Vinegar didn't work for water spot? What next?

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drck1000

New member
Hello all. I have some very stubborn water spots on my exterior glass. It actually isn't that bad where it hinders vision, but I do noticed that it's there. So far I've tried AIO (application with foam MF pad with light pressure) and 5% vinegar. With the vinegar, I've tried a few different methods.



1. Wipe/rub on with MF foam applicator

2. Soak a paper towel with vinegar, wipe the vinegar on the area then cover with the saturated paper towel and leave on (15 minutes one try then about 25 the second try)

3. Same as #2 plus covering with plastic wrap to prevent some evaporation



All of these methods had no noticable effect on the water spots. The AIO does make the glass bead pretty well and makes it easier to clean, but left the water spots.



Then I got a thought. Hardwater is typically a high amount of calcium or magnesium in the water thus a reaction with an acid (vinegar) would remove it. However, I live in Hawaii and my car is left exposed at work where it often rains in the mornings and then it clears up and allowed to dry. I was just thinking that due to my proximity to the ocean, that the ocean salt and chlorides could make their way onto my car through rain. Not sure if that actually happens, but it seems like a good reason for why vinegar didn't work. An acid wouldn't be able to react other chlorides, I would need something basic. Anything car exterior friendly to try before I move on to some kind of polish?



Thanks. Any help is appreciated.
 
from what i've heard, if vinegar doesn't do the trick (which it didn't on mine....even soaked on a paper towel and stuck to the window for a while) try some spot-x. i got some at home depot. the directions say to use the spot-x applicator, but home depot didn't have that. so i used a terrycloth covered sponge type wax applicator.



it's a *lot* of hard work....it wore my arms out. but where i worked with it it took my water spots off. and these bad boys had been on there since i bought the car 2 years and 50k miles ago.



give it a shot....
 
RCBuddha said:
Maybe a glass polish might help? I know Zaino has one and I believe Autoglym as well.
Click to expand...



A friend has a ton of Autoglym stuff, so I will ask if he has that. If not, I was already thinking about trying Z-12, but wanted to exhaust all of the non-abrasive options first.
 
jgsatl said:
from what i've heard, if vinegar doesn't do the trick (which it didn't on mine....even soaked on a paper towel and stuck to the window for a while) try some spot-x. i got some at home depot. the directions say to use the spot-x applicator, but home depot didn't have that. so i used a terrycloth covered sponge type wax applicator.



it's a *lot* of hard work....it wore my arms out. but where i worked with it it took my water spots off. and these bad boys had been on there since i bought the car 2 years and 50k miles ago.



give it a shot....
Click to expand...



Yep. I spent more than a couple of hours yesterday after work with the vinegar methods to no avail. I've been thinking about a PC with a 4" spot polishing pad if all of the non-abrasive and glass polish by hand methods don't work out. I do have an older family car to try procedures on, so that helps. I already learned my lesson (well, my shoulder did) about applying ScratchX over a larger area. Don't want to do that again!
 
thecarguy said:
what Poorboys Professional Polish:

http://www.superiorcarcare.net/pbpp16.html



It says it works on glass. You just have to be careful to choose a product that is warented for windshield if that's what you're concerned with.



Also, there is a great web posting on another forum:

http://www.v8commodores.com/viewtopic.php?p=9057&sid=9f0d6c60da9d5ef3e0e04aa7fce70ec2



It describes in detail how to detail your entire care but for your purposes, go to the section titled, "CLEANING SPOTTED GLASS:"
Click to expand...



Thanks man. But isn't Poorboy's PP a chemical (non-abrasive) cleaner? That's the response that I got from Steve at Poorboy's. I've already tried AIO to no avail and I would assume that the PP would be similar. Perhaps worth a shot as I could use it for paint prep should it not work for the glass. Just add another $15 product to my already large collection! Haha. It's an addiction!
 
Maybe Meguiars Heavy Cut cleaner-go to meguiarsonline.com and search under the window forum. Mike suggests using a rotary or by hand using a terry cloth towel and really working it because of the diminishing abrasives.
 
my concern as someone who is not too experienced is that if you are polishing your windshield, you do NOT want to cause any deviations from true vision correctness. There are kits available for polishing windhsields but they have been thoroughly tested. I caution you on this.
 
