Help! Water Spot Removal

[Kika_CA]

My outdoor Arlo was sprayed with garden hose water which left dry spots that seem impossible to remove. The spots are extremely noticeable thru the camera lens and badly blur the image. I tried distilled water and rubbing alcohol with no success. Any tried and true method to clean hose water residue off the face of the camera? Much appreciated ...

[TomMac]

That's a tough one as it's prob minerial deposits left behind from water... like a cars painted finish.

Any thing enought to clean it off may damage the plastic lens..

I would start with the simple things first ( do a search for cleaning plastic ) obv, less abrasive and stay away from harsh chems...

Try and do it on another area except the lens first if you can ( upper half is better as lower half uses it for  the PIR device )

[TomMac]

As a PS... I just went out to one of my cameras that was in the rain/sprinklers. ( again not knowing if minerials are in yr water which would make harder to remove )

It had some water spots on it.  To be honest , I just spit on it ( top area ) and rubbed it with the soft tee-shirt I was wearing.

The spots did come out.  There are some micro scratches on the plastic but I don't beiieve they will cause any issue ( I also just check the camera online along with motion and there was no problems )

Not a recommended cleaning method , but it was what I had and didn't think it would hurt

[Kika_CA]

Yeah ... I tried saliva, distilled water, and rubbing alcohol (like a mentioned above) with a microfiber lens cloth. I got those ideas from photography forums. None of those worked for dry water marks on the Arlo. I don't want to experiment with many chemicals. I'm hoping someone has a proven solution so I can avoid further risk. I guess the water stains you had were less stubborn.

[TomMac]

Sorry, wish i could help more.

tho, this may help ... http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-remove-hard-water-stains-from-plastic/

The only other thing I can think of is like with my car... water marks are removed from the paint with a clay bar ( auto store and distill water )... sort of a buffing polishing of the paint .  Have no idea as to if it will worjk here on the plastic so move slowly

[jguerdat]

I just removed some spots on a sliding door that resisted Windex and a razor blade with Simple Green and a sponge. On a camera I might try a diluted solution with a soft cloth dipped in it.

[Kika_CA · Accepted solution]

Thanks. I can list a thousand products that MIGHT work. Simple Green, which I use for many things, didn't help nor did various glass cleaners. Citrus-based cleaners might eat the seals or any plastic so I'd rather not mess with those. I cleaned glass before with razor blades and removed all kinds of stuff from car paint. I was hoping someone who successfully removed hard water spots from an Arlo camera lens would come forward and say how it's done.

Here's how it's done. 

Novus 2 plastic polish and a microfiber cloth made for optics, eye glasses, etc.

It took many applications using a bead at a time to remove all spots completely and clean it factory new.  

Next time I spray garden hose water on an Arlo I will wipe it off sooner.