Just wanted to throw out my observations and discoveries. Screen burn has been a pain since my early days back in 1980. Working in NH has been interesting. I have even come across screen burn from old copper screens on old glass! Not aluminum. Nonetheless I usually use Easy Off oven cleaner to remove the aluminum oxidation brand of screen burn. It IS really bad stuff. I first clean the window. Spray some on a sponge away from the siding. Then wipe it all over. If REALLY bad then I use some 0000 steel wool with it. Then soap up good and squeegee. Wipe edges and go. I have turned my fingernails yellow with the stuff. And have done permanent damage to white vinyl siding. If you get it on that it will turn yellow in seconds. Not good. So. When I am a bit smarter (Just one coffee), I will use alternatives.
One is sodium metasilicate (water glass). Only around two percent. Works like Sodium hydroxide (Easy Off). But doesn’t seem to harm vinyl siding as quickly. Strips the oil from your hands real quick though. And makes them slippery all day. Use gloves and goggles. That is if you are smarter than me.
Another choice is some polishing powder mixed with water. I chose a silica that is white. Very little though so I don’t have too much left around the edges when my solution dries. Of course I could mix the powder with a very low concentration of water glass. Also I could spray out a couple big cans of Easy Off into a glass jar and add the powder for those windows that have been collecting screen burn since the dinos did their dance.
Bottom line. I NEVER use any product based on a glass etchant. So anything with either hydroflouric, sulfuric, or ammoniumbiflouride. There are a couple of very simple tests to find out if a product is capable of etching glass. I have tested many chems both acids and alkalies. Another test for aluminum frames too. Pure aluminum is actually reactive to certain chems that won’t touch glass. And certain chems that will etch glass hardly touch aluminum at all. So different acids attack different surfaces at different intensities.
