Best way to clean your bleepin' windows?

Meguiar's glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth works really well for me.

For water spots, try a mildly acidic shower cleaner (I have used "shower power" in the past).  The spots are mineral deposits and the acid will re-dissolve them.  You can do this on the paint too if you're really careful.

1988RedT2 said:

wvumtnbkr said:

What about windows on a car that sat out a long time and seem to have water spots that just won't go away?  Any ideas?

 

I'm trying to re-use the side glass on the '66 Chevy II, and I have tried a number of glass polishing products, with limited success.  If you discover the magic bullet, let me know!

 

 

A mineral remover like CLR and a razor blade or gasket scraper. 

I'm sure all those different things work just great, but I find clean water on a cloth followed by a wipe off with a clean old towel gets them clean as a whistle.

The bride had "cleaned" the windows on her Audi and they were almost opaque, so just now I did exactly as above, on a car that had been closed up and in bright sunshine no less - clean as a pin, no streaks no runs no hits no fouls nobody left on base......

So, a long time ago, before I discovered Sprayway, I was at Roebling for a track day. I grabbed whatever glass cleaner was in the garage.

Someone in the paddock asked if I had some glass cleaner.

So I went to hand it to him.

He actually waved it away. 

I was mildly insulted at the time but now see the wisdom. 

Sprayway is easily found at any grocery store where I live and it seems to work really well.  If I have a window that's really dirty I'll use Windex first and then follow with Sprayway to remove the streaks left by the Windex.  I'm lazy and just go for paper towels.

I think it's the amonia in Windex that causes the streaking. 

I like the Sprayway cleaner too!  I discovered it from this GRM forum.

For the exterior glass, I scrub with Bon-Ami.  It says 'do not use on glass', but a good friend is a chemist for Corning and told me this is his go to method.  Use lots of water.  Then rinse, a lot, and rinse some more.  This scrubs clean all the micro cracks in the glass.

Next clean with rubbing alcohol.  I use the 91%.  And clean it two or three times.  Now you have a super clean streak free glass surface.

Last step, apply RainX per the instructions on the label.  My RainX now last a year+.  

Its just like doing a good job of prepping a surface for a paint job.

For the inside, I use the Sprayway.  Then rubbing alcohol on a paper towel.  Buff with a microfiber towel.

The gasses emitted by the plastic interior components, especially if a car has sat out in a field for years, can really make a mess of the inside glass. I use white vinegar, then follow up with Sprayaway. The glass cleaner by itself usually isn't enough to cut through the sludge in those cases.

I find that microfiber is ok for lightly soiled windows, but its such a failure at absorbing things that it just pushes greasy stuff around.

I keep a big roll of commercial paper towels around.... the brown rolls of stuff that you would find in a public restroom.  It's basically unbleached newspaper anyway.  Windex, Sprayway, whatever.  If anything, microfiber to finish it off with just one spray of windex on the rag.

Outside, I do window cleaner on 000 steel wool and then some kind of water repellent like a ceramic detail spray or rain x.

Don't fall for the convenience of blue shop towels.  They have a "sizing" in them that leaves streaks.

My go to is this: Spray with whatever glass cleaner you have on hand to get the major dirt off first, then dry with cloth towels or paper towels.  Then get out the chamois, add warm water in a bucket (a gallon or so) and 30 or so squirts of whatever window cleaner is under the kitchen sink.  Get the chamois good and supple first wiping down the interior trim.  Rinse the chamois well in the warm water and wring it out as much as you can.  Wipe down the glass you've already pre-cleaned.  Rinse and repeat.

The chamois / warm water / glass cleaner also works great on getting the film off  the interior side of the glass that only shows when you're looking into the sun.   I'll also buff with a micro fiber cloth to get any holidays.

Invisible glass for me. Wipe with A CLEAN microfiber, then turn it over and go for a mostly dry finish wipe. Or, if the subject is really filthy, hit it once heavy and wipe with throwaway paper towels, then go for the finish passes. Even hot glass in the sun is no problem, and it's tint-safe. Smells better (less?) than that stinky Sprayway, which does work almost as well.

For cleaning up old glass, steel wool is great for deleting the previous 4 decades of neglect. DO NOT use stainless kitchen scrubbers. 

Looks like plenty of good suggestions here for cleaning glass! 

The original post also mentioned tinted inside glass. Don't use ammonia products on window tint film, unless you are trying to remove it. The tip for REMOVING old window tint is soaking with ammonia. 

X3 for steel wool. Make sure you use "4ought" (0000)... courser grades can scratch the glass. As you scrub, you'll feel when each section is done. Follow up with rainX applied and buffed with micro fiber.