I wouldn’t use steel or bronze wool. the glass is colored by adding differnt metals (colbat for blue, gold for pinks and so no) this make the glass softer and much eazier to scratch. when I work for cleaning company we cleaned a church every easter for my bosses pennits all we did was dust them. the white streaks may be from oxidation caused by the cleaner you use. try the pure water if that does not work try some polish in a small part. the http below might help.
I love the simplest/least labor involved processes also, most of the stained/leaded glass that I come across are original and from the 1930’s/1940’s, the homeowners are new to the concept of w/c and the glass has not been cleaned the entire time they have lived in their homes, and who knows how long the glass was cleaned before that. We get a nasty build up on the glass down here and have tried just a simple standard wash and the glass just does not clean up the way that I think it should look when I am finished. So the long/labor based process, is what I do on the first time cleans, maintenance cleans after the first cleaning go by much quicker ( Nylex brush scrub, towel dry, then bronze wool if needed for any solder leaching.
it does say that steel wool can be used to remove paint or to buff canes. i dont beleave that the white streaks
are from paint . they may be residue left from the zep in the contuors of the glass making them hard to buff out
if so the pure water would then flush them a way . if not and they are oxidation then a polish may conceal them .
ZEP Glass cleaner contains Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether which, as you may know, is a solvent, and a solvent that is quite safe to use on glass. However, glass that is leaded, or has such highly leachable frames as stained glass is better cleaned with DI water and isopropyl alchohol only if a solvent is necessary. Of course this is hindsight speaking, but most likely what you are encountering is a reaction of the cleaner with the metals on/in the glass, and quite possibly resurrecting what someone else has put on the glass in the past, and the only way that you would be able to remedy this is with glass restoration, which will be very tedious on this type of glass. I would say tediously using some extremely mild abrasive scrub, and I emphasize extremely mild, in a small area and try that. My recomendation would also include to contact a professional stained glass manufacturer or repair technician and speak with them as well.
I have designed and finished many glass panels for customers and this may help you in future.
You must becareful of the material between the lead came and glass. It is thinned window putty applied as a toothpaste consistancy to get between the glass and came, after soldered together, to keep the glass from rattling in the came and strengthends the panel. Whiting is applied to clean the putty from glass and came. Solvents can remoisten the putty and leach, as it does not dry right away and can spread with washing if not dry. After the whiting process, the came is applied with patina or just left as natural came and waxed, then buffed dry.
Waxing and buffing can help the glass residue you encountered but becareful not to buff colored/patina came. It can buff off the color. BECAREFUL.
I wouldn’t use steel or bronze wool. the glass is colored by adding differnt metals (colbat for blue, gold for pinks and so no) this make the glass softer and much eazier to scratch. when I work for cleaning company we cleaned a church every easter for my bosses pennits all we did was dust them. the white streaks may be from oxidation caused by the cleaner you use. try the pure water if that does not work try some polish in a small part. the http below might help.
