have a car that was left sitting in front of some municipal sprinklers for who knows how long... tried some CLR...didnt work too well. will hard water etch gl***?? any tips?? thanks.
I've dealt with this on two cars. I scratched the **** out of the first one and the second came out fairly good, but not great. The only thing I haven't tried is a buffer and gl*** compounds. If you area really looking to do it right, I'd say save a lot of elbow grease and give that a try.
Crumple a newspaper sheet into a ball, shake it out, crumple it up aging and again and again. Scrub the gl*** with the last ball crumple, then try the vinegar water sollution.......
There is a chemical called "jet-dry" that is used in dishwashers to prevent and get rid of waterspots on the dishes. Might give that a try.
Scouring powder (Like Ajax cleanser, but without the bleach) on a damp rag with muscle grease. If it is really bad use 0000 steel wool instead of the rag and less muscle grease. Works quick and doesn't scratch the gl***.
Bon Ami scouring powder was developed for GM to clean gl*** on production vehicles. If that won't clean it you've earned yourself a new windshield.
...having owned a detail shop, I can tell you that 0000 steel wool and Windex will take it right off. You can get the steel wool at your local grocery store.
With the exception of the BonAmi (which I have heard works) and the acid (yikes), none of those other suggestions worked for me.
I tried all of the above on some 1912 antique headlight lenses that had water stains from laying on top of each other in an old shed. Nothing really worked to good. Even took them to an antique gl*** guy and he pretty much said that the water stains will not go away.
I can vouch for this method, it works well. I then follow it up with Rain-X, also applied and buffed in with fine steel wool.