Wiper marks on windshield

My windshield is developing some vertical wiper marks where the wiper blades stop, reverse and return to the park position.

 

I'm not sure if these marks are deposits from the blades or if the blades are partially polishing the glass as the wipers change direction.

 

Any tips on removing these lines? The windshield is treated with Aquapel, BTW.

Aquapel doesn't really do much other than change the surface tension. It is sort of like getting scratches on your paint even though it is waxed. If you are seeing lines in the glass then it is likely that something in your wiper arm is making contact with the windshield and scratching it. If that is the case then you are going to need to replace your windshield. They really don't make too many products for polishing glass since it is such a complicated material to get scratches out of. Diamondite makes polishes for glass, but it is mostly for waterspot etching and minor damage like that. I've never seen a product meant for getting deeper scratches caused by wiper blades out.

 

Your first step should be to take your car to a glass shop. They will know more about what needs to be replaced and what can be repaired. If it can't be repaired then maybe they can find the cause of it and stop it from getting worse until you get it replaced.

They're not scratches. It's invisible until the wiper sweeps it. The water seems to act differently on it too. It's akin to the "Shark fin" where the wipers don't reach at the bottom of the glass where road grime builds up and is impossible to remove.

 

If I spray it with the glass cleaner and wipe it, you can see it until the streaks from the glass cleaner fade.

 

 

On a related note, I've discovered "Sprayway" glass cleaner and find it quite a bit nicer to use than Stoner Invisible Glass. Cheaper, too.

That's scratches, and it's very normal. They're tiny scratches to be sure, but they're there. Clean your wiper blades more regularly to get fewer of these tiny scratches. But there's almost no way to totally avoid it. As your wiper blade moves dust, grit and grime off the windshield, those fine particles attack the surface as the wiper blade drags it over the surface. If you went crazy and put a microsope to the surface of your windshield, you'd see the difference where the blades sweep and where they do not.

So why are these lines only noticeable where the wipers stop and change direction? It's a 1CM wide strip, the length of the blade right where the wiper stops and changes direction for the return sweep.

 

I clean the wiper blades regularly.

Let me guess, it's only when wet, correct?

Only when wet. Crystal clear otherwise.

 

Windshield is maybe two years old.

Cleaning the blades regularly is how you limit the damage to only fine scratches.

 

The glass is new? Is it a replacement windshield or OEM from the factory? Aftermarket windshields can be anywhere from barely passable to really great. The difference is in the cost. There is a huge difference between the windshield the company paid your deductible to install and the one that still cost you $500 out of your pocket. It kind of sounds like you got bad glass and you should check to see if there is any kind of warranty on it.

The glass shop is right next to the dealership. I had them order the factory Carlex glass through the dealer and paid the difference from what the insurance covered. That was a week after they installed crap Chinese glass that was rippled all over the place.

 

You know how water and glass cleaner act differently on the parts of the windshield the wiper touches and parts it doesn't? This is exactly what this is. Rain and glass cleaner tend not to sit where the wiper reverses direction, leading me to believe it's a build up of something.

 

Valeo wipers, BTW.

Yeah, I'd take it back to them and have them explain. Paint I know, but glass is something I don't deal with outside of getting waterspots off or fixing chips. They can tell you what the problem is and whether or not it is the glass's fault or the wiper blades. Something is scratching your glass though. Maybe they have a process for shaving the glass and getting rid of the scratches. Windshields are laminated safety glass and not the easiest to shave, but I suppose they could do it.

Use a slurry of glass cleaner and Dawn with "0000" steel wool. See if it comes off. While you're at it. Clean the whole windshield.

Ok, here's a picture. Ignore the lines that run vertically straight up and down the window, that's just where water has rolled down and cleared a path.

 

The mark is the one that runs from the top left of the picture down towards the bottom right, where the wiper reverses direction.

 

It's not scratched. Look at how the water doesn't sit on it. I'm thinking the wiper is leaving a thin film of something there as it reverses direction.

 

I also see it when I use glass cleaner as it hazes up and evaporates while I wipe it.

Have you tried using a claybar on it?

Probably oil from the rubber in the wiper blade.

I've done some scratch removal on windows in my home (thanks to my kids), and it's not much difference from removing scratches from painted surfaces on a car. They sell kits with different abrasives and polishing compounds to complete the job correctly. If you follow the instructions, the glass will come out looking like new and save you $$$$ from replacing it or having a shop do it for you.

