Glass Cleaning
It only takes a few minutes but regular glass cleaning will give you a crystal clean windows that will look great on a regularly cleaned and waxed car. Aside from the aesthetic benefits, a clean automotive glass will greatly help in road visibility, especially during heavy downpour. You’re killing two birds with one stone – you get a great looking car and you’ll get better visibility when driving.
Before we get started please refer to the tools required for glass cleaning for product suggestions.
Avoid Glass Cleaning Products with Ammonia
While ammonia is great for cleaning glass, the disadvantages far outweigh it’s advantages:
- Ammonia releases fumes that is harmful when inhaled, especially in enclosed areas like your car’s interior.
- Ammonia will dry plastic, leather, rubber and vinyl.
- Ammonia cannot be used on tinted windows.
Glass Cleaning Tips
- Glass Cleaning should be the last step in detailing your vehicle because you don’t want to contaminate it with polish or wax residue or dust in the process.
- Clean under a shade. The heat of the sun will quickly dry out the window cleaner.
- Spend more time cleaning the windshield more because you’ll be looking through this most of the time. Saturate your microfiber towel with automotive glass cleaner and then wipe up and down then side to side. You can use an second dry microfiber towel to wipe off excess cleaner.
- Make sure to work on the edges of the windows, roll down the windows to clean the edges.
- Work on one window at a time, whether inside or outside.
- If there are streaks remaining after glass cleaning, you can make another pass even with a different cleaner. Another option would be to have a 2nd microfiber towel in hand to wipe off the streaks.
Cleaning Water Spots – Glass Cleaning
Water spots are mineral deposits left over time when water evaporates. The longer you leave these water spots uncleaned the harder it is for you to remove them so it is important that you clean these water spots before they harden and etch through the glass.
Depending on the severity of the water spot, you may need to use a polishing machine like the porter cable to get the job done.
Test on a small area to see if you can remove the water spot by hand. Apply some glass polisher on an applicator the apply some elbow grease, then buff residue off with a microfiber towel. If you still see water spots, it’s time to bring out the big guns.
Using a Polisher to Remove Water Spots
If you are using a porter cable, set the speed to 5 or 6 with a polishing pad. No need to apply to much pressure as you let the pad do the work. Polish until you see the glass polisher breaking down completely or starts to dry up. Wipe off residue with a clean microfiber towel.
Finish up by applying windshield treatment on all the windows (exterior only). Think of this as a wax for your windows, as it adds a layer of protection against water spots.
Some benefits of Applying Windshield Treatment
- Makes the water bead.
- Improves driving visibility during heavy rain.
- Improves wiper performance.
Clean the Wipers Too!
Wipers are an integral part in road visibility during heavy downpour so it is a must that you take some time in maintaining this often neglected part. Over time the rubber strip on wiper blades will dry up and not hug the windshield as effectively. To extend the life of the wiper blades treat them regularly, around once or twice a year.
Windshield Wash Additive
Another great way to keep your windshield clean is by using a windshield wash additive. These are specially formulated to cut through stubborn bugs, dirt and grime debris on your windshield. Some additives have anti-freeze properties that work well on sub zero climates.
It doesn’t take too much time to clean and treat the windows, you will spend 30 mins to an hour tops cleaning and treating all windows on your vehicle but the benefits are huge – better visibility during rain and sparkling clear windows.
