I'm cleaning and getting the camper ready for the season (YES!!!). Nice to have warmer weather again. Now for the question. Last summer our next door neighbors had a sprinkler system installed. Before their guy corrected the mistake I had the back of my rig sprayed each morning with our local hard water. Now I have water droplet stains on the back of my camper, which has a large window in the rear. Sprayaway and apple cider vinegar don't seem to be having much of an effect on the water stains. Any suggestions? The other windows cleaned up just fine with Sprayaway.

try hot vinegar full strength, use gloves.

You could try something like Lime Away on a rag using the utmost caution. If it runs down the side the the camper, you could have a worse problem. To rinse, use a slightly wet towel and even have someone hold a dry towel directly below the window. Gotta be sure you don't let the Lime Away get on the finish. Hard water is the pits! One place we lived, I set up the oscillating sprinkler and some folks walking by almost had a stroke because we had really nasty water with iron or something in it...I didn't know as we'd just moved there Within just a few minutes, I had a lovely orangy color stain on the siding of the house from the water . It finally faded, but think how healthy that was for folks that didn't have all the fancy water treatment stuff we had to install. UGH!

I know for a fact rubbing compound works. Took the water stains out of my tinted windows on my chevy. Kind of scary to do but it works without scratching the glass. Just so long as it's glass and not some sort of plastic or plastic coated. Try on a small area first then go for it.

One of the best and safest cleaners for hard water spots is automatic dishwasher (liquid) soap. It's made to dissolve lime and other hard minerals. I use this on my shower stalls in the house about twice a year (we are on a well ... very hard lime water here). Put the liquid soap on a wet sponge and simply wipe. You'll need to repeat and keep it wet, so smaller sections at a time and it will come off and not damage paint for windows. Do not scrub your camper with a scrubbie or anything like that. It will take the paint off. But the automatic dishwasher soap will dissolve very gently. Try it on your glass first if you doubt. Then your painted surface after you've seen it work on the glass. On my shower stalls, I don't use scrubbies either, just a soft wash cloth soaked with the automatic dishwasher liquid.

Try 0000 steel wool. Keep it wet while cleaning. Works great for front windshields.

Getting hard water stains off window | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

2012Coleman
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2015
Gonzo42 wrote:
CLR works great and won't scratch.
Yes - this along with the razor blade idea... Scrape the excess off with the razor first and then use the CLR.
Lynnmor
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
JiminDenver wrote:
Bon ami

Yes, Bon Ami, get the old style.

1886
cmarq
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
X2 on 0000 steel wool use it all the time
Winnebago_Bob
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
Did you try quick detailer with a decent claybar? It works miracles in a variety of situations.
Gonzo42
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
CLR works great and won't scratch.
mike-uswest
Explorer II
Mar 23, 2015
I had good luck with Bar Keepers Helper.

Mike
Golden_HVAC
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
You need to let the vinegar sit on the window, but how? Soak some in a paper towel, then apply this to the window. It will keep the hard water stain damp for 10 minutes or so, to loosen the water spots.

Good luck!

Fred.
JiminDenver
Explorer II
Mar 23, 2015
Bon ami
MinnCamper
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
I use a razorblade and alog of glass cleaner.
Halmfamily
Explorer
Mar 22, 2015
Try 0000 steel wool. Keep it wet while cleaning. Works great for front windshields.