Window Polish?

[ChrisJ796]

I got my windows tinted darker and notice the glass looks horrible. Lots of water spots and multicolored rainbow looking strips where water runs off roof. I used windex, vinegar and it cleaned up around the lower edges but the stripes are not budging. I am guessing it is a chemical or glue from the multiple wraps it has had in its life that did not get cleaned off throughly? I will try to get a photo on here of them.

 

[mzflorida]

You can use cerium oxide compound if the cause of the discoloration is a surface contaminant, it will also get rid of scratches. However, rainbows can sometimes be a symptom of delamination of glass. But since you mentioned tint, it is probably a thing called birefringence which is basically multiple refractions of light because of stress in the glass and becomes more visible with tint applied (all tempered and laminated glass has stress...some less than others, and occurs in the manufacturing process). I'm not an engineer, I had the rainbows visible on a vehicle and a glass guy taking care of things at my house looked at it and told me about it...so I can't help anymore than saying that it exists. Did a quick google and there are pics out there that might help DX the issue.

 

[ChrisJ796]

Here is some photos kind of hard to see but these are the strips with the orange/green/purple tint to them. The water spots are coming off with a clay bar I am just worried these might be some sort of etching or something. The guy I bought it off of was pretty frugal with the detail shop and I don’t know the long term effects of the water conditioners a detergents on glass. But I am guessing this was the residual of detergents running off of roof every time they washed it.

 

[PurpleRT]

Clean, Claybar, use a glass polish if needed once removed use a glass coating to help keep the water spots at bay.

 

[mzflorida]

It looks to me like the cerium oxide polish will do the trick. If you have a glass top stove it will get all the burnt on stuff and scratches off that too.

 

[ChrisJ796]

Ordered a bottle of liquid diamond polish

 

[RAM REAPER MAN]

I had an F350 before my RAM it was a 2004 and it had the same exact problem. The only thing that made a difference in my situation was rubbing compound and a high speed buffer. Get the painters tape out cover up the porous black trim and go at it. The only issue I ran into was the highspeed buffer isn't the greatest for trim work and tight places. I ended up using a 3 inch air angle grinder for the corners and tight places which helped finished the job. I have no PhD's or certifications for all things glass so use with caution.