Water spot remover / deep cleaning product for windows

A

Astouffer512

Member
Very subjective question, but what do you all prefer as a cost effective water spot / deep cleaning product for windows?

Would Meg’s ultimate Polish or Compound work well?

Of course I’d wipe down with a prep / IPA solution prior to any coating / sealant


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Even if you don`t need the little correction ability it has. Carpro CeriGlass and their Rayon Glass Polishing Pads does the work great. Especially when you have a lot of mineral deposits on the glass. I had some heavy residue from a wiper cleaner solution with protection in it that would not get of with the CeriGlass. So a compound worked on that strangely enough. Can be good to do a 2 step polish with CeriGlass followed by a polish on the extreme dirty glass. I would look at a polish with easy to remove polishing oils. For that I used Scholl S20 Black SS and a light cutting foam pad. Maybe something like 3D Polish or GG BOSS Correcting Cream could be good options. It`s not economical but the panel prep wipe products like Gyeon Prep and Carpro Eraser and Tac System Oil Zero works awesome as the last cleaning on the glass. It`s IPA based with something else in it that makes it evaporate slower than the compareble % of IPA. Think it`s called SLES that you have some in the IPA solution to make your own panel prep wipe product at home. Forensic Detailing Channel on Youtube has a great video on doing your own panel prep wipe product.

I start after a normal cleaning so you don`t have any loose dirt. With a synthetic clay block and Sonax Glass Cleaner as the clay lube. And followed by the CeriGlass and Rayon Glass Polishing Pads and then if you still feel like it`s something left on the glass. The polish and foam pad and wipe it off with a panel prep wipe product. I feel like if I`m putting in the effort to get it clean I might as well do it thoroughly. The glass is very clean know and easy to maintain.
 
For vehicles with water spotting on the windows, I typically clay and then run the blue (no scratch) scrubbies across the windows. If that doesn`t take care of it, I`ll bump up to Meg`s 101 or the like on a cutting pad. Depending on the water spots, I have even had luck with the Rain-X or Invisible Glass glass polish. If that doesn`t do the trick, Carpro CeriGlass on a glass pad usually does the trick. I have even found that CeriGlass has a bit of correcting power as it minimizes the pitting on my 174k mile windshield, every time I polish it. With using all of these products, be sure to clean the residues off, a panel prep is great to use. Although pretty dang finicky, Rustolem Grease and Wax Remover does a pretty good job of removing polishing oils, it is very economical. I would suggest removing it with a wet towel and using a dry towel dry the window. After that, an IPA wipe down followed with a glass sealant of choice, is a great way to keep spotting off windows. For the price and availability, you cannot beat Rain-X for side windows or the rear windshield, the front windshield often requires a little more upkeep by way of re-application and also making sure that you are running the wash mitt between the windshield and wiper blades, every wash.
 
Products like Ceriglass scare the [crap] out of me due to the chance of getting them on something other than the glass, so I just use regular Compounds/Polishes. Even with those, I do a test-spot as some auto "glass" really deserves those scare-quotes due to the, uhm... whatever they make it out of... being mighty soft compared to what *I* think of as Glass.

And yeah, remove any Polishing Oils (easier said than done with some products).
 
Accumulator said:
Products like Ceriglass scare the [crap] out of me due to the chance of getting them on something other than the glass, so I just use regular Compounds/Polishes. Even with those, I do a test-spot as some auto "glass" really deserves those scare-quotes due to the, uhm... whatever they make it out of... being mighty soft compared to what *I* think of as Glass.

And yeah, remove any Polishing Oils (easier said than done with some products).
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With a product like CeriGlass, one should worry about their polishing technique more than anything else. Taping is easy, distorting the glass and thus your view out of your windshield is really what needs to be worried about. haha
 
TheMeanGreen said:
With a product like CeriGlass, one should worry about their polishing technique more than anything else. Taping is easy, distorting the glass and thus your view out of your windshield is really what needs to be worried about. haha
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Heh heh, yeah..that`s a great point! I guess I`m awfully confident about some things, and *NOT* about others!

I`d be sooo gentle that I wouldn`t worry about the glass, but I`m paranoid as all get-out that I`ll somehow mar something with a product that abrasive :o

This seems a bit like my concerns about High Spots with Coatings...no biggie for others, cause for extreme concern for me.."pick your challenges".
 
TheMeanGreen said:
For vehicles with water spotting on the windows, I typically clay and then run the blue (no scratch) scrubbies across the windows. If that doesn`t take care of it, I`ll bump up to Meg`s 101 or the like on a cutting pad. Depending on the water spots, I have even had luck with the Rain-X or Invisible Glass glass polish. If that doesn`t do the trick, Carpro CeriGlass on a glass pad usually does the trick. I have even found that CeriGlass has a bit of correcting power as it minimizes the pitting on my 174k mile windshield, every time I polish it. With using all of these products, be sure to clean the residues off, a panel prep is great to use. Although pretty dang finicky, Rustolem Grease and Wax Remover does a pretty good job of removing polishing oils, it is very economical. I would suggest removing it with a wet towel and using a dry towel dry the window. After that, an IPA wipe down followed with a glass sealant of choice, is a great way to keep spotting off windows. For the price and availability, you cannot beat Rain-X for side windows or the rear windshield, the front windshield often requires a little more upkeep by way of re-application and also making sure that you are running the wash mitt between the windshield and wiper blades, every wash.
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Ceriglass is water based.
 
Not entirely on my original topic, but this question being all in prep to put something on my glass for winter...what would the opinion be of using Meg`s D15601 Synthetic Spray Wax for the winter months then I the spring when it`s warmer and easier to be outside detailing go with a sealant or coating?

