02Pilot said:Whatever cleaning fluid you use, wipe it off with old newspaper - old detailer's trick. Can't explain why it works so well, but it does.
I have heard the 'old newspaper' trick for 50 years and all it ever makes for me is a soggy mess and black fingers.
I've never had any luck with newspaper. I hate cleaning windows, it always a streaky mess...
SWMBO uses these fancy cloths she got at some party that included wine and a sales pitch. I borrowed it one day to test it on my windshield. Now there is one in my race kit.
Duke said:02Pilot said:Whatever cleaning fluid you use, wipe it off with old newspaper - old detailer's trick. Can't explain why it works so well, but it does.
I have heard the 'old newspaper' trick for 50 years and all it ever makes for me is a soggy mess and black fingers.
You're using too much cleaning fluid. Black fingers depends on the ink the paper uses - some are worse than others (NY Times is terrible, Wall Street Journal is great).
Without a doubt, the best thing I have used is a waffle weave microfiber cloth and invisible glass.
I clean the microfiber with Free and Clear laundry detergent and pour a little bit of vinegar into the machine. Not sure that actually does anything, but what the hell. Dry on low, call it a day.
Oh dude. Everything I have tried smears. Get a tiny squeegee, dawn and hot water. Lather, shqueege, mop up the drips off the dashboard. Done.
afterwards- NEVER let any living thing touch the inside.
Duke said:02Pilot said:Whatever cleaning fluid you use, wipe it off with old newspaper - old detailer's trick. Can't explain why it works so well, but it does.
I have heard the 'old newspaper' trick for 50 years and all it ever makes for me is a soggy mess and black fingers.
See above post.
Bumping this thread to thank Wade at Fastenal in Oshawa, who set me up with a can of Sprayway yesterday when I told him that it was the consensus favourite and his was the first place I'd found that had it in stock around here. (BTW, I agree: it works great!)
Wade is into motorsports but hadn't previously heard about GRM. I figure we both did well out of the deal.
In reply to Stealthtercel :
Cool and thanks. Yeah, Sprayway for the win. I keep a can in the kitchen, too, for use inside the house. (We have a glass-topped kitchen table.)
Sorta related, look for a clean-up editorial piece in the next few days: How to quickly/easily/efficiently/whatever clean rubber, plastic and glass. Figure it can help some $2000 Challenge teams.
Regarding the newspaper trick:
You need to crumple it up first!
Hold it and use it like it's a sponge, not a flat towel.
Interesting timing on this. Polished the 84 Mustang GT convertible windshield last night with Cerium Oxide. Then Windex with a clean blue glass cloth. And finally with a damp chamois. Not perfect but wildly better and pretty great for 37 year old glass.
Ever clean the inside of the rear window of a Porsche 911 coupe? You have to like kneel backwards on the seats and kind of double-arch your back. That probably explains why I never cleaned it until recently. This towel was clean when I started.
Oh I forgot to update this earlier. Yeah, that stuff in a can was a total gamechanger for me.
Hello, former professional window cleaner here. Nothing will get your windows cleaner than a squeegee used with nearly any detergent. NOTHING!
The trouble with windshields is that they're usually quite curved. The answer is a narrow squeegee. My little one is 8 inches wide and works wonders on windshields. I've cleaned "clean" windshields and find that it makes a massive difference. I put a towel down on any sensitive dashboards, but usually I just clean up the drips with a rag or paper towel.
Don't have any sprayaway here at my moms house. We tried basically everything else and it was all a complete failure until we found a squeegee. It did ok, but it was intended for showers so the shape of the handle made it really hard to get the last row at the bottom of the windshield. Anyone have a recommendation for an automotive windshield squeegee?
To try and get some clarity here: squeegee users, what direction are you wiping? I was doing center to left or right. I could've gone bottom to top I guess, but top to bottom was not possible due to shape of squeegee - you couldn't "push" it
Redneck exterior glass buffing technique is a brown paper trash bag. Does amazing light buffing with just elbow grease.
ProDarwin said:To try and get some clarity here: squeegee users, what direction are you wiping? I was doing center to left or right. I could've gone bottom to top I guess, but top to bottom was not possible due to shape of squeegee - you couldn't "push" it
Bumping to try and get an answer to this. And a recommendation for a squeegee.
David S. Wallens said:How I clean glass:
The glass cleaner was BOGO at Publix. It's what Tim McNair, our master detailer, uses.
The blue microfibers have been in my garage forever. I don't think part number is still in production but I see that Griot's offers an updated glass towel. I wash them when it's time. But together they cut grime and don't leave streaks.
I missed this the first time it came around.
I worked in glass installation for 2.5 years or so. Sprayway is exclusively what we used when we installed anything.
ProDarwin said:To try and get some clarity here: squeegee users, what direction are you wiping? I was doing center to left or right. I could've gone bottom to top I guess, but top to bottom was not possible due to shape of squeegee - you couldn't "push" it
What I have seen professional window cleaners (on large buildings etc) do is work side to side with the top of the squeegee slightly leading the bottom an a slight overlap with the previous path. This seems to create fewer dripage issues.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Glad to hear of another Sprayway fan. I keep one can in the garage and another in the kitchen.
I see that Griot's offers glass polish pads. Next time I place an order, I'll likely grab one.
white_fly said:Hello, former professional window cleaner here. Nothing will get your windows cleaner than a squeegee used with nearly any detergent. NOTHING!
The trouble with windshields is that they're usually quite curved. The answer is a narrow squeegee. My little one is 8 inches wide and works wonders on windshields. I've cleaned "clean" windshields and find that it makes a massive difference. I put a towel down on any sensitive dashboards, but usually I just clean up the drips with a rag or paper towel.
Would you be willing to do a write up to teach us your methods? I too like Sprayway but still find that the inside of the winshield is a hazy mess after repeated cleanings. :(
One of the challenges of cleaning the inside of a windshield is that it's not just one thing making it dirty. It might be actual dirt that came in when you opened the windows or ran the AC, or human oils and detritus, or outgassed plastics from the dash, etc. I've found that no one cleaning method is good for all those. Sometimes you need a detergent, sometimes you need a solvent, sometimes you need mechanical agitation. I do the following a few times a year:
Step 1- Magic Eraser and plain water
Step 2- Microfiber towel and water/dish soap. Thoroughly rinse with plain water.
Step 3- Glass Cleaner (I like 3m) and microfiber
Step 4- Dry microfiber 10 minutes later
Sounds like a lot but the whole process takes me 20 minutes and I just do all the cars at once. In between deep cleanings, I just use a dry microfiber towel.
I live in Baltimore. If the light's not green, your E36 M3 is getting clean.
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