Getting Hard Water Stains Off Your Glass Patio Door

Hard water stains are the worst enemy of glass patio doors.  They are extremely hard to clean off, and if left on the glass too long they can cause permanent damage because of what they are made of.

So how do you protect your glass patio doors from this seemingly innocent enemy?

What Are Hard Water Stains?

To learn how to combat hard water stains when they get on your glass patio door, first, you need to know what they are.

Hard water stains are the mineral deposits left behind on the glass after hard water has dried.  These deposits are made up of a number of different minerals including calcium, metal cations, sulfates, bicarbonates, and magnesium.

Avoid Watering Glass Patio Doors

The best defense against hard water stains for your glass patio door is avoidance.  Avoid letting the sprinklers spray water on the glass and avoid spraying the glass with the patio hose when you are cleaning off the patio or watering pots.

By not getting the glass patio doors wet, you won’t have to worry about hard water spots forming.

Clean Your Glass Patio Doors Immediately

If you do get water on the glass patio doors on accident then dry them off immediately.  By getting to the water before it has had a chance to dry, the minerals won’t have a chance to form a deposit on the glass and you won’t have hard water stains to try and clean up later.

Cleaning Your Glass Patio Door Later

If you weren’t able to get to the water before it dried you can still clean the glass, just don’t try to clean it by spraying it down with water again.  And most importantly, clean up the dried hard water stains as soon as you find them to prevent permanent damage to the glass.

To clean:

• Create a mixture that is 50% water and 50% vinegar.  Try and use soft water or distilled water so that there are not minerals in the water you are using to clean the hard water stain’s minerals with.
• Put mixture in spray bottle and spray on glass and scrub with a towel.
• Dry area with another towel or a squeegee.
• Repeat until minerals are gone.
• If the hard water stains do not go away, put on some rubber gloves and switch to 100% vinegar from the 50/50 solution and repeat cleaning steps.

Have old dirty windows that need to be replaced with newer, easier-to-clean ones? Contact Renewal by Andersen today by calling us at 866-609-5033.