When I picked up my second hand car it had very hard to remove water drop marks all over the windows. The only way I could remove these was to go over the glass a few times with a compound on a random orbital polisher.
However it seems that in as little as a few weeks more water marks are being left after a weekly wash &/or from sitting in rain, & they won’t come off with straight alcohol or vinegar etc, only another lite polish was the only way.
So far its winter & not much intense sunlight & my car isn’t garaged & I don’t bother drying off the water after each wash as its out in the rain.
So I’m looking at how to prevent these water marks from forming?
Are there ways to achieve this without a sealant coat?
I was going to suggest Rainex or other similar treatment. I apply some with a cotton clothe or paper towel every other month. Takes about 5 minutes to put on.
You may have to pay to have someone use a clay bar on your car if you want to restore the paint. Hard water deposits can be a pain in the butt to remove.
Um what? Never heard of doing that. I would suspect that such action would inflict micro scratches in the glass and make it harder to clean in the future.
Polishing the glass sounds , well a little obsessive to me. Like empla says it is going to alter the actual surface of the glass, probably not for the better. I would not be surprised if there are coatings that you really don’t want to remove either.
Plain old white vinegar should remove hard water stains effectively. You say ‘drops’, could it be dried sap from trees or shrubs? That can be a real problem under some tress, especially when there is an aphid problem. Sap can be very difficult to remove without mineral spirits.
Waxing is the traditional method of protecting car paint.
I have the same problem. A friend of mine had a detailing business and he gave me some sort of acid that you spray on, wipe around, and rinse after about 30 seconds. I haven’t tried it yet and believe its not available to the general public but maybe a good detailer could take care of this for you?
I have yet to encounter anything, other than a scratch or penetrating discoloration, that can’t be removed from glass with a razor blade scraper. If there are only a few spots, it should take just a couple seconds. Don’t use a razor scraper on your painted areas, though.
I second smithsb - while in school I worked in a auto paint shop part time and we cleaned all car windows all the time with superfine steel wool. That removed all surface marks without damaging the glass.
Also, as Bubbadog notes, Rainex works amazing. I’m a big believer too. The water literally blows off the glass while you drive. I’ve driven in heavy rainstorms on the highway with no wipers because the water was being blown off the windshield so quickly. (The wipers smeared the water and made it harder to see). Works even better for night driving.
As a last resort, if it is mineralization residue from water drops as the OP thinks, I’d suggest trying Tilex shower cleaner or something similar that is designed to remove that residue from glass showers walls. Spray it on and let it sit for a minute then wipe off.
Dawn Dish Soap diluted in water. Cleans the windows so well you will not notice they are there.I have the same issue and have been doing this for a while, it takes them right out, 99% streak free. For the remaining 1% just go over the window again with a dry microfiber, perfect.
Tips:
Avoid Paper towels for cleaning the windows.
Use Microfiber towels that DO NOT have fabric softener on them (wash them with soap only and dry them without dryer sheets), If you do it will leave the windows covered in streaks.
Put about a capful of Dawn in a clean spray bottle with some water (add a drop of vinegar if you have hard water).
Not at all. As I said the water spots left from the previous owner were very hard to remove.
I doubt it will alter the glass as it’s very hard. There is no visible scratches at all from the compounding. I can’t see there being coatings on the outside of the glass as they would wear away probably.
The whole vinegar removal is a myth. I have tried & it does nothing. On my new recent water spots however a lite rub with dry finger gets the spots off. It is the abrasive action that removes them not chemical. Well maybe there is some acid product.
Id say 0000steel wool is worse than the compound I was using. By orbital sander I meant D/A polisher with a foam pad. Sorry I should have been more clear.
Um what? Never heard of doing that. I would suspect that such action would inflict micro scratches in the glass and make it harder to clean in the future.