Have you tried clay yet? That may also help knock out the water spots. I've never used it, but I've read that "Bar Keepers Friend" is also very good.



I'll second what thecarguy just said, be careful that you don't ruin the clarity of the glass with really abrasive products.



How about some pictures?
 
thecarguy - Thanks. Never even thought about that. As is, the water spots don't distrupt vision, so I will probably live with it instead of trying anything harsh. Maybe just the Autoglym or Zaino polish by hand first on a rear panel. The front passenger glass has a factory coating and not a single spot! The sunroof and the rear glass are the worst, but I am not worried about vision in those cases. There are some very small and light ones on the front windshield, but they don't really affect vision unless I try to focus on them and I don't think they would even show up on a photo. I will try.



RC - Yep. Clay was the first thing that I tried.
 
I've used the Zaino glass polish and found that it worked well. It removed spots that would not come off with vinegar.
 
drck1000 said:
A friend has a ton of Autoglym stuff, so I will ask if he has that. If not, I was already thinking about trying Z-12, but wanted to exhaust all of the non-abrasive options first.
Click to expand...





Zaino Z12 works. Period

It can be applied by hand or PC with equal effectiveness and you will be surprised by how easy non-etched glass water spotting can be rectified.

If your vehicle is exposed to rain and drying cycles, Z12 or equivalent glass polishing product is a necessity.
 
I have read good things about the Zaino but have never tried it. I like the like to the Meguiars site and on page 3 you see someone using it on their shower door with great results.
 
I tried Autoglym Glass Polish this evening. The directions said to apply with a cotton towel, so I used a Meguiar Super Plush Terry towel that I put aside (I had tested it on a CD and it left some marring). I worked an area about 6" by 6" and after the first pass, the larger water spots were gone and what was left was significantly lighter. After a few more applications, the glass was clean! I will try to post before and after pic on Monday. It worked really well and that section of glass looked good as new! The only thing was that it worked on a really small section and my arm was a little tired. It was only a test session, so I let it be. I plan on getting a PC soon, so that should help a lot.



I was wondering if the cotton towel was an important part of the equation. I assume that towels have different cutting power and such. The spotting on my car's glass isn't as noticeable as the car that I tested on, so I would hope that it would go easier. My plan was to try out a white 4" polishing pad (Lake Country) with the Autoglym polish. Think that might be about equivalent to application by hand with a plush cotton towel? Or do you think a try with a black pad or even a 6 1/2" white pad might be a better first option?



Thanks again.
 
drck1000 said:
I tried Autoglym Glass Polish this evening. The directions said to apply with a cotton towel, so I used a Meguiar Super Plush Terry towel that I put aside (I had tested it on a CD and it left some marring). I worked an area about 6" by 6" and after the first pass, the larger water spots were gone and what was left was significantly lighter. After a few more applications, the glass was clean! I will try to post before and after pic on Monday. It worked really well and that section of glass looked good as new! The only thing was that it worked on a really small section and my arm was a little tired. It was only a test session, so I let it be. I plan on getting a PC soon, so that should help a lot.



I was wondering if the cotton towel was an important part of the equation. I assume that towels have different cutting power and such. The spotting on my car's glass isn't as noticeable as the car that I tested on, so I would hope that it would go easier. My plan was to try out a white 4" polishing pad (Lake Country) with the Autoglym polish. Think that might be about equivalent to application by hand with a plush cotton towel? Or do you think a try with a black pad or even a 6 1/2" white pad might be a better first option?



Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I'd go with the pad that cuts the best, whatever resembles felt the closest. If I'd seen the post earlier I would have chimed in with either the Autoglym you used or a product called cerium oxide. It comes as a kit made for polishing glass. JC Whitney sells the kit of the powder plus a felt pad, about 3 inches that fits into a power drill. Mix up a slurry and go at it. I removed wiper scratches on the wife's Camaro about 3 years ago and the windshield is perfect so it would eat water marks for breakfast. The kit was cheap and I still have tons of product left. Cerium oxide is used in the astronomy area to polish lenses so it's made for glass.

-John C.
 
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