residue on windshield after car wash

[LMHmedchem]

Hello,

This isn't exactly an explorer question but after I went through the carwash on Saturday, I noticed that I had a residue on my windshield that was very noticeable, especially with strong sunlight. It is clear, but it's like there are little dots of something all over the place. The dots range in size up to about 1/3 inch. There are some streaks where there is nothing where it looks like something was poured down the window and cleaned off whatever is on the rest. I have used the same car wash for many years and have never had anything like this before.

I have tried Windex, straight ammonia, and paint thinner but nothing touches this stuff. I even tried a razor blade, but that has no effect either. It is very odd because I can't feel anything on the glass when I run my fingers over the area. I have cleaned the inside as well just in case the problem wasn't on the outside, but I don't see how that could be. It was very cold the day I went through the car wash, so I don't know if that could have caused a problem or not.

Has anyone else had anything like this happen?

I use rain-ex -25 for my washer fluid in case that matters.

LMHmedchem

 

[Number4]

Sounds like some kind of mineral, like super water spots. There used to be a paste available that was made out of sea shells. It was a private brand though, I've never seen anything commercial that was strong enough.

That said, you might contact a car detailer. The mobile kind.

 

[LMHmedchem]

My original assumption was that it was wax of some kind, but I would be have thought that ammonia or paint thinner would have done something if that was the case. Certainly I would have thought that the razor would have made a dent in wax buildup. I will try a few other solvents and see if anything helps. If it doesn't, I will go back to the car wash and see what they have to say.

I find it very odd that this should happen suddenly after many, many, trips through that same wash. I did have both foam and polish wax put on, but I have had that many times before with no issues. The way the put the wax on, I often wondered why I didn't end up with wax all over my glass. Since I never saw any buildup, I never did anything other than puzzle over it a bit.

Interesting suggestion that I could be some kind of hard water stain. Most of the time you need something acidic to get rid of that kind of water spot, so maybe I will try some vinegar or CLR.

Has anyone else ever seen such a thing after going through a car wash?

LMHmedchem

 

[SPSully]

The wife's X has what sounds like the same issue so I'm curious what works for you.

I have tried invisible glass (best glass cleaner I've found to date) as well at tried to use meguiars cleaner wax. The wax helped a little, but its still very hard to see at night.

On the rain-x.... I hate the stuff. I drive for a living and figured it would be the best thing to come into my life since breathing. Not the case. If you get behind a semi or something and end up with any sort of diesel residue, it will cause massive streaking and lines. I have switched to waxing my windhsields just like I would the paint and BAM. Works better than rain-x and has no down side that I have noticed.

 

[swshawaii]

MANY auto and detailing forums rave about using Bar Keepers Friend® for cleaning glass. Do a search, great reviews.

 

[SPSully]

I have some of that stuff.... I'll try it out

 

[swshawaii]

Or Bon Ami. Both seem to have their own followers. Search for the best instructions. I'll have to try this for myself.

 

[SPSully]

didnt work on what I'm dealing with..... might try it again tomorrow but as of right now, no joy

 

[Number4]

I think this is the stuff I remember.

http://www.a-maz.com/waterstainremover.php

Sounds familiar at least.

 

[LMHmedchem]

Well I tried a few more things today and had some temporary success. I tried the Barkeepers Friend with a sponge and also with 0000 steel wool and that had no effect. I also broke out some lacquer thinner and was surprised to find that also had no effect. I read somewhere that wax could be used to remove the residue and I had some of this,

3M 39006 One Step Cleaner Wax

so I decided to give it a try thinking I had nothing to lose at this point. I was very surprised to find that after a good polish, I couldn't see the residue any more. I wasn't sure if it had been removed or covered over somehow, but I definitely couldn't see it anymore. After I got it all finished, I decided to run my windshield washer with the rain-x and all of the residue immediately reappeared. I can tell from the pattern that it is exactly the same as before, so the cleaner wax didn't remove any of it after all.

This is a bit more puzzling, specifically how wax could make these spots invisible and how rain-x could make them reappear. As I said earlier, I have been going through that carwash for many years and get wax about every other time. This is especially true in the winter when the salt is so much of a problem here. I am beginning to wonder if what I am seeing on the windshield is damage to a significant buildup of wax that is on the windshield. That would explain why adding more wax made the spots disappear. Possibly using the rain-x so soon after applying it washed it off since it hadn't had time to set up yet. Another possibility is that the glass is actually etched and the wax was filling in the scratches in the glass.

I am going to try some wax remover or acetone next and see if that helps. If this is an issue with a wax layer, removing all of it would be the best option at this point. I have also read some suggestions to try Coke, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to give that a try. The folks at advance auto didn't have any suggestions. It's going to be below freezing until Saturday, so I will have to wait a bit to try something else.

I now have the cleanest windshield in the north east, with the exception of these lovely white spots. There must be a fable about that out there somewhere.

LMHmedchem

 

[SPSully]

I think maybe there is something on your wipers. Thats why I dont use the rain-x. It gets on the wipers and your doomed.

That being said, I'm still struggling to get rid of the same marks. Could be a residue from a drivethrough wash using rainx product... IDK

LMH, where are you?

 

[LMHmedchem]

LMH, where are you?

Just south of Boston.

If I didn't have rain-x in my reservoir at the moment, I probably would just go back to the Prestone de-icer I used to use. I think I started using rain-x because it was on sale or something like that. In fairness, I have never had any issue before now.

