Remove water spots from windshield

[Justin Fox]

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Grab a chamois, wipe it over your windshield. If you see spots like this the guide below will help you get rid of them.

Initially I thought I had bad wipers but after washing the car last week I realised that when I used my chamois to dry my windscreen I could see water spots and stains all over the windshield, especially where the wipers come in contact with the glass.

The glass would look clear and fine when it's dry, but when it's wet I could see water spots all over it. Washing the windshield whilst driving with the washer nozzles made vision even worse until the water dried up. Driving in the pouring rain last night was downright dangerous as I couldn't see very clearly at all.

I did a lottle research on removing water spots and most if not all of it suggested to use white vinegar. I tried this earlier this morning and it didn't work at all.

I've had really bad water spots on the GT-R that I could see even when the glass was dry and I removed them using this same method.

What you will need:

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Cleaning paste, super fine grade steel wool (00 grade), paper towel and your fave glass cleaner.

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I bought this paste from the hardware shop.

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It's really thick stuff.

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Wash your windscreen with your glass cleaner and wipe dry. Cut a few pieces of the steel wool, apply the cleaning paste in small circles with the steel wool. Don't put a lot of pressure, just go easy. Clean it up with your glass cleaner and paper towel then apply paste withy wool again, the 2nd time around I used a little water as well as pictured above.

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Wash your windscreen with your glass cleaner and wipe dry and you're done. Perfection!

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Now relax, go out and treat yourself to a nice brekkie. It was raining outside so I could test my efforts and she's perfect, as good as new. No water spots, wipers are now working so much better, vision is so much clearer. Got to love it when DIY works this well!

[STOIE]

Nice writeup, I get that all the time.. will have to try it out.

BTW, that looks delicious!

[10d]

thanks for the tip

[benough]

MOAR BRAEKFAST!

[Capercat]

I think "German" windshields have some sort of protective clear coat. I know this was the case with my MK4, MK5 & Porsche windshields.

The down side is they're prone to chips & scratchers (pisses me off). I probably wouldn't use steel wool even fine grade, but rather a micro fiber towel.

[saad]

For paint work, youll need to polish with a light compound and pad, preferably with a machine

[kaoticice]

nice write up justin!!
can u give me the diy of making the food too?? :P

[benough]

I've found a 50/50 solution of water & meths works well. Just keep clear of your plastic trims. Any typical glass cleaning cloth or microfibre will do.

Interesting though. Could be good for those acidic rain type spots. They're a real pain.

John.

I used the mix and it worked OK. My car smelt funny for a week or 2 though...

[bwen]

Any tips for cleaning the inside of the windscreen? My car is a year old and sometimes in bright light I can see the pricing stickers that were placed inside the windscreen. 50/50 water meth?

[benough]

I'm glad you said that. I thought something had died in the door sill. :-(

I might try it again w/ the glass master pro.

[G-rig]

Nice DIY Justin.

Steel wool sounds a bit extreme but if the OCD detailers are recommending it then could be ok if the milder approaches don't work.

[dopey]

I found "Gumption" paste to be a good, cheaper substitute for the Momar M4 ($5 vs $40)

[Justin Fox]

100% I'd try a rag before the steel wool if it's not too bad. The steel wool is more for cars imported from Japan for some reason (grey import cars). They must have some hard water over there!

[McLovin]

Hi guys,

I'm a professional glass restorer and am constantly removing hard-water stains from car/boat windows, shower screens etc...

For stage 1 glass corrosion (95% of windows will have at least some of this), I use a product called Winsol Crystal Clear 550 (CC550). This usually removes most of the stains with ease. It works by dissolving the mineral build-up and is the quickest and least messy way of completing the job.

For more stubborn hard-water stains, I use cerium oxide powder which is mixed with demineralised water to form a slurry. I then use a felt pad and polishing tool to polish the stains out. My polishing tool is worth over $1500 but for the DIY guys, you can use a felt pad (purchased from your local hardware store) attached to your household drill and remove the stains this way. It's a lot quicker than polishing by hand but if you have to go down that road, use Superfine Steel Wool (0000 gauge). This is abrasive enough to remove the stains but will not scratch the glass. I get all my supplies from these guys as they are the cheapest around http://fcwc.com.au/shop

Once the glass is restored, I apply a product called Sani-Shield which offers a lasting protection for up to 12 months from the hard-water stains forming again. A cheaper option is RainX

To clean the glass/window/shower screen, simply use some white vinegar and water. You don't want to use anything too harsh otherwise you may remove the protective sealant.

[derek]

@McLovin, re: cleaning glass/window/shower screen what dilution ratio would you rec?