Cleaning GLASS windows/portlights

[FairweatherDave]

Just reading some stuff about cleaning up boat windows and saw a suggestion of wire wool. On toughened glass. Obviously you would start with a stanley blade in a scaper and maybe some solvents, confident you knew it was glass. Probably soaked the glass in hot water and maybe a bit of citrus cleaner first. But wire wool? I want my windows to be lovely and clear . All the stuff I have read has focussed on the seals or the aluminium and not about the glass itself. Advice much appreciated!

 

[V1701]

Dunno about wire wool and assume they're not just grimy, what needs removed from the windows?

 

[KevinV]

Mild steel wire wool will do no more damage than a blade

 

[FairweatherDave]

Dunno about wire wool and assume they're not just grimy, what needs removed from the windows?

Who knows?. I'm at the armchair stage and was surprised to read wire wool. No doubt a mixture of paint and silicon. I have read about silicon removal products and the soak in white spirit first. Just don't want to destroy any hope of the glass being clear.

 

[V1701]

I'd go Razor blade & CT1 Multi Solve then...

 

[Stemar]

This is what you want

It takes a Stanley knife blade.

Glass does scratch, not to mention the bits of steel that fall onto the grp and leave brown stains, so I wouldn't let wire wool anywhere near my windows.

 

[FairweatherDave]

Fortunately at the moment the glass is nowhere near the boat. I was only mentioning it at the point when all else has failed....like you I was under the impression glass would scratch.

 

[Concerto]

Wire wool is very good at getting rid of so many different things off glass. However you should use a very fine grade, the best is Liberon 0000. It is a grade finer than every other 0000 available. One use that it is excellent for is removing silicone smear from a car windscreen. It is also brilliant to remove crud from old glazed picture glass, there is nothing better - better than any razor blade. It can also be used to cut back a gloss varnish to make it matt. The only drawback is the dust can cause rust marks, so vacuum up the dust as you are working and again once you finish. Also do not store it onboard as it will rust.

 

[Yngmar]

I just used the blade of my pocket knife and that works fine without doing any damage to the glass. I assume one of those glass cooktop scrapers would work equally well if you have lots of scraping to do. Otherwise we clean it like any other glass window - with household window cleaner.

 

[FairweatherDave]

Thanks all, I will see how the cleaning up goes. Looking forward to seeing through them properly!