Some weird residue won't come off my window

I came across this weird textured residue on the outside of my drivers side window (a couple months ago, and its still there), and I've tried just about everything to get this stuff off and its not budging. I thought it was dried water spots, however I'm starting to think its not actually that. I do some car detailing/washing as a side thing during the school year and in the summer, so I'm fairly certain that its not a reaction caused by using incorrect chemicals. Let me know if there is anyway to remove these spots.

 

Do you park somewhere where there are chemicals being released in the air?

I used to work at a powder coating shop in Texas that vented powder particles out the roof of the shop and noticed the sun was baking any powder that was landing on the roof onto the paint. Some compound, clay bar, wax, and polish took it all off and I learned not to park anywhere close.

 

Clay bar.

 

no

 

Razor blade?

 

Could that be hard water stains like from a sprinkler system getting bush/grass irrigation overspray on you windows?

My window tint Guy shared that a little bit of WHINK Rust stain remover on a paper towel rubbed in a circle and then dried off gets windows very clean if it is..

(Edited to fix brush to bush like shrubs and bushes)

 

Steal wool and glass cleaner will take it off, Thats what we used to use to clean overspray off glass in the body shop. Just dont get too aggressive with it.

 

At the Toyota dealership right now for oil change and tire rotation. They said the residue might be paint overspray... wtf? Overheard them talking about possibly sending it off to a body shop but hopefully they can figure it out soon so I don’t have to pay for bodywork. Hopefully it’s under warranty.

 

sorry, but how is stuff on your window going to be covered under warranty?

 

They said something about warranty, not really sure what for.

 

Alright I figured it out. They broke something on the roof and they are fixing it under warranty. The stuff on the window couldnt be removed

 

If you do car detailing on the side, one of the first things you should have tried was taking an orbital buffer to your window. Anything that isn't etched in to the glass would be removed, same as paint correction on the body of a vehicle.

 

I tried one of those buffers a couple months ago and it didn't work very well. The buffer took some of the residue off, unfortunately it barely did anything. The technician I was talking to at the dealership said it might be paint overspray and it will take some time to remove.

 

Could be a dumb question, but do you have a tint and could it be something within the tint layer?

 

The dealership said the tint is not a factor in this situation

 

While you don't want to get any into the interior of the door, CLR or Lime Away might work. Put some on a rag, not dripping, and test it on a small spot. Then rinse it off very well. Maybe put some painters tape at the window, seal joint as a bit of extra protection. CLR and Lime Away are whats called an inhibited acid. It's supposed to have less effect on metal, I wouldn't trust it though. Rinse the heck out of it.

If that cleans the spot you have two options. Risk getting the acid into the door, or remove the widow and clean it off the vehicle.

 

I thought I had tree sap all over my windshield. Turned out to be a bunch of pitting from a nasty windstorm that kicked up a bunch of sand.

 

I had something similar on my sunroof. I used a quality glass polish and that resolved it for me. I used a glass polish made for electric stove tops since they're all glass surfaces.

 

@Invid I have tried all kinds of glass cleaners and CLR, anything and everything! I just went out and tried the "Weiman" Glass Cook Top cleaner and polish and it worked on the water spots and overspray on my windows, Wow! Thank You so much for posting this! I have also used "Cerama Bryte" in the past on my cooktops and it would probably work well also.

Thanks again, Robert

 

If a razorblade, or steel wool and Glad cleaner won’t take it off then it’s probably etching by a chemical and the glass will need to be replaced.