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Spotting on Windshield from Lawn Sprinkler

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by inverness, Aug 11, 2009.

  1. inverness

    inverness New Member

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    My 2010 got "watered" by a lawn sprinkler yesterday and I'm having a devil of a time trying to remove the resulting water spots from the windshield. Plain ole rubbing w/a soft cloth does nothing; nor does cleaning w/Windex. I'm hesitant to try anything other than glass cleaner.

    Any suggestions? (the spots on the side windows - which are treated to repel water - came off fairly easily w/the Windex, but no amount of elbow grease will remove them on the windshield).
     
  2. dc202

    dc202 Member

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    Hard water spots can usually be removed from glass with a little diluted vinegar or straight vinegar if necessary.
     
  3. nullxposur

    nullxposur Junior Member

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    seconded! I would buy some 5% distilled vinegar from the store and some very fine steel wool. simply wet the steel wool with some distilled vinegar and rub the white spots from the windshield. wash with a water hose after and it'll be like new... it's just stink like vinegar for a bit :D
     
  4. inverness

    inverness New Member

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    Thanx! I'll give it a try. Never thought we had hard water in Fairfax County, VA!
     
  5. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    On some other boards I frequent they recommend Bon Ami and some water to make a paste that'll clean off water spots, but I've never seen Bon Ami in any of the grocery stores around here.

    Bon Ami
     

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  6. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    Here in Manassas I lived on the other side of the main drag through the 'hood for 12 years and had hard water. Less than a mile across the way, been here 10 years and the water's soft as can be. Weird.
     
  7. mindmachine

    mindmachine Member

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    :help: Surely you jest steel wool on glass, do you want the guy to ruin his windshield. Steel wool will definitely scratch the glass in my opinion. No way would I use steel wool on glass. ammonia glass cleaner maybe.
    Someone else chime in on this.
     
  8. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    I wouldn't get steel wool anywhere near the vehicle. Or wool for that matter. :p
     
  9. texas112

    texas112 Junior Member

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    Same problem here, I've complained to the apartment management, but it will take another day or two before they adjust the sprinklers. Hmm, it didn't seem to bother me when I had my clunker truck :)

    I tried Windex and it made little difference, so I tried Stoner's Invisible Glass as suggested on one of the other threads here -
    http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ing/62907-my-favorite-detailing-products.html
    - and it made a big difference. Just a little more elbow grease than normal cleaning, but the spots are gone. Well, they're gone until the next watering night :)

    And it's safe for tinting. I picked it up at Wal-Mart.

    Invisible Glass | Miracle Cleaning Products | Glass Cleaner
     
  10. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    my car gets the same thing DAILY. idiot homeowners association wastes water like its nobody's business. every morning i get to sidewalks nearly drowned from the drenching they receive every night.

    as far as steel wool?? no... no... u are lucky if its only the glass. i have it all over the entire front of my car. better off to clay bar it or something.
     
  11. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    Between the Stoner's, an application of Rain-X, and Rain-X washer fluid, I have no issue with water spotting on the windshield. I didn't even think to mention Stoner's when I first posted.:eek:
     
  12. angelrob

    angelrob New Member

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    I have a friend who used to work at a dealership. He told me the same thing. That's what they use to get the glass sparkling. Great for removing bugs. But ONLY THE GLASS! That said, those were other brands and earlier years so there may be coatings on the Prius glass to make it shed water (I don't think the tinting is a coating, right?!)

    In case it needs to be said: Don't use it on your paint job no matter how fine the steel wool :eek:

    Robbin
     
  13. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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  14. nullxposur

    nullxposur Junior Member

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    lol there's different levels of hardness. make sure you get the fine steel wool. i used to detail for a dealership and did this many times. i've even used it inside the glass to remove tint glue leftover residue. it's awesome once you try it, but the finest one you can find as it'll be soft and not hard.
     
  15. JRitt

    JRitt Bio-Medical Equip. Tech

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    I had that happen to mine also but the next day we had a hard thunderstorm and it took it right off
     
  16. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    talked with sis who works in car biz, she asked detailer and they said best thing is windex and aluminum foil. take crumpled aluminum foil, spray a good window cleaner on it, anyone will do and use the foil in a swirling pattern and then squeegee clean
     
  17. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    I've heard the same thing with newspaper, which leaves no streaking.
     
  18. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    When I called to cancel my subscription to the Washington Post a few years ago, the customer service lady asked if there was anything I liked about the Post. I told her I liked how it left my windows streak-free, and she agreed that that was one good thing about the paper. :p
     
  19. NoMoShocks

    NoMoShocks Electrical Engineer

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    I used to use newspaper to dry my windows, but then I noticed a blue haze developing on the inside of the window. Now I don't use newspaper and still get the blue haze.

    For fun with fine steel wool, make sure you are not near any combustable materials and drop some on the terminals of a 9 V transistor radio battery. Start with a small peice unless you want a real confligration on your hands.
     
  20. PriusRoadWarrior

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    VINEGAR ONLY- SKIP THE STEEL WOOL, use a soft cloth