand...


Ow
 
Ronkh said:
Ow
Click to expand...

I purchased it to take care of the spots on my wife's truck. It gets pounded by my neighbors sprinkler. I had my sprinkler guy install a 180 degree head instead of a 360 so now the cause is gone. Now I need to remove the spots. I jumped on this product as there are few spotters I have found and they all failed. This new one had some promise. I did my research on use after I ordered and discovered many unhappy people who misused the products. Seems to be good proof on paint but not so on glass. If used on glass you need to wet glass apply with applicator and rinse well. You need to sneak up in dwell time to dissolve spots without damaging paint.

It was enough to scare me away. Btw I have a new unopened spotless for trade.
 
JSFM35X said:
I purchased it to take care of the spots on my wife's truck. It gets pounded by my neighbors sprinkler. I had my sprinkler guy install a 180 degree head instead of a 360 so now the cause is gone. Now I need to remove the spots. I jumped on this product as there are few spotters I have found and they all failed. This new one had some promise. I did my research on use after I ordered and discovered many unhappy people who misused the products. Seems to be good proof on paint but not so on glass. If used on glass you need to wet glass apply with applicator and rinse well. You need to sneak up in dwell time to dissolve spots without damaging paint.

It was enough to scare me away. Btw I have a new unopened spotless for trade.
Click to expand...

So flooding it would have helped the op, not an onr wipe
 
Because Spotless is acidic it needs to be applied buffed and flooded quickly. If one application isn't enough you repeat until you get the final results you desire. IMO an ONR wipe is far from enough. It needs lots of water to remove the acid.

Spotless will remove the beading and cause the water to stick due to eating away any coating on the window as well as the water spots. At this point the best option is to polish the glass with a glass polish and then apply glass coating or sealant. But a good option would be to try SSR via machine and see if that works.

When working with an acid I am very careful to follow the directions and error on the side of caution.

I actually did a review on spotless.
http://www.autopia.org/forums/detailing-product-reviews/45156-product-review-carpro-spotless.html
 
Roger V said:
So, I used spotless for the first time this weekend. Sprayed directly on the glass and spread with a LC hand foam applicator. Found that the product turned white, chalky and streaky almost instantly. I'd then spray more, spread quickly and immediately wipe off with ONR.

It did remove all the spots, but now when I run water over the windows there are "Streaks." By that I mean it looks like the water is sticking to the glass differently in different spots.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

Other issue was that I left the pad sitting on the lower portion of my windshield for about 2 minutes while I worked on cleaning the streaks off the windshield and now it looks like the shape of the pad is "Etched" on the windshield. I tried going over it with spotless again to no avail.

I then tried a little SSR 2.5 via hand but it didn't totally get rid of this ghosting. I had no clue this stuff was so caustic and it certainty doesn't tell you about it on the bottle.
Click to expand...

If you read the precautions mentioned on carpro-us page for spotless, it says NEVER to spray it directly on glass. But I think thats not a part of standard product guidelines stated on other sites. I did however use spotless on glass for hard etching and did not face streaking. I was however not letting it dry and kept adding more and wiping it in with an applicator and then rinsed and washed with apc/shampoo.
 
So, yanking this off the rails...Optimum last year at SEMA released what would appear to be a competing product--MDR (mineral deposit remover). Is that going to be just as problematic when using on glass (or other surfaces)?
 
For the past 4 years I have detailed a friend's Ski Nautique every June before ski season. He bought it used and has taken average care of it, but, it's showing it's years (1992) on the windshield glass. The years of water spots are there till he replaces it I'm afraid, but, that doesn't stop me from trying to improve it. I have tried a good half dozen "waterspot removers" and pure distilled vinegar. So, which was best? 3D Eraser worked good, and later became my go-to for car paint; wouldn't have used it on a 60K Shelby Cobra if I didn't trust it.
But, for glass - see if you can find the article Todd Helme did where he buffed out a windshield with Lake Country stuff, not sure if it's still around and no, I never tried it since it was sold out - back ordered for ever after the article and I just forgot about it.
 
Roger V said:
Next step is try it via machine. It's in a weird spot because the pad was resting on the windshield wiper so it's fairly close to the bottom of the windscreen.

ONR is currently the only option that I have as far as car wash goes.

Think I need to go to the coin op to pressure was the car and wash with soap or do we think the ship has sailed on that one?
Click to expand...


Sorry to hear this happened to you. I accidentally made the same mistake with Spotless on my windshield in early April. After trying a few different "least aggressive" approaches it took 2-3 sessions of M105 + Orange CCS pad to remove the streaking.

IMO CarPro needs remove the "safe for any surface" line from Spotless's label since the risk of misuse has potentially disastrous implications.



I know how and have the tools to correct the mistake I made. But others may not and driving around with a smeary etched windshield is just too dangerous.
 
Autoscrub glass scrub, carpro ceriglass or straight cerulium oxide will strip glass instantly. Apply with a rayeon pad via rotary an mit will gone on seconds.
 
I bought spotless when it first came out. Used it on a spot on my trunk and a little bit of overspray got on my back glass. My glass acted similar to what your describing. It is almost like it etches the glass. The only thing that improved it was to polish the glass with some FG400. Needless to say, I don't use Spotless anymore.
 
I was able to clear up the remaining with a LC orange hand pad and the SSR. Bit of a pain, but glad I didn't have to try to fit my Rupes under my wiper blade.

Didn't have these problems on the side windows. I misted the windows heavily with ONR then wiped them down with ONR soaked microbers when removing the spotless them so I think enough liquid got on there to clear off the spotless.

Also did the same treatment on the XPELed roof with no adverse effects.

The streaking is still there on the windshield when wet but it doesn't effect anything visually while driving. My main concern was removing the "imprint" of the pad left on the lower portion of the windshield.

Deff not as user friendly as Carpro's other products.
 
I had some luck removing my streaks with auto glass scrub that I got on bogo from auto geek a few years ago the rain clear stuff.
i forgot I had it read the directions rinsed really good no more streaks.. Just an up date.. Thanks all.
It was glass science products
 
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Mbkite said:
I had some luck removing my streaks with auto glass scrub that I got on bogo from auto geek a few years ago the rain clear stuff.
i forgot I had it read the directions rinsed really good no more streaks.. Just an up date.. Thanks all.
It was glass science products
Click to expand...

Same, I remember that bogo!
 
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