Glazing - impossible to clean!

Hi all,

Hope you and yours are well - I’ve got a random question - but hopefully not that random as you all work with glass professionally

Could you tell me if the glazing are ‘treated’ in the same way? Does the outside surface have different ‘film’ than the inside. I’m convinced some 2m sliding doors have the glass fitted the wrong way. All the BS etchings are on inside of my windows, but on these doors they are on the outside. Also impossible to clean, like there is some substance on them. One of the three doors clean just fine ( and the etching is on the inside) any advice would be greatly appreciated, Cheers, Mark

No idea what you mean to be honest.

Iron Giant said:

No idea what you mean to be honest.

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Maybe hydrophobic?

As @Attila said, it could well be hydrophobic glass. If the water beads and runs in lines rather than covering the full window then its hydrophobic. All we do is rinse slightly slower and never had a problem.

clearveiw said:

Hi all,

Hope you and yours are well - I’ve got a random question - but hopefully not that random as you all work with glass professionally

Could you tell me if the glazing are ‘treated’ in the same way? Does the outside surface have different ‘film’ than the inside. I’m convinced some 2m sliding doors have the glass fitted the wrong way. All the BS etchings are on inside of my windows, but on these doors they are on the outside. Also impossible to clean, like there is some substance on them. One of the three doors clean just fine ( and the etching is on the inside) any advice would be greatly appreciated, Cheers, Mark

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You are right the kite mark should be inside I think the glass is fitted the wrong way round ,it’s a common site when being a window cleaner 

Thanks for the replies.. these are big windows three 2m x 2m. I’ve heard citric acid does wonders or should I just get a professional window cleaner round tell them the score and see what can be done.. the glazing is around a year old, thanks again 

clearveiw said:

Hi all,

Hope you and yours are well - I’ve got a random question - but hopefully not that random as you all work with glass professionally

Could you tell me if the glazing are ‘treated’ in the same way? Does the outside surface have different ‘film’ than the inside. I’m convinced some 2m sliding doors have the glass fitted the wrong way. All the BS etchings are on inside of my windows, but on these doors they are on the outside. Also impossible to clean, like there is some substance on them. One of the three doors clean just fine ( and the etching is on the inside) any advice would be greatly appreciated, Cheers, Mark

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I've no idea if one side of a piece of glass has a different coating to the other but it does sound like your glass has been assembled incorrectly, I am assuming double glazing. Is it possible to go back to the installer and ask them to look at it? Glazing normally has a five year guarantee.

Hi all

Thanks for your comments - I've got a ten year warranty on them and the installer is coming round, but trying to be forearmed, so to speak. I know the inner pane should be different because it should have the E Low coating on it.

I'm going to get a professional window cleaner round - just to make sure its not me and non-skilled hands - but not got issues with the rest of the house?

When you say it can't be cleaned, what do you mean exactly? How have you tried to clean it, and what does the result look like? Maybe post a pic if poss? 

Sorry, never mind - I missed that last post about getting a pro windy round. I'm sure he will set you right. 

clearveiw said:

Hi all

Thanks for your comments - I've got a ten year warranty on them and the installer is coming round, but trying to be forearmed, so to speak. I know the inner pane should be different because it should have the E Low coating on it.

I'm going to get a professional window cleaner round - just to make sure its not me and non-skilled hands - but not got issues with the rest of the house?

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If you have a problem with your glazing and you don't think it's fit for purpose i suggest you do not try and clean it or involve anyone other than the glazing manufacturer.

We are window cleaners and we clean glass. We know the difference between hydrophilic and hydrophobic and we can remove stickers but we can't evaluate your claim for defective glazing units 

Sorry but that's my opinion. 

A proper glazing company should have a device that can detect which pane the low e coating is on, I can't remember what it's called (I think it's called Low E Detector). Ultimately if the same company installed all the units you would expect them to all be the same way round. The kite marks are normally only on toughened safety glass which is required for any glass below 0.8m if I remember correctly.

So if you have them round to check, get them to check every unit they fitted as the non kite marked ones you won't be able to see if some are different and round the wrong way!

The coating should be on the surface of the glass in the gap in the middle, so never subjected to cleaning. There can be reasons to have it on the inside of the outer pane or the gap side of the inner pane. It's designed to reflect heat ii.e. either reflect the out side heat (sun) from entering the house or to reflect interior heat back indoors.

I think normally in UK we have coating on gap side of inner pane so reflecting heating back indoors. 

Thanks for the advice - I've done the 'lighter' test and its got the E Low treatment on the correct glazing unit - the one nearest the living area.

Link if anyone is interested: http://www.vitrowindowglass.com/window_glass/about_lowe.aspx

I just thought getting a professional WC in and explaining the problem first, would be a good call...just to make sure its not just me. That said, all the other windows I clean are fine apart from these two?

Unless the fitters have left some silicon sealer on those 2 windows but without seeing them we are guessing.

maybe a protective film not been removed?