I had a job today where someone previously tried to remove hard water stains from impact glass/ hurricane windows. The bottom of the windows were etched badly and the frames had to be repainted. Tons of properties in south Florida have these windows.
Are impact glass/hurricane windows plastic on the interior and exterior? Is it safe to attempt the removal of hard water stains via chemicals, steel wool, other abrasives, or scraper? I only used my boar’s hair WFP brush and a white pad. I also noticed some paint drops the owners did not want me to remove.
You are absolutely correct in that the first step would be to identify the surface you would be working on! You definitely have my curiosity. This is something I would like to talk with you about in depth. Please send me an email at [email protected]
Diamond Magic is an interesting product! It does work great at removing severe organic stains on my pellet stove glass. Which I am guessing is a boron silicate. Different surface chemistry. Different product too. It is based on a very low concentration of superabrasives with a very small amount of superabrasive diamond powder. Have always loved diamond. BUT I suggest you TEST any and all superabrasive product completely before using it because it could have some particles that are way too big and therefore cause very bad scratches. Especially with high speed machines! Diamonds are very difficult to work with on soda/lime window glass without causing a scratch haze or errant scratches from oversized particles. His Glass Works in NC uses a stream of water with their diamond products to help with this problem. OK. TMI.
I will be doing another post on testing superabrasive restoration products testing soon. Please read all of these IGSA Testing Posts that I just started writing. The IGSA logo is next to each one.
Hurricane glass uses a polyvinyl butyrate as an interlayer. So we wouldn’t make contact with it. However both vinyl, acrylic, and polycarb plastic surfaces are very quick to id with a simple grassroots nondestructive test. Just stick the tip into the surface very carefully. If it sticks and won’t easily slide you are on plastic. Back off. Here watch this video.
There are simple tests for checking TiO2 coatings too.
