(1) For anyone cleaning windows coated in sea spray – Do you have any problems? Have you any tips? If it’s just a case of ‘more scrubbing’ and ‘extra rinsing’, how much more water do you use?
(2) Anybody come across this – I do some windows that have decoratively shaped pieces of leaded glass stuck on in the middle of the ‘push-outs’ (called ‘bevels’ I think - usually diamond or leaf shaped). Despite using plenty of water, the glass often dries with lots of ‘spots’. When I buff/polish the spot marks, there is a smaller spot mark underneath that appears to be a permanent feature. I thought it might be PVA glue but it won’t come off even using a scraper. Any ideas what it might be?
(3) Is ‘pure’ water any more likely than ordinary water to soften/dissolve the adhesive that is used to stick lead strips on glass?
Not very interesting questions, I know – but any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Mike
(1) We clean windows which are salt encrusted quite a lot. One of the joys of working on the Cornish seafront! The trick after scrubbing well is to rinse very carefully. On wood and metal frame windows you particularly need to scrub and rinse the top edge of the frame (not the whole frame, just the putty/bevel section next to the glass). If the windows are really bad I tend to clean them once and then walk back and give a second rinse (just the glass) on the panes that need it. I have found that these windows get better with time as you seem to flush the residual salt deposits from the framework. One large window we did took nearly 8 months of monthly cleans to finally stop giving salt runs.
(2) The reason for these spots is that the bevel stuck on bit provides a collection point rather than allowing a free flow of water down the pane of glass. If there is permanent spotting it is most likely leeching from the lead that is stuck onto the glass. This is nothing to do with water fed pole but is usually a combination of rain (sometimes acidic) and sun and not having been cleaned regularly enough in the past. Sometimes this comes off with repeated cleans.
(3) Pure water in my opinion is no more likely to dissolve adhesive, in fact, slightly acidic rain would be far more likely to do damage.
We have regularly carried out window cleaning on stuck on leaded properties (my own house for one) and have found that traditional cleaning causes more damage usually when cloths or scrims catch on the stuck on leading.
