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Have you de-scummed your glass yet?

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Picked up my Model 3 on the 12th and noticed a few days later that there was a residue on a portion of both roof panels (i.e., something that came after they were installed). Read this thread and many others on how stubborn this scum could be after I failed at getting it off with soap, elbow grease, glass cleaner, etc. I have been researching the best glass polish / orbital attachment.

Well, my wife was just cleaning soap scum off our showers with "Pink Stuff" from Amazon (link below). I put a little on a microfiber cloth and rubbed it with the slightest bit of elbow grease... and it came right off. I'm super pumped. Hope that helps someone else.

 
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Picked up my Model 3 on the 12th and noticed a few days later that there was a residue on a portion of both roof panels (i.e., something that came after they were installed). Read this thread and many others on how stubborn this scum could be after I failed at getting it off with soap, elbow grease, glass cleaner, etc. I have been researching the best glass polish / orbital attachment.

Well, my wife was just cleaning soap scum off our showers with "Pink Stuff" from Amazon (link below). I put a little on a microfiber cloth and rubbed it with the slightest bit of elbow grease... and it came right off. I'm super pumped. Hope that helps someone else.

Inside or outside ?
 
Picked up my Model 3 on the 12th and noticed a few days later that there was a residue on a portion of both roof panels (i.e., something that came after they were installed). Read this thread and many others on how stubborn this scum could be after I failed at getting it off with soap, elbow grease, glass cleaner, etc. I have been researching the best glass polish / orbital attachment.

Well, my wife was just cleaning soap scum off our showers with "Pink Stuff" from Amazon (link below). I put a little on a microfiber cloth and rubbed it with the slightest bit of elbow grease... and it came right off. I'm super pumped. Hope that helps someone else.

Sounds like it might work. Sounds similar to Bonami.
 
Outside. Looked like overspray along the entire roof on the driver side, from the outer edge to about 12-18 inches inboard.
That might be different (icing on the top). All 3 Tesla’s I’ve had it was very uniform and covered the the entire windshield and roof. It’s as if it’s something in a gas form condensed on the glass. Like the exhaust from the paint shop shoots at the cars ready to be delivered or shoots it at the glass warehouse. ;)
 
That might be different (icing on the top). All 3 Tesla’s I’ve had it was very uniform and covered the the entire windshield and roof. It’s as if it’s something in a gas form condensed on the glass. Like the exhaust from the paint shop shoots at the cars ready to be delivered or shoots it at the glass warehouse. ;)
So when the sun hits mine right, there is a very uniform cloudy layer that I notice. So it seems like it’s the IR layer. But all this talk has me second guessing
 
So when the sun hits mine right, there is a very uniform cloudy layer that I notice. So it seems like it’s the IR layer. But all this talk has me second guessing
There is no “IR” layer. There is the safety glass vinyl layer that so happens to be thicker in acoustic glass and so happens to remove UV. But no other car I’ve seen had a cloudy “IR” layer (with or without acoustic glass).

If you have not removed the scum, I think you are seeing the scum ON the glass. And yes, sun at the right angle really amplifies the scum and looks cloudy.
 
So when the sun hits mine right, there is a very uniform cloudy layer that I notice. So it seems like it’s the IR layer. But all this talk has me second guessing
I also have a uniform cloudiness on my windshield that’s visible when the sun hits it at a certain angle. I definitely don’t have any scum (inside or out) and have tried many products to remedy. My only conclusion is that the ‘haze’ is chemically bonded in the glass production process and serves a purpose, of what I’m not sure.
 
Use a few drops of Dawn dishwashing soap in water and a micro fiber towel. Then remove with a squeegee. Then use invisible glass. This worked for me.
No this is not the same, we're not talking about cleaning regular windshield glass. The Model S has a rubber like coating on the glass for whatever reason from factory, if you try to use microfiber towels on it, it will drag/stick making it impossible to clean. Again not all cars delivered has this but if folks do, it requires light polishing or a plastic cleaner to remove it.

I noticed folks with Model 3/Y replying to this thread but I don't think those cars have this problem (our Model 3 is way easier to clean).
 
