I am doing a CCU on a commercial retrofit with new tempered glass. I experimented today with mopping Goof Off over a few calk smears (exterior) then steel wool following. It left an intensely tenacious residue - GG3/Ecover soapy water mix didn’t touch it. I could get through it with my finger nail and it would rub off with a huck towel and some serious elbow grease but pretty time consuming. I thought I would try denatured alcohol to cut the GO residue followed by GG3/Ecover soapy water scrub and squeegeed off. Now I have a residue from the denatured alcohol in a broader area. Any suggestions on quick way to cut through this garbage without a ton of elbow grease?
I use a magic eraser on caulking. Works like a charm!
the residue is not from the alcohol, as it will evaporate in a few seconds. try a magic eraser. also, try to wipe it off with a microfiber, that’s really effective on oily residue.
if you are trying to remove caulk smears, you first need to identify the nature of the caulk. is it petroleum based or silione based?
Hi Caleb,
Thanks for your response. I’m not sure what I’ve got going on here. The Goof Off residue was not oily but more like a baked on smear (It was near 90 today and the glass was pretty warm). At first, I thought I had messed up the glass with the steel wool, but it was clearly just a residue that came off with some time, pressure and a huck towel. I thought it would be quicker to cut it with the DA, but when it dried it was all smeared up also. I don’t know if I just smeared the GO residue around or what. Kind of went from bad to worse. (In this case, I’m not focused on the caulk, just would like a quick way to cut the smear residues I got from experimenting with the Goof Off and Denatured Alcohol.)
I had to leave the job before I could see how tough this second smear is to cut. I did try the indoor Unger microfiber smooth cleaning pad with 50% Alcohol/50% pure water and it didn’t touch the GO residue nor this second residue. I’ll try the microfiber rags by hand and see what happens. Thought I might try some Dawn also and see if it just needs some grease cutting soap action. I’m headed back out there at day break tomorrow to get to the bottom of it. Any other ideas?
Did you not see what I posted Luke?
If you are really up against it, one restore will clear up just about anything with low risk if you use it properly
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Window Cleaning Resource mobile app
Yes, thanks Gerald. Good info - I will be giving a try. I am just focused on the residue from the chems at this point.
I do have some One Restore, but I have only used it while softwashing on siding for spot rust removal. I’ve been a little nervous about using it on glass without some more education. Some questions:
- Apply to wet or dry glass?
- How soon do you rinse after application?
- When it is rinsed can the water/OR runoff mess up lower windows or will I be ok just following the rinse down the whole run of windows with the WFP? (These windows are similar to the ones in my avatar - no mirror coating - with spandrel glass between stories and this is on the upper story).
- Is there a chance of the tin etching issue on commercial tempered glass like this?
i usually spray a generous amount on an old strip washer, undiluted. then i can control the application on the glass. let it dwell for maybe three or four minutes, but don’t let it dry. so try to do it when the sun isn’t directly on the surface you are restoring. then just rinse thoroughly, including frames, sill and seal. you could use wfp or a garden hose or whatever. then just clean the glass as normal.
it’s very safe and glass is one of the things it’s best at restoring. as for question 4, i would do a test patch somewhere, but i’ve never seen it etch any type of glass
Just got back from finishing this project. I ended up using 50% rubbing alcohol mixed with 50% pure water on a small, clean strip washer then buffed dry with huck towels. I dry buffed the heavy areas with dry towels. Then I followed it all up with WFP. Walala! They’re shining now!
Hope you charged enough or at least got their first born son. Sounds like a sh!t show to me!
