Help! I think I royally screwed up my mirror

I noticed this evening after rinsing with distilled water and letting the mirror dry that there is now a greenish, yellowish haze on the surface of the mirror that wasn't present before. What the heck is this? Is the surface of the mirror oxidizing or something? How do I fix this??? HELP!!

Thanks.

?? It's hard to imagine distilled water causing anything so sudden. You sure the dog didn't take a leak on it or something? Did you try to dry it or wipe it with something, something that might have had chemicals in it (you know, like Kleenex with that lotion goo in it or something like that) -- and where did you let it dry -- could there have been something in the air? Pollen, dust, mold, etc?

I have a hard time believing it wasn't there before, but in any case it sounds like you have a cleaning problem, not a screwed up mirror. It's time for a conventional cleaning instead of just a rinse.

It may be most comforting for you to note that you can't possibly have screwed up anything that recoating couldn't fix.
--
Mike

Last week I took my mirror out of the telescope (not out of its cell though) and cleaned it with soap and water. First time for me. It looked so clean, shiny like a new car. That screwed my collimation up so I took it to a star party for a friend to collimate properly. My friend is an old pro and he took one look at my mirror and laughed at the bluish tint. He said "you washed your mirror with soap". There was no denying it. Here is the recipe he gave me for washing a mirror:

1/2 part water (best ionized and distilled)
1/2 part rubbing alcohol
1 drop of soap.

To much soap leaves a residue that will hardly come off with water alone. You only need a drop of soap to act as a surfactant, to wet the mirror.

Moonless nights (most of them anyways)

david