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Astouffer512-See what others say, but when I get (the supposedly similar) UQW on my glass it`s something I diligently clean off. Such products are simply a mess on glass for me, really awful when the light strikes it a certain way. I`d hoped it would work OK on at least the rear qtr. glass of the Tahoe, but no :(
 
Astouffer512 said:
Not entirely on my original topic, but this question being all in prep to put something on my glass for winter...what would the opinion be of using Meg`s D15601 Synthetic Spray Wax for the winter months then I the spring when it`s warmer and easier to be outside detailing go with a sealant or coating?

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It will work. Just be sure to completely buff it off or you will get wiper chatter?

Meguiar’s makes the perfect clarity glass kit that is available at most local auto parts stores.
 
All great input for glass, but what would you use for the outside mirrors? I don`t have a machine that uses 3`` pads btw. This thread came up at a great time for me.....Thanx for all your input....
 
McKee’s Glass Restorer with 0000 steel wool has worked for me many times. I learned about this combo either here or on Autogeek.
 
I`m surprised that people still use Steel Wool on today`s autoglass. Some of it is awfully soft compared to the autoglass I grew up with. I`d sure do a test-spot first. It`s not a problem unless it *is* and/but I`d want to be careful.

I`ve posted before about how my Jag`s early TriPlex glass is awfully soft, no way it`d survive something that aggressive.

Gotta also be careful with some sideview mirrors, especially those without the plastic surrounds going `round their perimeters. The (no longer available :( ) ones on the `93 Audi are failing due to neglect/improper maintenance.

I`m really surprised that people do OK with SprayWaxes on glass! I always figure that there are a lot of variables with regard to RW/WW being used for this, but with SprayWaxes it seems like it oughta be a definite Yes/No and given my experience I`m really scratching my head. And even it it does turn out OK, won`t the first regular cleaning strip it all off?
 
I`d be trying a chemical spot remover first, CS-II has worked well for me on a few cars now. Follow that up a with a mild glass polish.
 
On windows that have wipers I want to have a dedicated glass sealant or glass coating. They are designed to put up against higher abrasions from the wipers. And it`s also depending on the environment too. If you don`t see much rain or snow it can be fine with a paint LSP that says to work on glass. But if you you need to be useing the wipers from time to time. And especially if you use the washer fluid. I would go with a glass sealant or coating. On the windows that you don`t have wipers. I have found that the spray on rinse off products like Gyeon Wet Coat and Carpro Hydro2 lite and Sonax Spray and Seal works extremly well on them. If you are worried about the overspray or run off you can apply still. Use a slightly damp mf applicator sponge or folded mf towel and spray on a couple of spritzes with the spray on rinse off product. Move quite fast or at least methodical with wipe it on the glass in a crosshatch pattern. Then directly buff it off and have a couple of mf towels ready. You can also rinse it off very thoroughly with a strong water pressure as with that application you get minimal residue left by the spray on rinse off product. Test on a smaller spot first to see how your glass on the vehical you apply it on reacts. You can also apply it normaly as the instructions says. I have seen over 5 months longevity with high performance from it with these kind of products. Think it`s something in these kind of products that bonds really well on the glass. Have a product called Krystal Kleen Detail "Purity X" that is highly concentrated siloxane that you dilute to different application methods. 30ml and 500ml water and highest chemical mix setting on the foamcannon and foam on and rinse off. The backside window on a Nissan Navara truck I washed it after 6 months again and it was like I have just applyied it. A little less performance on the side windows but still good. But where the wipers had abraded it was gone. Gyeon Wet Coat works great on my Kia cee`d SW side windows and always has a higher performance from it than on the paint when it`s time to top it up again.

The side mirrors where mentioned in the thread. That`s something that you just don`t know how aggressive you can be. Personally I would not use any abrasives on them. The newer ones is often plastic with a taped film with the mirror surface. So it can be very brittle and extremly thin. If you live where you have snow and many uses ice scraper on the side mirrors. You can often see where they have gone through the thin mirror surface. I can say to those that have or going to be detailing a Volvo. Be carefull and just very gentle clean it. As from the 80s to new they have simualar mirror film that is not an option to do any polishing on IMO. Or if they are bad and you still going to polishing it. Be ready to need to be replacing them. Another thing is with the newer ones and they have the electric heated side mirrors. Some you need to be replacing the whole side mirror house if you just have broken the mirror it self. It`s just a friendly advise.
I have been trying to not get any LSP on the mirror surface for some time now. As I bought a product from Soft99 that`s called Glaco Mirror Coat Zero. It`s for side mirrors and the backing camera where you not have any wind that makes the water going away. And side mirrors you often gets a vacuum where the beads stands still on the mirrors. This claims to be be makeing the water to run off at 0mph/kmh. Next time this winter if I`m possible I will test this out. Would be cool if it works. But needs to be applyied on bare mirror so I have let the LSP degrade as much as possible so I don`t need to be aggressive when cleaning it. We have had very little rain and snow the last 3 years so the ground water is very low. But this fall I think that it`s going up to normal levels again as we have had raining and very humid conditions since late september here in Sweden. Great for the environment as it really needs it but sad for me as any detailing has been put on hold. Have just now access to a insulated garage with no heat that I can borrow. But it`s hard to find the days with a little nice weather conditions to do the prep wash LOL. So it`s looking on the forecast and see when it`s possible but they have not been so correct lately either LOL. And it`s been much else to do with the 2 cars I maintain so the side mirrors has been low priority too.
 
Just went to griots to try their fine glass polish. Worked great in getting the lightly etched water spots out of the windows which was great cuz wasn’t too keen on using the Ceriglass I bought.

Also seems to cold to apply the gtechnic coating I got so bought their glass sealant. Heard good things about it

Note: the spots came off with a couple of passes but I was using griots glass pads


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