Stain Removal;...Dark Glass, Clear Glass, & Low E

If the stain has the same exact chemistry will it come off dark glass just as easy or hard as clear or low e coated?  Absolutely not.  How do I know this with such unwavering certainty?  Simply put because I have a building that has both dark glass and windows with a low e surface.  This building is covered with mineral deposits from the same exact water source.  So the stains are identical.  When trying to remove the stains by what I call the "hand test" using a simple compound based on a microcrystalline silica, I was able to easily remove the spots/stains from the low e pyrolytic surface, but not the dark tinted glass.  The stains on the dark glass would not budge at all by hand.  When using a machine it became possible to remove them but not without much effort.  From other testing on buildings that had both clear glass and dark glass I know that stains on dark glass are much more difficult to remove then stains on clear glass.  Although stains on low e coated windows are the easiest to remove of all.  So it goes in this order from the most difficult to remove to the least difficult to remove;...dark glass, clear glass, and low e coated glass.

I have created my first beta SRC pad based on an optical microcrystalline silica.  I made it for light stains on clear and low e surfaces.  Not for dark tinted glass.  Even the "lightest" stains on dark glass can be exceptionally difficult to remove.  I am guessing this has something to do with the possibility that the surface of dark glass goes through a reaction with the water and literally breaks down in solution.  Through some rather simple testing I was able to prove that water spots are able to etch dark glass surfaces removing some of the glass.  This leaves a transparent/clear "imprint" of each spot on the surface.  Such an anomaly appears not to happen on clear glass or low e pyrolytic surfaces.  Although it has been conjectured that "pinholes" can form on low e pyrolytic coatings when an excessive amount of mineral deposits are allowed to develop on this type of window and remain for some time.  Either way stains should never be allowed to form on windows and remain.  Especially on windows with dark glass owing to the amount of excessive labor that is necessary to effectively remove them.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com

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