[Ant C]

Hi all.

Does anyone have a solution for what looks like etching of glass from softwash solution.

I pressure washed stone lintels and sprayed softwash solution but was a very hot sunny day. Rinsed it all down and about an hour later cleaned the windows with WFP but when dried looks like water marks streaks on the glass.

I have tried lemon juice, white vinegar, cilit bang limescale and EBC but none make any difference.

Has anyone succesfully removed these stains / etching? Is there anything I can try or is it gonna be a replace glass scenario?

Thanks in advance.

[Smudger]

What was the "solution"

Darran

[Ant C]

It was about 2% SH and Lauryl dimethylamine as surfactannt

[Splash & dash]

We use much stronger mixture and let it dry on the glass and never have  a problem , are you sure it’s not lime scale from the water in the mix rather than the hypo

[Ant C]

I did try a limescale remover but no joy.

First time it's ever happened to me. It's one of those scenarios that I don't know if it was there prior to me cleaning, although the windows I cleaned without concrete lintels (and no chemical treatment) are all spotless.

[simon w]

Are you sure you caused the staining and it wasn't there all along? if so it's not your problem surely.  If it's mineral staining look for clues like concrete lintels above the window    or other stonework or render. mineral staining will look like mineral staining and I can't comment on hypo staining on glass as I've never experienced it and use far stronger than 2% I was using it neat 15% two days ago and the splash off washed off a window pretty easily.  Take some photos and get them up here.

[Splash & dash]

Are you sure you caused the staining and it wasn't there all along? if so it's not your problem surely.  If it's mineral staining look for clues like concrete lintels above the window    or other stonework or render. mineral staining will look like mineral staining and I can't comment on hypo staining on glass as I've never experienced it and use far stronger than 2% I was using it neat 15% two days ago and the splash off washed off a window pretty easily.  Take some photos and get them up here.

15% what are you trying to clean

[the king]

Sh wont affect glass plastics yes for a few days but not glass

[simon w]

Are you sure you caused the staining and it wasn't there all along? if so it's not your problem surely.  If it's mineral staining look for clues like concrete lintels above the window    or other stonework or render. mineral staining will look like mineral staining and I can't comment on hypo staining on glass as I've never experienced it and use far stronger than 2% I was using it neat 15% two days ago and the splash off washed off a window pretty easily.  Take some photos and get them up here.

15% what are you trying to clean

Two electricity metres boxes. Cleaned once with degreaser when we were doing a full GFS clean and deep clean to a conservatory. Two electric boxes were minging and looked out of place so charged the customer £20.00 and he was over the moon. A splash of neat hypo in a bucket worked in with a wfp brush and 5 minutes later they were gleaming

[Ant C]

Are you sure you caused the staining and it wasn't there all along? if so it's not your problem surely.  If it's mineral staining look for clues like concrete lintels above the window    or other stonework or render. mineral staining will look like mineral staining and I can't comment on hypo staining on glass as I've never experienced it and use far stronger than 2% I was using it neat 15% two days ago and the splash off washed off a window pretty easily.  Take some photos and get them up here.

That is the issue I have. The one's with staining have stone lintels above them, which were black and quite eroded. We pressure washed them and softwashed afterwards to brighten them and didn't think to look at the glass before we started.
It did occur to me that they could have been there all along, but feel obliged to remedy it now 

[simon w]

Are you sure you caused the staining and it wasn't there all along? if so it's not your problem surely.  If it's mineral staining look for clues like concrete lintels above the window    or other stonework or render. mineral staining will look like mineral staining and I can't comment on hypo staining on glass as I've never experienced it and use far stronger than 2% I was using it neat 15% two days ago and the splash off washed off a window pretty easily.  Take some photos and get them up here.

That is the issue I have. The one's with staining have stone lintels above them, which were black and quite eroded. We pressure washed them and softwashed afterwards to brighten them and didn't think to look at the glass before we started.
It did occur to me that they could have been there all along, but feel obliged to remedy it now 

The staining has nothing to do with the hypo treatment or pressure washing and will most likely be mineral staining from the concrete above. If you mean obliged as in give them a quote to remove the staining then I'd use Unger Rub Out. We did a heavily stained care home a few years ago using this product ground first and second floor and charged very good money for it. But as I pointed out to the owner I'd saved him 10's of thousands in new windows or glass. The beauty of that job was that the minerals in the stone must have stopped being washed out years ago because after our treatment the staining never started to reappear.

[Ant C]

Thanks.

I'll get some Unger rub out and give it a test.

[Darran Smith PRSS]

It was about 2% SH and Lauryl dimethylamine as surfactannt

Do you know what happens to SH when you mix with Amine Oxide?
It is essential you use a product which has been designed to mix with SH - Amine Oxide and Bleach are harmful to health.
Bleach is safe to use ONLY when mixed with the right products