Carpro Clarify - initial review

[Eldorado2k]

I wasn’t going to make a dedicated thread, however I didn’t want to take away or hijack anyone else’s thread/reviews of this product.

This will cover my initial experiences and thoughts about this glass cleaner.

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I’ve used it for about 2 weeks on several different vehicles, tested it on everything from nearly perfect glass to full on dirty glass, even used it around the house and in the bathroom, I let my mother use it for a day and she’s a housekeeper, so she knows a thing or 2 when it comes to glass cleaning products.

This is how much I’ve used so far.

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My expectations going in were very high. I figured this product should display the pinnacle of modern day detailing, check every box and mark extremely high while doing so.. Unfortunately, so far my experience with Carpro Clarify has been very disappointing.

1st use was on my own Cadillac Deville after a bucket wash. Glass is in perfect condition inside & out, towels used were my normal go to glass towels [chemical guys gray matter waffle weave] x2 freshly washed & dried. This task is about as easy as it gets. So simple that the towels should still be in near perfect condition after the task.

Directions state to spray 1-2 sprays onto towel and clean glass flipping to the dry side for the final buff leaving a streak free finish.

1st problem that must be mentioned: 1 spray? There’s absolutely no way. Not using a 24x32” 30/70 waffle weave folded in quarters. 2 sprays? Maybe if you spray onto already perfect glass, but there’s no way on earth 2 sprays of this into a towel or even directly onto the glass is going to clean actual dirty glass.

Even on perfect glass 2 sprays into the towel is a tall order because I hate to break it to you but this glass cleaner isn’t slick. Not only that but it dries somewhat fast and once it does it becomes a real chore and you’ll quikly find out that the directions on the bottle are a pipe dream.

So I begin using Clarify like a normal person and everything suddenly starts to feel somewhat normal, decent enough I guess, not the slickest glass cleaner, nowhere near what I’m used to but maybe it can live up to its claims of being streak free? Everything appeared to look fine once I was done in the daytime.

But later on that night, I jump in the car to go grab a bite to eat and what do we have? Streaks. Not minor streaks, this is legit bad.

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This next picture was taken 30min. after I got back home and simply parked the car. Nothing done to the windshield, suddenly everything appears clear once again.

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It’s been 11 days and while my windshield wipers were able to cleanup the streaks left by Carpro Clarify on the exterior of my windshield, the inside of my windshield has remained untouched and I can honestly say that I cannot recall a time in my recent life where my windshield has looked anywhere near as atrocious as it does especially under humid conditions. This is nearly aggravating.

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And this is supposed to be the best glass cleaner man has ever seen? You’ve gotta be kidding me!
I’ve been on a few mobile jobs within this time and I leave this stuff at home now because I simply do not trust it. I’m not going to allow this crappy glass cleaner to ruin my results on my customers vehicles.

This review could go on and on because I’ve got several more examples and they’re all underwhelming.

My mothers opinion after trying it for a day? “Ehh it’s normal I guess, nothing extraordinary about it”

I cleaned my brothers dirty windshield inside and out and asked him to give me his honest opinion based on how it looked on his drive home…. Streaks.

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Not only do you have the risk of the streaks mysteriously appearing many hours later like they did on my car, but the lack of slickness can sometimes result in the streaks appearing as you’re using it, giving you a proper workout trying to buff them all off the glass. Is this their idea to achieving streak free glass? I was literally sweating after trying to get all the streaks off this glass. It took several times to finally finish streak free.

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After about 4 times trying to get it perfect I said enough, this is as good as it’s gonna get for my effort with this glass cleaner.

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Carpro Clarify: 2/5 rating. Subpar at best. I almost gave it a 1/5

Not slick, cleaning power ordinary, banana scent, value for the money = poor, sprayer quality ordinary, streaks.


Final thoughts: For those of you who’ve ever used denatured alcohol to clean glass or acrylic, you know that denatured alcohol alone even with plain roll paper towels will give you some of the best results you’ll get. It’s funny how sometimes the simple tried and true methods work like a charm.

This got me thinking, Carpro Clarify, with its revolutionary claims of being safe on coatings… You know what it isn’t? It’s not alcohol based. And that might be more of a negative than a plus because it’s probably alot harder to come up with this formula vs. the more simple alcohol based glass cleaner that’s worked for years and years at a much better value to boot.

Sometimes it’s the tried and true stuff that works better than it gets credit for.
I’ll stick to what works. Not what happens to be the latest trend.

Thanks for reading.

[Rsurfer]

My experience with Clarify has been the complete opposite from what you experienced. I just can't see a glass cleaner leaving streaks on perfect glass.

I would give it a 5/5 rating.

