Mike's Glass Cleaning Tips

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Mike's Glass Cleaning Tips






Mike's Glass Cleaning Tips
When cleaning glass or anything, you are removing "something" off the glass. On the inside this would be Vinyl Fog and/or Smoker's Film.

Chances are good you're also cleaning someone else's attempt to clean glass and removing their streaks and smears plus whatever chemical they used to try to clean the glass.

Depending on who's riding around in the vehicle you could also be removing fingerprints and even footprints from passengers sitting in the front seat and stretching their legs out onto the dash. Kids are notorious for touching the inside of glass with their fingers and hands and that means residues from whatever was in their hands including ketchup and mustard from their McHappy Hamburger, grease from their French Fries or Chicken McNuggets and anything else they're playing with in the back of the car.


So here's my tip on cleaning glass...
Anytime you're mechanically removing any type of film, oils or any other substances off the glass, they are being deposited onto your wiping cloth. Correct?

That means you should no longer use that wiping cloth on any other glass surface because all you'll be doing is transferring the substance you removed to a new section of glass.

Have plenty of glass cleaning towels

Plenty of Towels
The most important thing you can do to avoid streaks and smears when cleaning glass is to use plenty of clean wiping cloths and after making the initial wipe over a window or a section of a window, either turn or fold to a fresh clean side or switch to a clean, dry, unused wiping cloth to continue.

It doesn't take much to leave a smear on glass so your job is once you remove the majority of whatever was on the glass to start with to get that wiping cloth out of the equation and switch to a new, clean wiping cloth for your final wipe. Then after using the secondary or even third wiping cloth on a single window, set it aside and start on the next window with another clean, dry wiping cloth.


Glass Cleaners
Most glass cleaners work really well, especially if the name on the label has a good reputation to start with.


Glass Towels
Most quality microfiber towels and dedicated glass wiping towels also work really well.


Cross-contamination the true culprit
The culprit is re-introducing whatever it is you removed off the glass back onto the glass.


Glass Master Pro
I like using Glass Master Pro for front and back windows for the "Final Wipe" not for the first or even second wipe.




Tips and Techniques - 3 Wipes for streak-free glass

1st Wipe
The first wipe is to remove the majority of any Vinyl Fog, Smokers Film, Fingerprints, Smudges and Smears. After you make the first wipe, take the towel now holding any residues previously on the glass and place it in your laundry bag or bin as it is no longer useful for cleaning glass.

2nd Wipe
The second wipe is to further remove any trace residues left behind by the first wipe, these will show up as smears on the glass. Use a clean, dry wiping cloth together with a quality glass cleaner. After this wipe the glass should be about 90% clear and streak-free or better.

3rd Wipe
For the third and final wipe, switch to the Glass Master Pro. The Glass Master Pro come with

After making your initial wipes for the inside of the windshield using a clean, dry glass cleaning towel, switch to a clean dry towel for a second wipe. After your initial wipe and follow-up wipe using clean, dry un-contaminated cleaning towels you're now ready to use the Glass Master Pro for the "Final Wipe".

Mist a little glass cleaner onto a clean, microfiber bonnet, this should be a very light amount of glass cleaner.



Then make your final wipe for the inside of the front windshield and rear window, which are normally the hardest windows to clean.




Check it out on Autogeek.net

The Glass Master Pro

Diamondite® Perfect Vision Glass Cleaner Aerosol

Waffle Weave Microfiber Glass Towel

[dwlinc23]

As always very useful info!

I do at least 3 wipes as well.

[rider9195]

Awesome tips Mike! I usually just stick with two cleanings as it works for me. But I will try a third as well!

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Originally Posted by rider9195

Awesome tips Mike! I usually just stick with two cleanings as it works for me. But I will try a third as well!

When it comes to cleaning glass, this is really an area where more is better just to prevent cross-contamination and residue-transfer.

[Millennium]

Very good points. I finally found a glass cleaner that works great for me. I spray the cleaner unto the window, spread with a microfiber towel and buff with a surgical blue "paper" towel. After I do all the windows, I finish by buffing one last time.

[BrightonRT]

Just tried these tips on my daily driver windshield, that helped get that last bit of streaking. Thanks!

[bigez]

Hmm..so the third and final wipe is wet as well? I guess if it's already very clean it doesn't matter.
I usually wipe using only a dry towel on the final wipe thinking this will eliminate any possible smears from the previous wet wipes. I guess this is also like post #5 that buffs with the dry blue towels as the last step.

[pickles]

With windows I usually use a damp towel(out of the washing machine) with the cleaner and then a dry one right after to get the streaks.Damp microfiber for me works really well so I'll throw my cleaning towels in the washer while washing the outside of the car.I go in opposite directions(horozontal vs vertical) when I use the dry towel to clear up the streaks.
No dogs,no kids and no smoking so my windows don't really get too dirty anyway.Also because they get cleaned once a week or so.

[jpegs13]

I have to try this. Glass has always been the most frustrating area for me. Thanks for the tip!

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Originally Posted by bigez

Hmm..so the third and final wipe is wet as well? I guess if it's already very clean it doesn't matter.

Being clean is very important or you simply back to cross-contamination.



I usually wipe using only a dry towel on the final wipe thinking this will eliminate any possible smears from the previous wet wipes.

Here's my tip sliced out of the original article, note I tend to choose each and every word I post to a public forum very carefully being a Veteran of the NXT vs Zaino wars back in 2004. It's my writing style, I call it defensive writing, you can be sure that when I make a post it's battle proof and I can defend it or I would never post it.

Originally Posted by Mike Phillips

Mist a little glass cleaner onto a clean, microfiber bonnet, this should be a very light amount of glass cleaner.

And just to note, I probably took 10 to 12 actual pictures before I could get one that shows "spray" coming out of the nozzle. This is for a "visual effect" because to simply mist a little glass cleaner onto the microfiber bonnet on the Glass Cleaner could not and would not make a very good visual picture.


Just to clarify because I agree with you in that for the final wipe you should be working with a clean towel on almost perfectly clean glass. So either a LITTLE mist of glass cleaner or if it works for you, a dry towel. For me I like the little mist of product.