 

Here's a video on a step by step walkthrough.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGp7I_etbEY]how to remove scratches from glass, DIY Scratch Repair GP WIZ system, removes scratches, limescale. - YouTube[/ame]

Dude, I know you don't believe me, but that's scratches. It makes perfect sense, too. The wipers sweep the windshield and cause small scratches, which is why you see the water behave differently than places where the wipers don't touch the glass. Then you have the area which is affected by both wipers, which causes scratches in two directions, and water behaves differently than the areas where only one wiper affects the glass. Then there's the area where one wiper deposits dirt and grime before the other wiper picks it up again ... this has an even more pointed effect which is all what we're seeing in that picture.

Dude, I know you don't believe me, but that's scratches. It makes perfect sense, too. The wipers sweep the windshield and cause small scratches, which is why you see the water behave differently than places where the wipers don't touch the glass. Then you have the area which is affected by both wipers, which causes scratches in two directions, and water behaves differently than the areas where only one wiper affects the glass. Then there's the area where one wiper deposits dirt and grime before the other wiper picks it up again ... this has an even more pointed effect which is all what we're seeing in that picture.

 

+1

 

Google "windshield scratch repair" and it will show you a ton of products and methods for polishing glass. Safety glass is a little different than plate glass or shower door glass, but if you have a machine polisher then it is worth a shot. I used to have some glass polish made by RainX that was awesome on waterspots, but I've never really checked for scratches. Most of the glass I work with is either just lightly etched or in pretty good shape. I'd be interested to know what product works best on those types of marks though, because I've seen them in the past and didn't really consider polishing them out. Kind of the up side of living in a desert I guess. We don't see wiper marks in the rain very often.

Dude, I know you don't believe me, but that's scratches.

 

It would be a heck of a lot of scratching in one concentrated area. Strange how it's not "scratched" all over the rest of the windshield.

 

Let's assume it's residue left by the wiper. What's used to remove it?

I already explained why it's different than the rest of the windshield!!!!

 

You have two people confirming what it is and how it got there. I already said it's concentrated in that area.

 

If it's residue, and a claybar, glass cleaner, or other suggested methods haven't taken care of it, then you're SOL. And how can someone recommend how to remove a residue of which the material you can't identify?

 

Figure it out on your own since you won't believe the known explanation. :facepalm:

You theorized that the wipers cause small scratches in the glass which cause the water and moisture to act differently where the scratches are.

 

This would make sense if the problem was present where the wipers sweep, but it's not. It's just where the wipers reverse direction.

 

Then there's the "double wiper" theory where the second wiper's path overlaps with the first causing increased wear in this overlapping region. Again, unlikely cause of the problem since it's also visible where the driver's side wiper stops and reverses at the far left edge of the windshield.

 

 

As for removing something that I can't identify - that's why I asked this question in the first place. Surely I can't be the only one with marks that I'm trying to clean up, hopefully someone else somewhere has figured out what the marks are and has removed them.

Your picture SHOWS what I'm describing. Lower left corner of picture. Wiper doesn't touch there. Slightly different shade than area immediately above where one wiper sweeps (left side of image). Top right shows still more transparency in windshield - because water acting differently in section where wipers sweep in two directions. Most affected where wipers cross AND wiper deposits dirt and grime and blade folds back on itself while reversing directions, thus incurring more abuse upon glass. This isn't rocket science.

Forget it.

 

I'm going to chalk this up to the Aquapel wearing thinner in that 1" wide area.

 

The streaking in this strip isn't visible anywhere else on the windshield so I don't buy the "scratched" theory.

Uh, it has nothing to do with Aquapel. I use Aquapel, and experienced this effect before I started its treatment. It's microscratching. It happens.

 

If you've tried all those other things (claybar, glass cleaner) then LOGIC dictates the only thing it can be is microscratching since it's NOT residue. Want to try one more thing? Use Bar Keeper's Friend, available in the kitchen section of Walmart. It's in a cardboard canister, like the kind Ajax comes in, and is a powder. I've done it on my windshield to clean everything off it prior to my first application of Aquapel.

When the glass is clean I can't even tell the windshield is there. It's barely a couple years old. I can shine a light right through the affected area and I don't see a thing in terms of scratching. Hence why I'm reluctant to try cleaners and steel wool on it.

 

Aquapel has been on it since day 1.

They are micro scratches, they're not visible to you because they are so fine. It's the same reason why you can have micro scratches on your paint finish and not see it except under the right conditions.

 

Either try the cleaners to remove what you perceive to be Aquapel residue, or deal with it. Again, I used BKF on my windshield and it didn't scratch it.