[Coatingsarecrack]

Just bought a 32oz bottle. Hoping I get different results. Maybe results very by towels?


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[dwaleke]

You might have received a bottle of bad product.

[BadRims]

Thank you for posting this. I’ve been getting bad streaks as well. I wonder if it is from cleaning so “good” that it is partially removing the layer of ECH2O I had used on my vehicle in prior washes which somehow leads to the streaking.

Previously I had used Stoner Glass Cleaner which worked well.

Further, it seems to require multiple passes to clean the glass which leads to more static and fibers being left behind.

To complicate matters I’m also getting streaking from Meguiars Glass. So perhaps it’s my own waffle weave towels or application/approach that is the issue and not the products.

[Bill D]

Thanks for the great review! I'm glad I never bought the stuff!

[sixsix]

I've been thru a lot of glass cleaners, and I do mean A LOT, and I always come back to Poorboy's World glass cleaner. I have about 5 glass cleaners in my cabinet right now and 98.5% of the time I'm reaching for the PB's, the other 1.5% it's sprayway foam. I don't know what's in the PB's stuff, but it just plain works...and leaves the glass slick to boot.

[Rsurfer]

And I respect his opinion:

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/128604-carpro-clarify.html?highlight=clarify

[The Guz]

My experience with Clarify has been the complete opposite from what you experienced. I just can't see a glass cleaner leaving streaks on perfect glass.

I would give it a 5/5 rating.

Same here. Although I already knew the outcome before I started to read the review.


Just bought a 32oz bottle. Hoping I get different results. Maybe results very by towels?


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Don’t worry it will be fine. Most of us have had no issues with it. It does work well. I ended up buying a gallon of it after my initial test bottle that Avi sent me. If it was bad I would not have bought it. I don’t regret my purchase of it.


And I respect his opinion:

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/128604-carpro-clarify.html?highlight=clarify

I am certain we all do.

[Eldorado2k]

Same here. Although I already knew the outcome before I started to read the review.



Don’t worry it will be fine. Most of us have had no issues with it. It does work well. I ended up buying a gallon of it after my initial test bottle that Avi sent me. If it was bad I would not have bought it. I don’t regret my purchase of it.



I am certain we all do.

Perhaps you use glass coatings and your experience with this glass cleaner is based on how it performs in those situations where you might no longer bother to use a more traditional type of glass cleaning product.

I on the other hand don’t use glass coatings. After trying this glass cleaner, I get the feeling that it was made to work it’s best when used on coated glass, in a world where some believe that traditional alcohol based glass cleaners are no longer an option.

Similar to what we see with car wash soaps… Most if not all people who coat their cars paint wouldn’t use a soap like Meguiars Gold Class, but does that mean that Gold Class is as bad as they make it seem? Of course not. On the other hand, there’s soaps i.e. Gyeon Bathe+ which is geared to work with coatings and offers a different yet productive result on coated vehicles. But give that fancy expensive car wash to a normal average Joe who’s car isn’t even waxed and he’ll probably come back and tell you it’s crap because it doesn’t sud, therefore it doesn’t clean and just flat out isn’t fun to use.
I’m not comparing myself to an average Joe, but you get the point.

I’m hard pressed to see how Carpro Clarify excels or stands out vs. other glass cleaners. It simply doesn’t. And those streaks are real, and something I’ve pretty much never had happen until now.

[Sizzle Chest]

Sorry to hear that you've had this experience. Those streaks are horrible, blinding and dangerous. Not good.

I can appreciate your review/experience with this product even if they do not mirror what I've experienced.

As you stated, sometimes the tried and true/what you've always had positive results with work best!


Keep the shiny side up,

Scott

[fly07sti]

This sucks to hear Ric but it is refreshing because more often then not when a new product is out most people are giving accolades of how it’s the “best”. I personally like this glass cleaner and mine is actually very slick. One of the reasons I like it so much actually. Do I think it’s the best, no but I do like it. Also I’ve only used on interior glass. FWIW, my interior glass cleaning routine is one round with IPA/water for strong cleaning followed by round 2 of whatever I grab that day. Sometimes it’s D156 if the glass is good after the IPA/water or it may be Stoner’s or Clarify, etc.

[lane5515]

My experience with Clarify has been the complete opposite from what you experienced. I just can't see a glass cleaner leaving streaks on perfect glass.

I would give it a 5/5 rating.

Same here. I've been using it for a few weeks and it works great. No issues with streaking, just perfectly clean glass.

[Eldorado2k]

Thanks for the great review! I'm glad I never bought the stuff!

Try the Zap Cloth.

[Coatingsarecrack]

Try the Zap Cloth.

Yeah for maintained windows can’t be beat. I always follow whatever I use with the Zap. My hopes is i won’t have too.


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