I think I’ve tried everything now. Different cloths, different cleaners, with the best results coming from a linen cloth using Invisible Glass. I still have a few small greasy smudges, so wondering if anyone has any advice on what has worked for them? I was thinking of trying isopropyl alcohol next - any advice?
thanks
Steve

 

I like white vinegar with paper towels for the interior of mine, rain X cleaner and then rain X spray for the exterior

 

Back in the day, we used to wad up a newspaper (remember those?) and rub the glass 'dry' to get that final bit of haze off. Someone may claim that modern papers use different paper and ink that makes them unfit for this purpose. Not sure...

Another factor, is that some laundry detergents can coat the linen with something (anti-static or softness 'additives'), so perhaps give the glass a try with a NEW, never-washed microfiber towel.

Careful with the alcohol, you don't want to affect the finish on the A-pillar or dash coating (leather or cloth).

 

I do remember newspapers but am not exactly sure where to get one these days :-) Vinegar and newsprint were the standard when I was a kid and I haven’t use them in years. I am leery of using vinegar above the leather dash.

laundry additives on the cloth might be part of the issue. I have a ready supply of blue shop towels - perhaps with Invisible Glass. I’d like to try IPA (with due caution exercised) but am keen to see if anyone’s tried this without damaging any coating that may be present on the glass.

steve

 

I have tried everything over the years. What I finally settled on was a plastic wand (if you will) with a microfiber elastic cover for the hinged paddle. Spritz it with water only. No streaks. It work better than anything I have ever used and gets all the surface.

 

This. Newspapers work well. You can use Invisible Glass with them too.

I usually just use Invisible Glass with a microfiber towel and problem solved.

 

If you have surface impurities, denatured alcohol should remove them. Blue shop towels, or microfiber that hasn't met up with fabric softener. There are also special wipes that are sold to body shops for cleaning a surface about to be painted. Protect the surface below with a household towel that has been donated to the 'automotive' area. I regularly retire bath/hand towels to the garage for use in detailing and/or wash/dry jobs. Again, you may have to wash the towels in really hot water with washing soda before 'car' use to remove traces of softener.

 

Yes, running microfiber cloths through the washing machine causes smearing when they’re used to clean windows (and I never use fabric softener). I now keep a set of towels that are only for cleaning windows and don’t get washed.

 

I have had good luck with a mixture of 50% ammonia and 50% water and a lint free towel.

 

For the windshield, your absolute best bet to get it really deep cleaned is a multi-step approach. Unfortunately for many, the chemicals that we use to clean the interior of the car (especially the dash) evaporate and wind up settling on the interior of the windshield with a film. Water only will not remove this film. It may at first appear clean, but a week or two later, it will return, especially in more humid climates. What I have found to work best is first cleaning the interior windshield with any over the counter glass cleaner. I prefer Invisible Shield myself, but really any will do. This does a good jobn of getting the first layer of the film off the glass. I do not like to use any of the contraptions on the market that "help make interior glass cleaning easier" like the wands with Microfiber, simply because brute strength from your hand, arm and clean glass cleaning specific microfibers do the trick just fine, without the adding cost.

Once done, I do a second pass with the glass cleaner. After this, I take a IPA50 and do a 3rd pass on the glass. (this is just for the windshield itself, overkill for the other windows). This normally leaves some streaking too, depending on how hot/humid it is, as the IPA evaporates quickly and even with a clean microfiber, you are most likely going to see some streaking. That is ok, because for the 4th pass, I use a product called, Wolf's Nano Glass Sealant | Obsessed Garage Store This does an excellent job of putting your own protectant layer on the glass to avoid future film from accumulating and makes it entirely easier to clean in the future. It is a LOT of work for just glass, but one of the most important glass pieces in your car. This product helps with the windshield fogging up and makes it entirely easier, in the future, to just clean with some water and microfibers.

Again, this may be overkill for most, but if you are looking for a longer-term solution, it may be worth a shot.

 

I use one of the cleaning wands made by Invisible Glass which does make it a bit easier, especially in the cramped confines of an F Type cabin and when old age makes being a contortionist require several Advil tablets afterwards.


Good advice regarding making sure your microfiber towels aren't contaminated, especially with detergent or fabric softener. Sometimes it takes two or three passes with glass cleaner and fresh towels each time. The film on the inside of the windshield, assuming that you aren't a smoker is caused by off-gassing of the chemicals involved in the composition of the dashboard and can just smear on the first pass.

I only use a small amount of liquid laundry detergent when I wash a batch of towels after using them on my cars, and set the washer for two rinse cycles to make sure that any soap residue is gone. I once owned a Toyota MR2 and had it "professionally" detailed. I'm reasonably sure that the knucklehead used silicone on the dashboard. Silicone is the devil's fluid. Afterwards I was never able to remove the film that accumulated on the inside of the windshield, even with alcohol, acetone and other rather harsh chemicals. Be careful what you treat your dashboard and interior with. I get good results with 303 Aerospace and never had any issues with it on the glass.

 

I watched a YouTube video of a guy that showed cleaning it in a couple step process. I think he first used a lightly dampened magic eraser over the entire windshield and then made a pass with a good glass cleaner and micro fiber towel. I did try this on my daily driver and it worked extremely well.

 

agreed - I've tried microfiber towels too. Unless they are brand new I also get smearing...

 

I do the same with bath towels and they work well for drying the car following a wash and they work well although the laundry soap we use has softener built-in. I think the best way to avoid the smearing issue on the windshield is to use a virgin or disposable cloth.

 

>>> I've got one of these and they certainly are kinder to your neck and back!

 

For my microfiber, I wash it separately and use a detergent made specially for microfiber and never use fabric softener. I got the detergent from my usual detailer's supply (autogeek.net). It's called "Detailer's Pro Series Microfiber Cleaner. It makes a difference for glass.

 

I use the same microfiber cleaner from Autogeek...no smearing!

 

I've had great success with Invisible Glass or 3M Glass Cleaner with ultra-smooth microfiber cloths, the kind that are like the tiny ones you get with a pair of glasses, except much larger. I use these: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I've found much less streaking than with regular loose-knit microfiber.

 

I use something very similar and it works wonders.

 

That is exactly what I do. It works great. I used to use Invisible glass glass cleaner as part of the process but found Spray Away works much better. Also I only use the shiny microfiber cloths because they don't leave loads of lint all over the windshield.