Removing haze/etching from silicone on glass

[chaseadam]

I removed one of my corner overflows to make my tank a room divider, but the area where the silicone was has a haze. I was hoping it would disappear as I filled it with water, but it remained.

The corner overflow touched both a Starphire panel and a regular glass panel. Luckily the Starphire panel has no haze, but the regular glass does.

I have tried acetone, rubbing alcohol, green scotchbright scouring pads and fresh razor blades. I can feel the haze and the blade catches on it, so I believe the silicone etched it somehow.

My question is:
How should I remove what I believe is this etching? Some have recommended diamond pastes, diamond plates and jeweler's rouge. All of which look like a painful process for a 1 inch by 25 inch area. I am not opposed to this work but want to make sure I go in the right direction.

Many of these look like they use chemicals which would be a problem in the aquarium. I am looking for a balance of ease, toxicity, and clean-ability.

Thank you for the suggestions!

 

[RocketEngineer]

Silicone won't etch glass, you need special acids to do that. What you have is a silicone residue. I had that on some glass I got from breaking down a pair of old sumps. The best way to get rid of it is with mechanical buffing. I used a felt buffing drum on a Dremel and worked carefully. I found it worked best to take several light passes. No chemicals, just time and elbow grease.

Good Luck,
RocketEngineer

 

[chaseadam]

Some have recommended heavier duty solutions such as "The Professional Glass Polishing System by Lake Country." It comes with the disc and abrasive lubricant, but also comes with rainx, which obviously would not go in the aquarium.

It definitely will cover an area much larger than required 6-8 inch circle...

This depends on a rotary buffer, which may be worth it. From my understanding, I will need a lot of abrasion using fine materials to get that glass smooth.

 

[chaseadam]

That is just the generic felt buffing wheel? Did you use any abrasive liquid/material. I have some "Astonish" oven cleaner which is a mild abrasive. A finer abrasive would be the marble in most tooth pastes.

 

[markaren]

#0000 steel wool. I clean all glass and mirror glass this way. No it will not scratch glass.

 

[RocketEngineer]

That is just the generic felt buffing wheel? Did you use any abrasive liquid/material. I have some "Astonish" oven cleaner which is a mild abrasive. A finer abrasive would be the marble in most tooth pastes.

Yup just the straight buffing wheel, no abrasives. The idea is you want to rub off the silicone without scratching the glass. If you have ever used your finger to rub off adhesive from a label, its the same idea but less painful on the fingers. I used 4-5 druns polishing the glass edges and surfaces. If you take your time, then you don't need abrasives. Why risk damaging the glass if you don't have to.

RocketEngineer

 

[chaseadam]

Thanks guys! Will give the wheel a try and move on to more aggressive measures if necessary.

 

[Mad mike]

Hi, I have the same issue. Appears the previous owner used silicon to secure some bits to the front glass. There is the vague outline and haze on the glass where the previous dollops were.
I’ve tried all the above, inc a dremmel with toothpaste and then polish which doesn’t appear to have touched it.
live also tried the off the shelf silicon sealant remover. .
when I rub a sharp scalpel blade edge over the residue I can feel a small imperfection, whether these are small valleys or peeks is unknown. The dremmel seems to of smoothed these although the outline and haze remain as before.
any ideas anyone…..