Removing Water Spots on Windows

[Simon777]

What is the best way to get rid of 15 year old water spots on my windshield, side windows, and rear window. The water spots are clouding them up and it would be nice to have them cleared up and looking new again.

[Murr1525]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

You can try a few things:

Obvioulsy a good glass cleaner like Nxt.

You can clay and then glass cleaner.

I have had clay, glass cleaner, and RainX remove water spots.

Then you can step up to something like Clay, Strong paint cleaner (#4, #105, Ultimate Compound), and glass cleaner.

Obviously you dont need to clay each time... just laying out the process.

[Simon777]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

You can try a few things:

Obvioulsy a good glass cleaner like Nxt.

You can clay and then glass cleaner.

I have had clay, glass cleaner, and RainX remove water spots.

Then you can step up to something like Clay, Strong paint cleaner (#4, #105, Ultimate Compound), and glass cleaner.

Obviously you dont need to clay each time... just laying out the process.

I would have to go out and buy glass cleaner, but I do have Ultimate Compound. Is that really safe to use on glass? If so, do I use a DA or just work it by hand?

[Murr1525]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

I would try it by hand, with terry cloth. You will need some kind of class cleaner to follow up, and certainly clay first if you have some.

[BobbyG]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

Do the following in the shade or garage.

For years I've used a clay bar and detail spray. Go over the windshield much like you'd perform on the cars finish.

Clean with Invisible Glass window cleaner

Put a light coat of quality car wax over the entire windshield and buff off as usual. If any streaks from the wax occurs park out in the sun and they'll disappear in 10 minutes or so.

I've been doing this for nearly 30 years with great success.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

Water spots that have been present for years can be tough to remove, but we've had countless successes using M04 in the past, and many have successfully used M105 or Ultimate Compound since their introduction. Make sure the window is clean and dry, then put a dime sized amount of any of these products onto a terry towel and work it vigorously against the spotted glass. Unless you've got a rare case of the minerals in the water having actually etched into the glass, you should be able to correct the problem.

[geert dr]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

If all of the above fail , try some pure vinegar on a microfibre or terry towel and rub vigorously on the entire surface until the glass is clear .
Rinse the glass with water and dry .
Then apply NXTglass cleaner or Glass Cleaner Concentrate .

[tcy006]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

The windows on my Ranger had fairly severe acid rain etching (looks like permanent water spots) on them when I bought the truck. The guys at the local office of a national auto glass company told me to use rubbing compound. I used some 3M liquid that I had on hand, masking off the surrounding paint. It took some serious passion but it all came off with no harm done to the glass. Then a coat of RainX has kept them from coming back.

[Caress Detailing]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

IMO it's just like paint, the more severe the defect, the more aggressive product you MAY need. With that said, try a lighter polish like M205 or Swirl-X first and see what happens. If not, bring out the big guns M105 or Ultimate Compound. Of course after, top it off with some nice sealant.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

Clay
#4
#105
I have used all of these products on different vehicles to remove water spots.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

What is the best way to get rid of 15 year old water spots on my windshield, side windows, and rear window. The water spots are clouding them up and it would be nice to have them cleared up and looking new again.

With a background in detailing cars in Oregon and Washington, I'm pretty familiar with removing water spots off glass. The key reason M04 works better than M105 or other products in Meguiar's line is because of the large size diminishing abrasive the product uses. When you have a built-up film of gunk on glass you need something chunky to abrade it off but it can't be abrasive to the glass at the same time.

Read this thread an my comments throughout it as multiple people chime in and ask about trying different products besides M04 and it I bring the conversation back to the word chunky.

Glass Polishing - Deep Cleaning


In fact, every time I want to find the above thread all I have to do is search this forum for the word chunky.

• By hand with a piece of terry cloth as the nap, (little cotton loops), will act as a mild form of abrasive and give the M04 more bite.
• By rotary buffer with a wool pad.
• A DA doesn't work as well as you hand because you can exert more pressure to a small area with your finger tips than you can using the entire face of a foam buffing pad.

M105 uses super micro abrasives and while it may work in some applications, a product that is chunky will work better. At least it did on hundreds, if not thousands of cars I detailed in Oregon with built-up water spots on the exterior glass. There's a real simple test anyone can do to see what I'm talking about. Shake up either M105, M86, Ultimate Compound, SwirlX or ScratchX and feel them between your fingers and then shake up a bottle of M04 or M49 and feel these two products between your fingers.

You'll figure out what I mean real quick when I use the word chunky and it may at that time help you to understand what I mean when I say you need something chunky to abrade the gunk that builds up on your glass off without at the same time scratching the glass.

Again, the thread I linked to above and read through it and you'll see people trying to use something non-chunky and the solution always comes back to chunky.

FWIW

[GlossBoss]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

rubbing alcohol or vinegar should eat right thru that

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Removing Water Spots on Windows

rubbing alcohol or vinegar should eat right thru that

Maybe on some films but not built-up water spots on glass like I've worked on. Again, key word being something chunky that won't scratch glass at the same time.