Hard Water Stain Removal on Glass
What are Hard Water Spots or Limescale?
Hard water spots or stains, also known as lime scale buildup is just that. Minerals that are in the water that remain on the glass after the water has evaporated. Usually, calcium carbonate, but other minerals may be present in sea spray or sea water. In time, if not removed, the minerals and hard water spots can build up and require extreme measures to restore the glass.
Types of Glass Common to Hard Water Spots
The most common glass that gets limescale is first floor windows near a sprinkler, especially in a hotter climate, like Arizona, where the evaporation occurs quickly.
Secondly, yachts, marine glass, or cruise ship glass is susceptible to sea spray hard water spots. The glass may be at sea for weeks before the glass can be thoroughly cleaned and the hard water spots can gain a stronghold on the glass surfaces.
But the most common glass for hard water spots is, shower glass!
How to Remove Hard Water Spots
Hard water stain removal can vary drastically depending on how heavy and how long the buildup has been there. Hard water spots not only spot the glass but can also etch the glass. If the glass is etched, then resurfacing is the best route to restore the glass.
One yacht project we worked on had 25 years of etched hard water spots to remove. The best solution was to sand, resurface, and polish the glass. Most projects have been neglected for too long. The good news is, all hard water spot removal is repairable.
DIY Hard Water Spot Removal
So, you want to remove the hard water spots yourself? You’ll need a high torque sander polisher, a felt pad, some 4F pumice powder. If the lime scale is light, it can be removed with pumice. Sometimes the hard water will leave a blurry spot where the spots were (glass etching). If that’s the case, the glass needs to be sanded and resurfaced. It all depends on how restored you want the glass to be.
A recent development has led to a more aggressive glass polishing process using a polyurethane pad along with a custom polishing powder blend we recently had mixed for us. In some hard water cases, the hardwater spots along with the light glass etching has been removed in one step!
If you need a professional hard water spot removal expert, give us a call. We’ll be glass to restore your glass and remove all the hard water spots – guaranteed!