I clean my wiper blades with alcohol pretty frequently, so I don't think that anything is getting on the windshield from there. I will try to got over to the carwash sometime in the next few days as well. They may know what the problem is. Of course, they may not say if the problem comes from their system and they don't know how to fix it, but who knows.

LMHmedchem

 

[Number4]

In my experience, rain x is pretty damn good for cleaning the window. Keep it off the window seal, as you've probably seen what happens when you rub the seal with your rag.

So it's a little surprising what your going through. I suspect the car wash owner will deny deny deny, for liability reason. This is why I suggested contacting a professional mobile car detailer.

I got behind a dump truck full of sand or fine rock one time on the freeway. He kindly etched my window with his load. A thousand tiny dots that appeared with the right light. But they were tiny, which is what's odd about yours.

 

[BigFellor]

I have the same kind of thing on my windshield but it only started when I moved to Texas. All I can figure is it's some kind of particulate in the air; probably related to all the building going on around here.

I hit it with a clay bar and it's clear as can be for a couple weeks.

 

[LMHmedchem]

I have the same kind of thing on my windshield but it only started when I moved to Texas. All I can figure is it's some kind of particulate in the air; probably related to all the building going on around here.

I hit it with a clay bar and it's clear as can be for a couple weeks.

I think I am going to try clay at some point. What did you use for the solvent? I have heard that some folks use Dawn.

I have heard that it is risky to use clay on an older windshield because the clay can get down into pits and scratches and be impossible to remove. Has anyone else had that experience?

Over the weekend, I tried,

Rustoleum tar and wax remover

You are supposed to leave this on for 5 minutes or so to let it work so I applied it and worked it around with 0000 steel wool. I kept re-applying a little so that it wouldn't dry out and then after 5 minutes I wiped it off with shop towels. I then wiped off the windshield with acetone to clean off any residue.

It didn't seem to do anything to the stain, so I did it again and this time I wiped off the wax remover with a squeegee and then washed off the window with coke, and then orange de-greaser.

None of the above removed the stain. If you told me that this was somehow damage to the laminate inside the glass I would believe you. It's hard to imagine any residue that would remain intact after scrubbing with steel wool.

I have looked for a better glass stripper like this,

No Touch GS8 Auto Glass Stripper

but I can't find it in stock anywhere.

I am now leaning more toward this being hard water spots. It is possible that they were covered with wax which is why the vinegar didn't remove them. I am going to try a water spot remover.

CarPro Spotless Water Spot & Mineral Remover ($14)

Maybe I need to let it sit for longer than I did the first try.

LMHmedchem

 

[LMHmedchem]

Well I finally managed to get this stuff off of the window.

I used a hard water spot remover,

DRIVEN Extreme Duty Glass Cleaner ($20)

I wet the windshield and then applied this with the scrubbing side of a sponge. Then I worked it in with 0000 steel wool. In some places, it took two applications to get the staining off. After I worked the cleaner for a couple of minutes with the steel wool, I wiped it off with a wet sponge. Then I washed the area with clean water and a squeegee. Finally, I cleaned the window with a microfiber clothe and my favorite glass cleaner.

Stoner 92164 Invisible Glass Window, Windshield, and Mirror Cleaner ($11)

This removed the staining completely. I think there is still some residue from the DRIVEN cleaner on my windshield. I don't have a hose out at the moment, so I couldn't rinse as well as I would have liked. If it was summer, I would rinse down with a hose and then use a general de-greasing cleaner and then rinse again before using the Stoner glass cleaner.

I think that the issue here was a combination of hard water stains and wax. I think that wax covered up the hard water stains making them difficult to remove. for this reason, I'm not sure this would have worked if I hadn't used a wax remover first. If anyone has the same issue, you could try this and see if it works. If it doesn't, use a wax remover on the entire windshield and try again.

The only downside is that I now can see every tiny imperfection in my windshield. I think that the wax coating was covering up quite a bit in the way of scratches and dings. I will probably repeat the cleaning once the weather gets a bit better and then use either Jetseal, Gtechniq G1, or a wax product to see if I can cover some of the imperfections again.

Does anyone here have any experience with Jetseal, Gtechniq G1, on their windshield or have a wax to recommend?

LMHmedchem

 

[swshawaii]

Great to hear you had some progress.

FYI Home Depot Every Day Pricing
Stoner Invisible Glass 22 oz. Spray Bottle $3.54
Stoner Invisible Glass 19 oz. Aerosol Spray $3.54

http://www.homedepot.com/s/stoner?NCNI-5

 

[LMHmedchem]

Great to hear you had some progress.

FYI Home Depot Every Day Pricing
Stoner Invisible Glass 22 oz. Spray Bottle $3.54
Stoner Invisible Glass 19 oz. Aerosol Spray $3.54

http://www.homedepot.com/s/stoner?NCNI-5

Yea, I but it at Home Depot too. I posted the amazon link because I like to include links for products that I mention so readers know exactly what I'm talking about.

Have you ever used a wax or sealant on your windshield?

LMHmedchem

 

[swshawaii]

I did once but it may have been a mistake. This stuff rocks and they even recommend it for glass.
Seems to haze and accumulate a greasy film faster now. May try the Bar Keepers or Bon Ami cleaner.

http://www.amazon.com/Surf-City-Gar...001JT1CGC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8