My new Country Squire came from an area that had hard water. There are water spots on all the windows. I don't want to just randomly try something that could mess up the windows. One product that supposedly deals with hard water stains is cerium oxide. Does anyone have experience with this or any other method for removing these spots?
Try clear vinigar followed by a rince, and I'm talking vinigar you buy at the grocery store, $1.50 a gallon. You may have to apply, rince and dry a couple times but it mite do the trick, after all it is a acid yet it won't attack any gaskets/seals. I personally had 95% sucess with the 83 and 75% with the 87 with vinigar, I also put a good splash in the windshied fluid. Depending on the over all condition of the glass, you may not get perfect as I dicovered....What has been bouncing of the windshied for years like fine dust can leave permenent damage, hence the difference in my winshieds.
Fresh squeezed lemon juice or a few chunks of fresh lemon, lime or grapefruit - citric acid and even better if you add it to vinegar like Tedy said. Vinegar is the base for a lot of highend cleaners for metal and plumbing and dishes. Citric Acid puts in on Steroids.
According to the "water hardness" tables, my hometown here has some of the hardest water in North America. For us, vinegar is a way of life. I agree with the others that vinegar is the way to go. It's safe to use on glass. We soak our coffee pots and kettles almost once a month. It can be pretty harsh on chrome plated brass and plastic (I made a mess of our shower head during it's last quarterly cleaning by leaving it to soak too long) but you can leave all but a few acids on glass indefinitely. Since you're dealing with windows you might benefit from soaking a clean rag in vinegar and leaving it to sit on the glass for a while rather than have it run off or need to resort to some of that manual labour.
I also agree :2_thumbs_up_-_animaI use vinegar with a drop of lemon dish soap in a spray bottle for the windows on our house, inside and out. It really cuts through all kinds of stuff. Used it just today following Earl that blow through town on Saturday. We also used to use it on all the glass shelves in a gift shop that I worked in a while back. However, you may not want to use a spray bottle on your car since you can't control the spray, I'm not sure if it would harm your finish. Anyway good luck with your despotting.
make it harder for the calcium deposits to stick, use fine jewellers rouge and a slow speed buffer,.restores the glass perfectly,.then rain-x . Nick
Can vinegar do any damage to the finish or the di noc, where you'd have to be careful not to get any on it? I've never heard of vinegar for window cleaning, but I'm definitely going to try it.
It's never damaged any paint I've got it on....never had any get on the wood though but I would imagine if wiped off rite away there should'nt be a problem.
The windows in my house are varnished wood, I've never had any problem with Vinegar removing or spotting the finish. Vinegar is cheap, easy and it works...but has one side affect...you seem to get a craving for fish&chips when using it
Vinegar by itself won't harm synthetics like Di-Noc or sealed wood surfaces. If you add salt, and water, it becomes a mild hydrochloric acid ant anti-oxidant. That's why it works so good on rusty parts. It is an acid, on its own, but unlike bad white wine, it has no sugar, so it won't stain.
hard water stain removal What you need to do is neutralize the hard water stain with 75/25 vinegar water ratio. Then take a buffer with a 3m cutting pad #05711 and a few drops of 3m # 0594 Super Duty Rubbing compound on the glass .This process will also take care of some minor scratches you may have picked up from washing with dirty rag etc. Compounding can be done by hand also. Note: with a buffer I spent about 5 min per glass on extreme spotting... works every time
X2. It works great on chrome too. Just be sure you're not using it on a window that has been tinted with a film.