CieraSL's guide to streak-free windows

[Shane731]

If you're reading this thread, chances are you are either curious about the thread title, or you are having some problems cleaning glass. I mean, it sounds simple enough, right? Spray on some glass cleaner, wipe it off. Shouldn't be a problem, right? And then there's cost to think about. Should I buy an expensive glass cleaner and glass towels? I mean, there are other things I want to try out. What should I do? How can I get the best possible results at the lowest or most reasonable price?








Why, with Windex and paper towels, of course!














Nah, just messin'. Well, having been working on perfecting my window cleaning skills for about the past 6 years or so, I consider myself to be a bit of an expert on this subject. Please, no autographs or pictures. Yes, I have 4 different types of glass towels and about 10 different glass cleaners, but I've been wanting to write this article for a little while, and I wanted to show people that with the right technique and a little know-how, you can get even the best results with OTC products. Well, I was in Pep Boys recently and came across this:



These are labeled drying towels but they are perfect for window cleaning. Only $7.10 for a 10-pack of 16 x 16 inch towels. They were actually in a corner on the opposite side of the store from the detailing supplies, so you may just have to walk around the store and look for them. They were in a rolling bin. I went ahead and picked up 4 packs of them.




Pep Boys towel on the left, Cobra glass towel on the right. Both towels are an 80/20 blend, with the Pep Boys towel being made in China and the Cobra towel being a Korean microfiber made in China.


close-up


My tools of choice (please note that I make it a point to wash my glass and drying towels separate from the rest of my towels, and I only use Micro-Restore microfiber detergent, then dry on about medium heat for about a half hour. All glass towels were washed and tumble dried prior to use). I use two different colored towels - one for the initial wipe and buff and one for the final wipe. There are 5 different colors in the 10 pack of towels I bought (2 of each color): blue, orange, green, tan, and brown. Having two different colored towels lets me visually know which one is for which task. The Meguiar's glass cleaner I purchased from Advance Auto. To really put my skills to the test, I used the outside glass of our Honda Odyssey, which were rather dusty from having sat in the garage for several weeks.


With the Meguiar's Perfect Clarity glass cleaner, I switched out the standard sprayer head for a sprayer head that would better atomize the product - this is important for getting even coverage over the window without using too much product. Standard sprayer on the right, replacement sprayer on the left. Make sure your sprayer is to your liking.


Here you can see why I switched sprayers. Spray pattern from the standard spray head:


Spray pattern from the replacement spray head. The product is better atomized which means it is not all concentrated on one section of the glass:


A few sprays (4-5 depending on the size of the window), using a sweeping motion (don't just point and spray; again, this concentrates more product on one section of the window) covers the window:


My technique is as follows:
1. Spray glass cleaner in sweeping motion on glass to cover (but not drench) glass
2. Take one glass towel (folded in fourths), go over the majority of the window, go back around the edges, go back over the main area one more time, flip over and buff
3. Do a final wipe with extra dry towel, being careful to cover the whole window
4. As initial towel becomes saturated, rotate out, rotate the final wipe towel in for use as your initial towel, and get a new final wipe towel. Don't be afraid to use as many towels as you need

Using this technique, as well as the tips mentioned above, this was my result. Camera flash:


Using the Brinkmann, no camera flash:


I also went ahead and did the front passenger window inside and out using the same method. Camera flash:


Brinkmann and camera flash:


Use the Brinkmann to check for streaks. If it looks good under the Brinkmann, it will look good under the sun. It has been my experience that using the 4 step technique outlined above will get 95% of the window clean, then you can use the Brinkmann and your final wipe towel to clear up the last little bit. Once you get it down, it really doesn't take long at all to get perfect glass. Thanks for looking! Comments, criticism (constructive, please) and additional suggestions welcome!

[ArkayoDeetayo]

hmm I get the same results using your method...the spray product on glass, wipe, buff with 2nd towel... cool

[tommythecat]

Excellent write-up.

IMO glass cleaning is 95% method and 5% product. Using this method you can use just about anything and you would get streak free results. I have tried everything from newspaper to cloth baby diapers.

The two-towel method by far works the best. The main thing is rotating out saturated towels.

While it isn't rocket science, glass cleaning sure can get people riled up and ready to punch their windows rather than clean them again.

[timaishu]

I'll give it a try tomorrow and post back.

I hate doing windows.

[BobbyG]

Nice job Shane, lets make this a Sticky!

[CEE DOG]

Awesome work Shane!! I usually use the same method and agree with the results. However, I am guilty of sometime point spraying and I've never switched out my trigger. You really have it down bud!! Thanks for the awesome how to!

I may be able to add one other thing I learned. Wipe the interior finishing with back and forth motion and the exterior with vertical motion so if a streak is left you will instantly know which side it's on.

[Pats300zx]

Great write up Shane !!!! Thanks for putting it together.

[vet]

Nice write up Shane. I didn't think of color coding window towels other than just for windows.

I also use Cee Dog's method of verticlal/horizantal on glass.

[azdetail]

Nice thread windows will hopefully now go much better


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[A-train]

Thanks for taking the time to write up. Never thought about the brinkmann tip.