WINDOW RESTORATION

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Window Restoration- Is a very strenuous job. The cleaning process on a sheet of glass with just your elbow grease to remove hard-water spotting can take anywhere from 15 minutes tol 1.5 hours depending how big the sheet of glass is, what abrasive pad/cleaner and pressure into the glass it will take to remove it. Another major factor is whether your municipal, irrigation or well water has any signs of SILICA. A good example of where SILICA is prevalent is in the North Napa Valley where the geysers are. These geysers are full of this mineral called SILICA. When removing hard-water it is of the utmost importance of not damaging your glass. One precaution we look for is how old the glass is. The glass in some old single pane windows could have stress cracks not showing beyond the molding. Other glass that is newer could be scratched because of having a layer of coating of some sort (like Tin, Sealant or Glass Tint) added to the glass. To determine if we can move forward we would need to do a test to see if we can remove hard-water with what type of glass we are working with. If you, the homeowner, would like to try this yourself please follow these steps to remove safely.

  1. Use a white Scotch Brite pad, oooo steel wool or 0000 bronze wool .(steel wool will rust eventually, bronze just deteriorates quickly)
  2. Use a Cerium such as Bio-Clean, Lime Away or toilet bowl cleanser. (Wear PPE Equipment, glasses, gloves and respiratory filter)
  3. Pick an area of the glass that you don’t mind possibly damaging. (If any slight damage occurs STOP)
  4. Wet the area and keep it wet at all times.
  5. Spray lime away from a spray bottle to the glass area you are working on and start scrubbing with slight pressure into the glass.
  6. If you are using bio clean add cerium to pad and start scrubbing with slight pressure into the glass
  7. Re-wet and squeegee the glass to see results. If no hard-water was removed it means you likely have SILICA spotting.
  8. If hard-water is being removed then just keep repeating the steps until gone

One last step you can do is to put a sealant over the glass to protect it from silica bonding to the actual glass. Instead it will bond to the sealant. Of course sealants wear off in time so you will need to reseal as needed and always keep your glass clean. A professional window cleaner like ourselves can eventually in some cases remove hard-water over time. DO NOT USE HIGH SPEED METHODS of ANY KIND with ANY of these Steps we provided (We will not be responsible for any irresponsible applications or misuses of the steps we provide) White Abrasive Pads: Applications: Our Scotch-Brite™ Light Cleansing Hand Pad 7445 is an excellent choice when you require a mild abrasive. The conformable web and fine mineral are the perfect pairing when you need a gentle touch for light cleaning or a fine finish on glass. Notes: The Scotch-Brite™ Light Cleansing Hand Pad 7445 is an excellent choice when you require a mild abrasive on glass. The conformable web and fine mineral are the perfect pairing when you need a gentle touch for light cleaning or a fine finish on glass.

  • Ideal for gentle cleaning on glass, vinyl, porcelain and other delicate surfaces
  • Light-duty non-woven pad performs light cleaning on a variety of glass & metals as well as wax mold deflashing
  • Very mild abrasive provides gentle yet thorough cleaning
  • Conformable web and fine mineral are excellent for fine finishes
  • Performance is similar to steel wool grade 0000 which rusts and bronze wool 0000 without rusting but splinters
  • Works well with liquid detergents like Lime away, Bio Clean

We require homeowners to be onsite to do a walk thru before we leave the jobsite. If homeowner is not present for a walk thru home owner is waiving the option, there walk thru that we have The Window Cleaning Specialists have inspected it ourselves and will not come back to jobsite to fix any issues that come up.

Restoration