Removing OCW overspray from windshield

[Kyle]

My windshield is contaminated with what I believe is OCW overspray. Neither Invisible Glass nor Sonex glass cleaners will remove it. I had reasonable results by claying the glass but then messed it up again when I had to detail the roof of the car.

Is there a preferred method to clean the glass? 
 
I’m a newbie and would appreciate any advice the community can offer. Thanks.

 

[JoseG]

You can try a couple things. Try reapplying the wax directly on the glass and buff off. If that doesn’t work, you can always polish the glass to remove any stains or use 0000 steel wool. 

[Setec Astronomy]

I haven't used the latest ceramic formula of OCW, but if that's what the overspray is, I don't think it should be that difficult to remove.  If clay worked, I would try that again.  If it were me, I wouldn't use and steel wool, especially on the windshield.  A little advice to not have this problem again, spray the OCW on your towel, away from the car, rather than spraying it on the car.

[Kyle]

Update.

I cleaned the windshield with clay again. That removed almost all of the blemishes. I've ordered bottles of Touchless Decontaminant and Paint Prep to hopefully completely clean the windshield. I'm 99% sure it's wax/polymer residue from when I was working on the adjacent paint surfaces. 

Question now is how to proceed going forward. Setec's suggestion to apply the wax to my drying towel makes sense to me.  I don't want to eliminate the spray wax altogether because I really like how it looks on the paint. I'd like to treat the windshield but don't know what to use or how to properly apply it. The glass was dry when I was working on the adjacent paint and I didn't realize there was overspray on it. So I didn't try to remove it until much later. Maybe the glass should be wet with ONR or something similar and cleaned up immediately?  

Thanks to everyone for your help. 

[Setec Astronomy]

You can use the OCW on the glass.  People have different, um...feelings?  on wax and sealant on the windshield; personally I like it, my wife doesn't.

As JoseG suggested, you can use a polish to really clean the glass, you could use Hyper Polish or Hyper All in One, unfortunately the are only available in fairly large bottles.  I suppose you could use GPS, that's a little cheaper.  Just make sure you spray the polish onto your applicator, not onto  windshield, LOL.

But back to the beginning, I'm having a little trouble understanding how clay only removed "almost all" of whatever this is--is it possible these are water spots?  Clay should easily remove OCW residue, unless it's just skidding over the top somehow.

PS  Where are you located?  On the off-chance that you are local to a member that could help you.

[Kyle]

 A little background. This is a new M-B AMG GLE53 that I bought in late October. However, for whatever reason, the car sat on a dealer's lot for 7 months prior to my purchase. Didn't know that when I bought it. There was a bird poop blemish that was cleaned up prior to delivery. However, the paint was moderately contaminated with whatever. I was able to remediate that with clay. The glass was clear at delivery and so I know any contamination there is due to my faux pas. 

The remaining blemishes on the glass are minor. I'm not sure if they are due to wax residue I missed with the clay or if the glass is actually pitted. I'll know better after the  cleaning with the chemical products.

I'm in Fort Worth, Texas. If there's someone close, I'm all ears. Thanks.  

 

[Ron@Optimum]

A 5 Star Detail

3759 N Beach St
Fort Worth TX 76137
US

817-454-8705

[Ron@Optimum]

agree with Setec, there are less invasive ways to remove residue.  Also, you can use Decon and Paint Prep for future decontamination - useful products to have around!

[Kyle]

Okay guys... final update.

This morning, I wiped the windshield down with Paint Prep. No discernible change from how things looked after the last clay treatment. While I may have had some doubts initially, I'm now pretty certain the last clay treatment did indeed remove all of the surface contaminates; whatever they were. What's left are some tiny pinpoint "speckles" which I'm guessing are micro pits. They are scattered across the entire windshield and, while a minor irritant, are limited in their density and only visible when looking directly into the sun.

There's much more I hope to do with waxes and protectants. But for now, I'm going to concentrate on the basic ONR/OCW process.

Thanks again to all who have helped me. Good luck!

    

 

[Ron@Optimum]

micro pitting is common on windshields and Setecs recommendation to polish would correct that.

[Lowejackson]

Micro pitting on a new car is a bit unusual though.

Might also be worth claying the inside of the glass just to make sure, followed by a good cleaning.

[Setec Astronomy]

On 12/7/2024 at 3:58 PM, Ron@Optimum said:

micro pitting is common on windshields and Setecs recommendation to polish would correct that.

Wow, I don't think so, pits are usually deeper than scratches and scratches are almost impossible to remove.

On 12/7/2024 at 4:17 PM, Lowejackson said:

Might also be worth claying the inside of the glass just to make sure, followed by a good cleaning.

I have had surprising levels of dirt on inside glass on new cars, as well as weird stuff that was hard to get off.  I think I still have a witness mark from some sticker that was on the inside of my windshield, 20 years later.  I haven't noticed it lately, I'll have to look.

[dlc95]

On 12/6/2024 at 12:03 PM, Kyle said:

But for now, I'm going to concentrate on the basic ONR/OCW process.

    

 

That is such a nice, simple, and effective way forward.