keithandstef

Well this could be bad. I was parked in a parking garage, and some liquid from a floor above dripped on my windshield. I got it off within four hours or so. But it took all I could muster to get it to come off, and I after rubbing with Fantastic/Glas Plus for awhile, I used my fingernail and even a razorblade to get it off. It sort of felt like a concrete liquid mix (or in other words some water from a concrete pour). Very gritty and tough.

Well, I got it off, and it feels perfectly smooth and glassy to the touch. No ghosting when the windshield washers wisk water away. Whew. But today I saw some ghosting when it had a significant amount of road spray from the cars in front of me. We had some crummy weather, so I was getting that road salt and muck mist on my windshield. So as the road spray hit my windshield, the ghosting was evident.

I can't feel it with my finger at all. It feels like smooth glass. I also noticed that the wax crayon they used to put the price in my windshield (was used) still has some slight ghosting, even after a couple by-hand car washes.

Is there anything I can use to get rid of what may just be some residual wax or something perhaps worse on the surface of the glass? I'm hoping my glass isn't ruined.

Thanks.

mart242

Get some window cleaner (the foam type) and rub the windshield with steel wool. That should get rid of the crap

Old Dog

Should he be using super fine steel wool pads, like 0-0-0, and have you personally ever used them on a car's window? Any danger of scratching the glass at all using any grade of steel wool?

keithandstef

I read a bit about 0000 steel wool this morning. Thanks for that tip as well. The fun will be to see (when I wash the car next) how much of this crap got on the paint (which I haven't seen yet). Guess I was lucky there (so far).

keithandstef

Wait......I posted just as the previous guy did. Hoping to hear if 0000 steel wool is in fact safe. Most of what I have read says that it is. Thanks for the input.

mart242

I used the cheap steel wool that I found at the grocery store and had no issues. Non hardened steel has a hardness of ~4 - 4.5 and glass is around 6 so no danger of scratching anything.

Moviela

The best product to clean waxy substances from the exterior of the glass is not steel wool. That can scratch because foreign material can be imbedded in the steel wool. Bon Ami is a powder cleanser that is made from egg shells as the abrasive. It cleans the glass perfectly.

Emulsion type window cleaners are better than evaporative surfactants like Windex but are hard to find. Glass Wax was a wonderful emulsion glass cleaner but it vanished when the European company that owns the brand name killed it to sell Lysol. RainX is also an emulsion cleaner. You smear it on, then wait for it to dry to a haze, then buff it off.

mart242

That's what I used with the steel wool. I wasn't sure if bon ami was available in the US. The bon ami + steel wool combo is what a bunch of dealers use.

keithandstef

Thanks everyone. I did the 0000 steel wool and it worked great. I sprayed it with some soapy water just to make sure abrasion-factor as low. No problems.