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No this is not the same, we're not talking about cleaning regular windshield glass. The Model S has a rubber like coating on the glass for whatever reason from factory, if you try to use microfiber towels on it, it will drag/stick making it impossible to clean. Again not all cars delivered has this but if folks do, it requires light polishing or a plastic cleaner to remove it.

I noticed folks with Model 3/Y replying to this thread but I don't think those cars have this problem (our Model 3 is way easier to clean).
No problem cleaning the glass with microfiber anymore after using Dawn. There's no film on the glass as you mention.
 
The glare caused by the scum is only noticeable when driving toward the sun in early to mid morning and mid to late afternoon. You'll also notice that the glare goes away at those times while driving on the highway and passing under an overpass, This type of glare dropout can also be recorded on USB with the car's front camera by honking the horn to activate a video recording. You might also experience auto pilot warning messages on the center display about cameras being disabled.

Since I de-scummed my windshield glass, I now only notice glare from my prescription glasses which only have optical coatings for scratch and UV protection. I think I will opt-in for anti-glare coatings next time.
 
Did the scum look like sparkles or glitter all over the windshield? I have tried so many suggestions to remove this that I am gong crazy,
mswlogo described it best in the first post of this thread... "I drive into the Sun or it rains at night and it just feels like a "clean" 10 year old windshield." You can only see the "scum" under special lighting conditions, otherwise it is invisible. The sun glare caused by the scum is the problem, even when the windshield has just been cleaned with glass cleaner.

mswlogo used an orbital polisher and a product called Griots Glass Polish. Unless you already have these products and the know how to use them, you might want to try another effective method that is already detailed in post #35 of this thread. You just need a few new razor blades from the hardware store and a clay bar kit (like Mothers Clay Bar Kit) from an automotive parts store.

You might also consider hiring a professional detailer after showing him this thread.
 
Did that. Won’t work. Clay didn’t touch it.
Tried magic eraser too.
Microfiber, as mentioned, the fiber in the cloth just pulls out sticks to the scum as the glass cleaner dries. It’s like cleaning a piece of rubber. Problematic area, is every square inch of glass. It’s extremely uniform which is why it’s so sneaky.

Glass polish works. Pretty damn easy to use and cheap.

My hunch is it’s clearcoat vapor that condensed on to the glass. Clear coat better not come off by rubbing hard with alcohol based products. It needs to be polished off. Glass is much harder and it’s extremely thin so very mild polish takes it right off.

It might not be clearcoat of coarse but it’s as tough.
What do you mean by glass polish? Please give details.
 
I didn't need to use glass polish to "de-scum" the outside of my Model 3's windshield. I used a new razor blade first, then a clay bar with detailer's spray.

Here's a photo of what I scraped off with the razor blade after pre-cleaning with window cleaner and paper towels. The substance is grey in color, except for the yellow bug splatter in the center of the photo which is what I missed using the window cleaner. I scraped some areas of the windshield from the interior too, but found no such substance coating the inside.

View attachment 825440

Scraping using a new razor blade removed most of the substance, but not all. The clay bar took care of removing the remainder.

The substance is invisible under most lighting conditions. To see the scum, you need special lighting conditions which keep the interior of the car dark. I did this inside my garage with the garage door shut. For a lighting source, I used wall mounted light bulb fixtures as a lighting source.

You can only see the scum in or near the reflection of the light source. After scraping with the razor blade, the scum is even harder to see. If you apply a thin layer of window cleaner or detailer from a paper towel, the scum re-appears and resembles water spots.

Finishing off removing all the remaining "scum" with detailer spray and clay bar. The detailer spray acts as a lubricant for the clay bar, but to get the final layers of scum, you will want to use the clay bar without any lubricant, while applying detailer's spray from a paper towel in order to see where the remaining scum removal is needed.

Don't forget to do the area under the wiper blades with the car controls set to "Wiper Service Mode".
 
I did the clay bar/detailing routine, some gray came off but not much. I’ll have to think about how to try scraping as I do not hav a garage. I know if I point the car towards the setting sun when it’s low in the sky I can see the spots on the windshield very clearly. I don’t know why there’s more on the driver side then on the passenger side.