GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Mother's wrote:Mothers® California Gold® Water Spot Remover is designed to remove stubborn hard water spots and stains from any exterior glass surface. Powerful mineral-disolving agents scrub away sun-baked sediments, salt spray, tree sap, road grime, bugs and paint overspray. Use Mothers® California Gold® Water Spot Remover on exterior glass windshields, windows and mirrors.

I ordered some of this from the Mother's e-store a while back since I couldn't find it in any stores around me. I finally used it last night for the first time and I am very happy with the results. I always had an issue with having water spots, etc. on my exterior windows even after washing, scrubbing, etc. especially on the windshield. It always bugged me because once I'd get in and drive, I would notice it and it looked crappy. I started out by doing half the windshield. I used a small amount of product along with a terry cloth applicator on a small 6" handheld polisher that I have. Unlike wax, you wipe the surface off as soon as you are finished applying the product. No need to wait for it haze over. When I was done with half the windshield, I could definitely see and feel the difference. The half of the windshield I had used the product on was silky smooth to the touch and "shinier" while the untreated half of the windshield felt "sticky" to the touch and was somewhat "duller" looking. I used it on all the exterior glass, including the sunroof and it made a huge difference everywhere. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to clean up the exterior glass on their Vibe.

*EDIT* I forgot the mention, one of the best things about this product is the smell! Mother's is known for having great smelling products and this one is no different. It smells like shampoo or something !

Thanks for the review, I may have to try it. My well water has lime in it, and I don't always dry the car after washing it, and get little white rings on the glass sometimes.

Although, you got me with the thread title. I saw it and thought "#@%!in' spammers";)

I wonder how well this will hold up to bugs & whatnot Driving at night, especially close to the lake, you literally drive through bug storms and they are almost impossible to get off your windshield. I'll have to check this out

tpollauf wrote:I wonder how well this will hold up to bugs & whatnot Driving at night, especially close to the lake, you literally drive through bug storms and they are almost impossible to get off your windshield. I'll have to check this out

You don't know bug storms until you've driven on a bridge over a Minnesota/Midwestern lake on the highway, while leading a pack of cars in the cooler months when bugs thrive.

Imagine it's pouring rain outside, and you drive from a tunnel to the rain, to the tunnel again. That bad. I couldn't see where I was and going and had to stop and clean my windows. Those suckers were big and juicy. Maybe you understand, but in my experience, that's the F-stop of bug splatters that isn't abnormal/damaging to your car.


I'll need to acquire some of this stuff. If it ever stops raining I'll need a day to do a full detail on the Vibe. Finally a use for the buffer we have in the shed!

I haven't driven my Vibe yet after using this stuff, but my parents and I are road tripping to Pontiac tomorrow to check out routes for the cruise to Starved Rock, etc. so I will get plenty of driving time in so I can see how all the glass looks under sunlight, etc. I am also looking forward to seeing how the glass reacts when it rains i.e. whether the water will bead up on the glass moreso than before, etc. and how it looks at night going under street lights, lights from oncoming vehicles, etc. I will definitely keep you guys updated on how the glass looks after a while. I plan on doing this at least twice a year when I do the clay bar and 3-step wax system (spring & fall). I may end up doing it more during the summer though with all the bugs, etc. Speaking of which, the only bug problem we really have around here tends to be massive amounts of gnats that will literally cover the entire front end of your vehicle. Fortunately, they come off pretty easily and don't seem to do much damage if you remove them in a timely manner . I feel bad for the people down south that deal with lovebugs .

Let me know if and when any of you guys try this stuff and what you think of it .

Didn't know this stuff existed!

My little town has very hard water, so I have the same problems joatmon has with his well water. I'll definitely look into this.

We've got a water softener, but we would still get water spots on the windows after a wash, so this stuff definitely works great since I saw no more spots or anything while driving yesterday. We also got rained on driving down to Pontiac. The water beaded up very nicely and was going up the windshield while driving . I am very happy with the results and will definitely continue to use this stuff!

vibenvy wrote: We also got rained on driving down to Pontiac. The water beaded up very nicely and was going up the windshield while driving . I am very happy with the results and will definitely continue to use this stuff!

Hey V.
The only windshield product I've used is RainX. Can you compare this Mother's product to RainX?

I've never had a water spotting issue using Meguiar's Gold Class car wash as long as I wipe dry the windshield and don't let it air-dry. I also get the same beading in the rain that you describe just from the wash with nothing else applied to the glass. I guess it's possible it depends on the condition of your windshield to begin with; mine is pretty smooth except for a couple of tiny rock dings. I'm pretty sure it's not the quality of our water since dishes in the dishwasher spot like mad unless we use an anti-spotting agent.

Chiadog wrote:Hey V.
The only windshield product I've used is RainX. Can you compare this Mother's product to RainX?

I've never used RainX. However, the Mother's product is more to remove road grime, bugs, water spots, etc. from glass and RainX is more of a water repellant for glass, so they have two totally different purposes.

Rayven01 wrote:I've never had a water spotting issue using Meguiar's Gold Class car wash as long as I wipe dry the windshield and don't let it air-dry. I also get the same beading in the rain that you describe just from the wash with nothing else applied to the glass. I guess it's possible it depends on the condition of your windshield to begin with; mine is pretty smooth except for a couple of tiny rock dings. I'm pretty sure it's not the quality of our water since dishes in the dishwasher spot like mad unless we use an anti-spotting agent.

Trust me, your windshield may look spotless, but there's still junk on there that you can't see. I've had my Vibe since it was brand new and regularly wash and wax it. I have also clay barred it a few times over the past 4 years and I always include the exterior glass in the clay barring. The windshield especially, felt smooth and looked clean until I used this Mother's product. It now feels like, well... glass and there's no more minute little spots of junk that can only be seen in certain light. I was truly amazed by this stuff.

To remove water spots from the windshield, I use Bon Ami cleaner. Damp rag with some Bon Ami sprinkled on it, wipe, let dry, and wipe with dry clean rag, done. A can of Bon Ami will last a life time of car windshields and cost under $5. DO NOT use Comet Cleanser as the Comet will scratch the glass.

http://www.bonami.com/

yeah, many of us on the Fit boards use the Bar Keepers Friend cleanser and polish to get rid of the hard water spots that seemingly don't want to come off.