Windscreen Cleaning

[Lexiguy]

 My 2007 SC430 has marks on the screen which look a bit like water marks, I have tried unsuccessfully to remove them with several products. I am thinking about using wire wool as a last ditch attempt but worry about doing irreparable damage. Has anyone had experience in this area and can make any suggestions?

Even my local valeter was unable to sort it so I would be grateful for any suggestions that you clever guys out there can make!

Thanks Anthony 

[steve2006]

I’ve used a damp Brillo pad on house windows before to remove paint splashes and the like without causing any damage but not on car glass.

If your valeter couldn’t remove the marks it does make me wonder if the marks are embedded in the glass rather than surface marks.

If you do try it certainly don’t go for the central area of the windscreen (MOT A and B areas) but as manufactures say in their disclaimers in an inconspicuous area, perhaps behind the rear view mirror mounting position and then check the result.

[08ISF]

I certainly wouldn't risk using a Brillo pad on the glass. Could the marks be lime from tap water? Normal cleaning products are not very good at removing these but I've found something like Viakal sprayed on a plastic pan scourer and scrubbed gently to be effective. Be sparing with it , if you try, you don't want it on your paint.

Just a thought.

[Linas.P]

Definitely do not use abrasives on glass, glass is incredibly hard to scratch, but once you do it is nearly impossible to polish. Most standard abrasive pads will be composed of silicone carbide which is harder than glass, meaning irreparable damage. To be honest using metal brush is less bad idea as at least glass is generally harder than metal, but still very bad idea.

First of all, I would like to make sure it is water mark and not something else (delaminating?) - if you say your detailer can't remove it, then I just suspect it is something else. Secondly, it would be interesting to know what products you have used to get an idea what it could be, maybe picture of the marks as well. If it is watermark, then there are dedicated products for that - just search for water spot remover and most of detailing product companies will have dedicated product for it (and I mean proper detailing companies, not the products you find on supermarket shelves). You can as well use household chemicals, vinegar with baking soda on microfibre, even bathroom sprays for limescale should work. If vinegar and baking soda does not work at all, then I doubt it is water marks - generally speaking, removing water spots from glass is not hard as long as you use right products, but using wrong products can make a lot of damage.

[Lexiguy]

Thanks for all your replies, you have given me food for thought and different directions to take. I will respond again after some trials.

[Ala Larj]

Throw a stone at it and get a new one through your insurance!

[Jgtcracer]

Was mentioned above I would expect that if a valeter has had a go and failed it might not be on the surface.  As windscreens are laminated it could be something internally.  The chances of glass having reacted to a product are almost nil, glass is a particularly non-reactive material and is also mega hard so does take some scratching!

you can get dedicated glass polishes that are fine abrasives, if they don’t touch it then you’re probably going to struggle.  

[Rabbers]

Suggest you try jeweler’s rouge.  Apply a tiny amount to the smallest area you possibly can and see if it has any effect.  If it doesn’t, stop.

[wharfhouse]

I once used neat coffee maker descaler on a very badly hard water stained shower glass panel and it came up sparkling. Other household cleaners hadn't really touched the problem. You'd probably need to protect any paintwork etc. though. 

I also once tried to polish a scratch out of a windscreen with jewellers rouge but it left an area that was very slightly "milky" in appearance - however willing to admit that might have been my lack of skill in using it! 

[Rabbers]

9 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

11 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

I also once tried to polish a scratch out of a windscreen with jewellers rouge but it left an area that was very slightly "milky" in appearance - however willing to admit that might have been my lack of skill in using it! 

Using jeweler’s rouge for scratches requires rubbing which indeed might well alter the surface.  Seeing that there was no mention of scratches in the    OP my recommendation is based on the the possibility that the glass underlying the spots is neither damaged nor discoloured.

[Phil xxkr]

On 6/7/2022 at 8:04 AM, Lexiguy said:

 My 2007 SC430 has marks on the screen which look a bit like water marks, I have tried unsuccessfully to remove them with several products. I am thinking about using wire wool as a last ditch attempt but worry about doing irreparable damage. Has anyone had experience in this area and can make any suggestions?

