We have an issue with some frosted glass that I hope you guys can help us with.
This job is a lil over a year old, and in the interior storefront windows, the lower two lights are frosted, 1/4 inch tempered glass. The rubber gasket has (I think) linseed oil on it, and it acts as a lubricant to help it glide between the frame and the glass. I’m sure you CCU guys are familiar with this stuff.
Well, in these frosted windows, the oil ran down the glass and caused a smear. The wildest thing was, on the bottom gasket it was pulled UP, which beats all I’ve ever seen. Anyway, this is in an outpatient facility for a local hospital and these windows are in the waiting rooms. There’s also places on the glass where people rested their heads against the glass, leaving a smudge.
The only thing that we have found that get’s off the spots is a Mr. Clean magic eraser. Some co workers have gone down there before and cleaned it but it still came back. This past time we took the glass out of the frame, took the gasket out, and washed the rubber with dawn, and then rubbed it down with denatured alcohol to try and remove the oil completely. We’ll see how well that turns out. Also, there’s at least 100 pieces of glass this way.
You guys have any advice on how to hopefully keep this from happening again? Only one side is frosted, the other is still smooth, so I think one side was sanded or something.
we always use slightly damp microfiber towels to remove the lubricant from those rubber gaskets. they do a good job of grabbing the grease. you’ll just need a lot of them as they get gummed up pretty quickly.
as for oil stains on frosted glass, i’ve never found an adequate solution. i’ve tried tons of stuff- baking soda poultice, goof-off, all sorts of mechanical means like steel wool and magic erasers… nothing penetrates deep enough to collect the stains that have settled in the pores of the glass. i’ve often wondered if a steamer might dissolve oil stains in frosted glass, but i don’t have one so i’ve never tried it.
Just thinking as I write. If an oil has been put on the rubber gasket or where the gasket sets, it should be possible to remove it with a chem. Then it shouldn’t come back. If however the oil is exuding FROM the gasket the best you could possibly do is clean the gasket and then SEAL it. I would take a single gasket and seal one half. Then test it to see if that worked. If so do an entire window and see if that worked well. Figure the time to do it. If it worked price the whole job.
As for the frosted glass I am assuming it is not exposed to UV from the outside. If so then Rain X will not degrade over time. I would remove all of the remaining oil/residue with the Mr Clean Magic Eraser. Then seal the glass. Rain X is oleophobic and hydrophobic. Again do your experiments on one window. This is how I suggest working with hard water stains too. The customer ALWAYS wants to know if they will come back. Especially if they are paying ten thousand bux to have them removed and the glass and or concrete/brick sealed. And no one on this planet can tell them with any confidence that they won’t! Unless at least a six month test is done on one or several windows.
