water stain on tinted windows

[roxsox10x]

My ex has the worst water stain on the tinted windows and it looks horrible. I thought it was just dirty but when I washed it, it would not come out. Anybody got any tricks to get rid of it?

 

[Uafan]

Did you just get the tint done at a shop? Because most shops offer warranties on that kind of thing.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Inside? Outside? Factory tint? Aftermarket tint? What kind of stain? Pics?

 

[roxsox10x]

sorry should have put more info and no pic available. anyways i just got the ex less than a month and the stain is on the outside of the windows. i wasn't paying attention (i know stupid of me, but hey i needed a car bad and it turned out to be an awesome explorer aside from the stain problem) when i bought it and figure after a car wash it would be ok. So the stain is on the tinted windows in the back as well as on the passenger windows that aren't tinted.

I've used vinegar and water, armorall auto windshield wash, and finally invisible glass. I thought invisible glass did the trick but nope, you can see the stain/streaking on the window. I think it might be a lost cause, that it might have been itched into the glass already...

any opinions?

also, i have laredo tires. first, are those good tires for my ex... and second, what products do you use to keep it looking nice?

btw, this is irrelevant to the window problem, but what type of oil filter and oil do you guys use on your explorer. I have a 98 4X2 manual trans and i don't know if i should stick to the what the manual says or use a better one, if there is...

 

[Roscoes_5.0]

Glass spot remover

I can not remember exactly what the name of this stuff is but You can pick it up from Wal-Mart or any auto parts store in their auto detail aisles. Its in a bottle like scratch doctor. I have used it in the past and works great. A lot of work so set aside a few good hours to finish. It will pull those water spots up good as new. Maybe this will help.

 

[toypaseo]

Microfiber towel with Windex...

 

[Mbrooks420]

Straight ammonia on a rag will clean up most markings on glass.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

super fine steel wool will take it off..

 

[MONMIX]

amonia is very bad for the tint so only use it on the out side.

I swear by Invisable Glass brand window cleaner.

 

[roxsox10x]

thanks for the advice guys--i rather try all these methods than spend money replacing all my windows which can be expensive

anyways i bought some super fine steel wool from home depot, so should i just scrub away or should i wet it or use some sort of cleaning product with it?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I've used the steel wool dry, try a little spot in a corner first and make sure its fine enough it doesn't scratch the glass.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

thanks for the advice guys--i rather try all these methods than spend money replacing all my windows which can be expensive

anyways i bought some super fine steel wool from home depot, so should i just scrub away or should i wet it or use some sort of cleaning product with it?

in all honesty, replacing a window is not that hard. and it doesn't have to be expensive if you don't want it to.

don't know if you have these where you're at, but at the local Pull-A-Part, where you pull the part youself, a window is 11.48 plus tax. i've replaced 2 windows on my Explorer so far, it's not difficult, you just have to be careful with it.

all else fails, i can pick you up the window, pack it nice, and ship it to you, lol.

 

[Black92LX]

try a claybar

 

[MONMIX]

steel wool on glass should be #0000

 

[roxsox10x]

Good news, bad news, which one do you want to hear first?

 

[MONMIX]

both at the same time...

 

[Mbrooks420]

There was a drum roll, but the little drummer boy reached retirement age, and I had to let him go.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Good news, bad news, which one do you want to hear first?

normally when someone says this, the next part comes a little sooner. lol

 

[roxsox10x]

LOL. Drum roll please...(bring him back from retirement!)

Alright so here’s what happened with everything.

I’ll start with the good news first.
So the good news is that the steel wool did in fact remove the water stain and the window was looking real nice with the water stain gone!
Now with the bad news.
Unfortunately, because I’m so smart (smart meaning lazy), I decided to do the steel wool thing last as a last resort (I didn’t know that it would work at the time). Well, remember how I bought all those cleaning supplies. Well, anyways, I decided that surely one of these cleaning products would be able to remove the stain. While at home depot I grab this cleaning that said “REMOVES WATER SPOTS”, I must have selective reading/seeing because that’s all I saw. Anyways, long story short, I was using that cleaning product, it’s called STEEL… MAGIC .. something, whatever, like I said all I saw was “REMOVES WATERSPOTS”. So I’m cleaning my windows and I get excited because all of a sudden, my windows are looking all shiny and pretty nice. SO I figured, man guess it did the trick, so I start spraying almost ALL my windows. That’s why I took a better look and decided to spray some water on the windows just to see if it really did work. IF it did, then the windows would still be looking nice and no stain. Unfortunately, though the window was shiny but the stain was still there after I wiped it clean with water. Basically, whatever chemical was in the cleaning thing was just creating a glistening effect or whatever and covering the stains but if you wipe it down, the stain was still there. SO, I’m like ok, it doesn’t work, let me try the steel wool. SO I try the steel wool on the other part of the window that hasn’t been sprayed with the cleaning thing yet. AND after putting in some elbow grease, IT WORKED! (the good news now followed by bad). So I’m all excited because now I know it really worked! So I start to srub the rest of the windows and I realized I can’t. The windows that I used that stupid cleaning product on created some sort grease layer or whatever that the steel wool just glides over the surface without being able to remove the stain! All I got to say is this sucks and I know I’m a dumb ass cuz I basically did it to myself. So that’s where I’m at right now. Still stuck with the stains and now I have another problem with windows. Oh, and on top of that I pretty sure my neighbors think I’m crazy or something cuz I’ve been at those windows for like the last week or so. Probably think I’m OCD. Lol

SO that's where Im at right now... (sorry so long)...and thank you for listening... any more advice....

 

[Mbrooks420]

Use some brake parts cleaner on a rag to remove the film left on the windows.