Even my local valeter was unable to sort it so I would be grateful for any suggestions that you clever guys out there can make!

Thanks Anthony 

There are mobile firms who will come out and work on your windscreen. On YouTube there is a good video called "super clean your Windshield" or something like that, here he uses amongst other stuff 0000 wire wool. Note that it must be 4 noughts, nothing less. I have used this for years in all soughts of way. For example with chrome cleaner on the exhaust tips of my XKR - perfect result no scratching whatsoever. 

[Linas.P]

On 6/7/2022 at 10:50 PM, Ala Larj said:

Throw a stone at it and get a new one through your insurance!

That counts as a claim, so you may find out it isn't worth having windscreen cover.

[VFR]

Ceramic hobs in the kitchen are glass (are they not ?)

That being the case use a ceramic hob cleaner as I have never scratched / damaged one yet and they come up super clean.

[Ken R]

Have you tried using toothpaste? I successfully eliminated a hairline scratch in a windscreen after repeated buffing with Colgate!

[beyond the blue]

I used this on a boat windscreen that got badly stained with salt spray. It worked very well but never tried it on a car.

[Rabbers]

7 hours ago, beyond the blue said:

I used this on a boat windscreen that got badly stained with salt spray. It worked very well but never tried it on a car.

Always liked the name more than the product.

[Lexiguy]

On 6/9/2022 at 7:23 AM, Phil xxkr said:

There are mobile firms who will come out and work on your windscreen. On YouTube there is a good video called "super clean your Windshield" or something like that, here he uses amongst other stuff 0000 wire wool. Note that it must be 4 noughts, nothing less. I have used this for years in all soughts of way. For example with chrome cleaner on the exhaust tips of my XKR - perfect result no scratching whatsoever. 

Hi Phil

I have finally removed the water marks which were embedded in my windscreen and had refused all previous removal attempts!

For a perfect screen I used 0000 wirewool lubricated with Muck-Off, then cleaned with Meguiar's glass cleaner and topped with RainX rain repellent.

I would recommend all products for anyone experiencing similar problems or just wanting a perfectly clean windscreen!

 

[Phil xxkr]

20 minutes ago, Lexiguy said:

Hi Phil

I have finally removed the water marks which were embedded in my windscreen and had refused all previous removal attempts!

For a perfect screen I used 0000 wirewool lubricated with Muck-Off, then cleaned with Meguiar's glass cleaner and topped with RainX rain repellent.

I would recommend all products for anyone experiencing similar problems or just wanting a perfectly clean windscreen!

 

Looks like a great result, 0000, magic all-purpose reusable for no money, not heard of Muck-off sounds like some form of directive 😅

[Lexiguy]

51 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

Looks like a great result, 0000, magic all-purpose reusable for no money, not heard of Muck-off sounds like some form of directive 😅

No it wasn't a spelling mistake, it's just your mind!

Actually it is a great product which is made to clean muddy bikes with but I suppose any soapy product will do!

Anthony

[royoftherovers]

On 6/10/2022 at 8:42 PM, Linas.P said:

That counts as a claim, so you may find out it isn't worth having windscreen cover.

And is not "accidental damage" my friend. not is it considered to be "acting in good faith"

[Linas.P]

2 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

And is not "accidental damage" my friend. not is it considered to be "acting in good faith"

Does not matter, if you have windscreen cover and claim under policy, even paying excess for... it still counts as a claim on the policy and when comes time for renewal it is counted same as claim for accident. Basically insurance companies treats £500 windscreen claim same like writing-off car for £100k when increasing your insurance next year.

[royoftherovers]

2 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Does not matter, if you have windscreen cover and claim under policy, even paying excess for... it still counts as a claim on the policy and when comes time for renewal it is counted same as claim for accident. Basically insurance companies treats £500 windscreen claim same like writing-off car for £100k when increasing your insurance next year.

We must agree to differ Linas old pal. Subject closed.

