When Whink won't cut it....

[Rickysa]

What else is good for removing the salt haze/water spots on the salon glass??

 

[luckydave215]

Hold your car keys in your hand and scrape really, really hard.

 

[GaryNW]

I've been waiting for this topic to come up again-
I decided this spring I had to go after the "water spots" on my (14) year old fishing boat (not a Hatt). I was hoping for a chemical solution, the majic bullet that got it done with almost no effort. Nothing worked. After more surfing, I read of Spot-X. From their on-line speal, I thought I was buying a liquid with majic bullet tendancies. Well it turned out to be a pumice-like powder that you make a thick paste from and apply with their pad (sorta a less course version of scotchbright).

Bottom line is my windows are spotless now; the stuff works- but not without elbow grease. You need a 1/4 sheet palm sander for large areas (all Hatt windows are large areas). Mine is the famous Porter-Cable finish sander. Figure about 8 sq-ft per hour (this does two applications, which I needed).

I'll be doing my 89' sports car next. One of those "new car" things that slowly goes away with age is the perfect glass. Obviously, the problem is not limited to salt spray. Mineral content from potable water and rain water is enuf to do the damage.

Gary
p.s.- the stuff is also great on stainless rails- it is probably very similar to compounds used to attain fine finish of polished metals.

 

[Rickysa]

Thanks Gary, I figured this had been discussed in the past but couldn't pull anything up on a search...Whink had worked well for me in the past, but didn't do the job this go-round.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Once clean, I buff the windows with Awlcare. It seems to prevent the spots from sticking real bad again. Of course, now that I am a fresh water boater, I don't really have that problem. The saltiest thing on my boat now is the rim of my margarita glass

 

[Banshee36]

Aqua tech windo spot remover. I have seen it work and it works well. I am getting ready to do mine, as they are awlful. Collinite insulater wax after the aqua tech.
JW

 

[67hat34c]

On a similar line, I was thinking of using Rain X instead of a wiper, I noticed on the Deadliest Catch that none of the boats have wipers and the spray does not seem to stick to the windows.

We took the wiper out of our lower station for painting and am not going to reinstall. (it was frozen up)

 

[jim rosenthal]

Tried to post this yeaterday, but my computer was having a senior moment, I think....Griot's Garage makes Glass Polish in two grades, regular and fine, which are very good for this kind of problem. They work very well, and a little goes a long way.

 

[Rickysa]

...Griot's Garage makes Glass Polish in two grades, regular and fine, which are very good for this kind of problem. They work very well, and a little goes a long way.

I have a bunch of stuff I need to order from them already, so I'll add this to the list

 

[GaryNW]

All the king crab boats I've seen have wipers and most have a few of those spinning dudes too (forget what they are called). I'll admit I don't remember seeing them in Deadliest Catch. If rainex worked, I think lots of people would be saving the dough spent on wipers.

I think what we have with water spots that cleaners won't touch is a situation where the glass is actually etched. If you run a fingertip over a freshly cleaned spot you can feel the "rough" spots. I believe only mechanical means-meaning appropriate abrasive-work on these. The wind screens in airliner cockpits are high-end polycarbonate laminates. If I recall from Boeing specs, minor scratches could be dealt with using certain qualified compounds to buff them out. Maintenance manuals for airline use give minimum thickness numbers which tell them when refurbing is no longer acceptable. So lexan on boats can also be saved, but the abrasive is way finer than what you would use on glass.

Gary

 

[SKYCHENEY]

A former NASA research vessel that I crewed on once had a "spinny dude". I think they called it an "Everclear".

 

[Genesis]

Those spinny windows are cool. Centrifugal force and all that.

I have to tell 'ya - its very "shippy". I like 'em.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Maybe your next boat will have one