In-grained glass streaks - Reoval Help?

[brucemillar]

People

When I was deep cleaning the interior of my 124 Wagon. I left the tailgate up. This meant that along the entire width of the tailgate glass, Surfex HD (and a load of muck) ran in streaks down the glass. I wasn't concerned at the time, thinking it "would just wipe off". WRONG!!

The Surfex appears to eaten into the glass leaving run marks from top to bottom across the entire window.

I have tried a variety of increasingly severe substances and elbow grease to remove this with little/no impact. These include:

Meguiars Glass Cleaner - Normally cleans everything beautifully.
Windolene.
Karcher Steam Glass Cleaner - Vac. This had some success!!
T-Cut
White Vinegar - Including leaving it to soak.

Finally I tried some more Surfex - Thinking that if I attacked with he stuff that attacked it it may neutralise it. Still no good.

I must have the cleanest window in the land. But in sunlight all I see is these runs down the glass.

I am guessing that the Surfex has etched a channel into the glass itself? I am loathed to set about it with anything heavier now, thinking that if T-Cut won't touch it nothing else will? I am also thinking that if the steam vac had some success then heat is a clue? But it a very minor success, gained over a very long time and ert. We are talking some 20 passes just to get any real noticeable difference.

Do I need to bite the bullet and get a new glass or is there hope?

 

[Simon_M]

Any pics Bruce? What is surfex? Just Googled.

Hammer and a call to your insurance?

S

 

[brucemillar]

Any pics Bruce? What is surfex?

Simon. Bilt Hamber - Surfex HD. It's a "bio degradable degreaser" Comes in liquid form. I was using it to remove heavy oil stains from the tailgate door card carpet. Which it did very well ;ˆ)

No pics as a camera will not show it. It just looks like run marks left by liquid. To some it would not be an issue. But once seen it can't be un-seen and it's now driving me potty.

 

[PobodY]

Ah, is the degreaser highly caustic? - That will take the surface layer of borosilicate glass (it devitrifies), and you'd need to re-passivate the surface layer with something.

If this was laboratory glassware I'd say, "Soak it in 2-propanol with ~30g/l of potassium hydroxide, then rinse it off with deionised water and passivate it with 2% nitric acid."

Alloy wheel cleaner might be the last resort; it often contains dilute hydrofluoric acid which might work to etch the marks back out. - I'd only try that if the next step was going to be a hammer anyway.

 

[brucemillar]

I'm not going to say I understood any of that apart from "alloy wheel cleaner" & "hammer";ˆ)

You are correct though. A hammer would be the last resort.

I will give the alloy wheel cleaner a go a report back. Thank you.

 

[Simon_M]

Could be an excuse to get those gangsta tints you have been yearning for Bruce!

 

[zipdip]

Bruce I think you will go the way of the hammer but try some of your wife's nail polish but be careful it loves eating paint as well.

 

[zipdip]

Forgot to say remover.

 

[Doodle]

Surfex is purported as being non-caustic, non-solvent.

You might want to try an "abrasive" glass polish, something like Zaino Z12 or the screen paste that Jaguar used to supply at service time.

 

[brucemillar]

Bruce I think you will go the way of the hammer but try some of your wife's nail polish but be careful it loves eating paint as well.

Ah. Sorry, I should have said that I had tried some of this without success. yes it does eat paint and that made me very nervous. It still did not touch it.

 

[brucemillar]

I just tried some alloy wheel cleaner. No change. I will have a go with a bit of abrasive glass polish. But I hear the hammer knocking over my shoulder.

 

[Trickythemerc]

You could try Brasso and 0000 grade wire wool or maybe even jewelers rouge before resorting to the hammer .

 

[Larkone]

I would contact the manufacturers of Surfex and tell them as they sell it as being suitable for all automotive surfaces.

 

[grober]

http://www.alienautospa.no/images_hovedside/Produkt ark/BH-SurfexHD.pdf

 

[John Jones Jr]

May be try neat household bleach by dabbing it on.

 

[Doodle]

I would contact the manufacturers of Surfex and tell them as they sell it as being suitable for all automotive surfaces.

I suspect the problem isn't one of suitability, it's of allowing the product to dry. This is the case for many heavy duty cleaners.

 

[brucemillar]

I suspect the problem isn't one of suitability, it's of allowing the product to dry. This is the case for many heavy duty cleaners.

That, I suspect is the case here. I was so busy with the deep cleaning (removing 30 years of interior grime) that I simply did not check that the "now"open tailgate has dirty product running down it. To be fair I also didn't think (when I did notice) that there would be any issue. I just thought it would wash off.

Anyway: Latest update. I had a go with TFR (Okay yes I know) wiped on neat with a micro-fibre towel. Then cleaned off with Meguiars glass cleaner. So far, so good. It is looking a lot better. I will have another go later to see if I can get the remaining runs out.

You can actually feel the cloth gripping as it moves across the runs. Clearly it has eaten into the coating.

A new glass may end up being what is required but for now we are looking good.

As always. Thank you everybody for the suggestions..

 

[Red C220]

Try these people Bruce.

Scratched Glass Repair,Glass Polishing, Scratch Removal Damage Repair

 

[brucemillar]

Try these people Bruce.

Scratched Glass Repair,Glass Polishing, Scratch Removal Damage Repair

Some good stuff here. Thank you. I may give them a shot if I don't succeed in my latest attempt(s)

 

[missytycoon]

You can get glass cleaner kit with varying abrasives included on ebay. ( includes small wheel attachments / pads for electric drill )