[Ala Larj]

2 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Does not matter, if you have windscreen cover and claim under policy, even paying excess for... it still counts as a claim on the policy and when comes time for renewal it is counted same as claim for accident. Basically insurance companies treats £500 windscreen claim same like writing-off car for £100k when increasing your insurance next year.

I’ve claimed for a new windscreen on my GS for a stone on a motorway and for a rear screen on our Honda jazz due to a stone thrown up by my lawn tractor and neither cases involved an increase in either policy. 

[Linas.P]

37 minutes ago, Ala Larj said:

I’ve claimed for a new windscreen on my GS for a stone on a motorway and for a rear screen on our Honda jazz due to a stone thrown up by my lawn tractor and neither cases involved an increase in either policy. 

Have you quoted another insurance company by any chance? And have they asked you to declare all incidents regardless if you claimed or not? Well, if you would have done that then you would know. Because when I made a claim next year my insurance didn't increase either (apart of usual increased renewal offer, which was quickly discounted upon the call), but it bit me in the back when I moved to different company.

Maybe not all insurance companies does that, but this is what happened when I have purchased RC200t, I had my IS250 insured with eSure and thought I could simply transfer the insurance to another car as it is usual, called them said... have new car blah blah and expected it will be slightly more expensive (I was paying ~£600), but because it was 2 months left on old policy I thought they will add like £50-100 ant that's it. The answer I got - "we can't insure you..." like at all for no money ever, because "young driver (30 years old!) and powerful car (damn 2L engine?)". Anyway, made a new quote... all good, £950, but I kept getting error about undeclared claims despite declaring the only claim I knew about where my car was written-off non-fault. Called up the company which provided that best quote (I think it was Elephant) to ask quote over the phone, told them all details pretending I don't know anything about issues online and the lady on the phone was like - "£950, but you haven't declared all the claims". And I was like - "I have no claims apart of the one I have declared, there was small bump few years back where I didn't claim and that is all"... and she was like... "does not matter who is at fault and whenever you claimed, if you had incident you have to declare it, let me check insurance database". She checked and came back "stating that in total I have 3 incidents to declare, one for a hit and run incident where there was just a scratch and I just informed insurance about it 4 years ago, but didn't claim, one from earlier in the year which I dealt with using claims management company and got money directly from TP insurance without involving my insurance and declared and final one was claim for windscreen 2 years ago". She added the claims and the price turned out to be £1600, so £300 per claim basically. 

Point of the story, as I said before - windscreen cover is A CLAIM and it goes into national insurance database against your name, so be aware it is there. If you were lucky enough not to change the insurance companies, or if they haven't checked the claims then your premium probably was not affected, but it could be. 

Obviously there is another consideration - if you paying for insurance £200 and it will increase by 30% next year and little bit in following years after that, then perhaps windscreen cover is still worth it, but in my case that turned out to costs £300/year for me.

[Ala Larj]

Every year I use comparison sites to get the best deal I can.  Sometimes I move to a different company and sometimes I’ve stayed with the same after contacting them to say I have found a better deal elsewhere and they either matched this or gave me a better price. I have always declared all claims including windscreen. I have always been polite when speaking to the insurance representatives. Sometimes they’ve matched lower prices and sometimes they haven’t so I moved elsewhere. I have also ensured that the policies are as near as dammit the same, especially with regards to cover especially with regards to travelling in mainland Europe and I visit often. However, one thing I failed to mention was the excess I had to pay for the windscreen repairs. It was £50 for the GS and £75 for the Honda. Both of which I found acceptable. It may also be pertinent to mention with regards to the GS that because it is a relatively rare car the repairers obtained the new screen via a Lexus dealer as it wasn’t available ‘off the shelf’. Anyway, regardless of your experience mine have been totally different. Not to say that my experience is the norm as I may have been lucky. But neither is your situation the norm. You may have been unlucky. Or there may be another reason of which we don’t know!

 I also think that we are going ‘off topic’ and maybe a discussion about insurance should take place elsewhere.