I've never been good at cleaning glass, I guess. Today, I bought a product "Invisible Glass" and gave it a try. I used plain-white kitchen towels (paper). Not bad, but - still, I see a certain 'haze', and it's this 'haze' that has always been my problem.

It occurs to me that maybe I should 'polish' the glass after cleaning, with a dry micro-fiber cloth, to remove the haze. Is this a good idea? Should I wet the cloth with cleaning fluid? Is there some trick to removing the haze?

 

use newspaper

 

I would use a MF cloth instead of the kitchen towel. If you have tint that kitchen towel could scratch it. Not sure what the haze your getting is from. Maybe using too much product? Do you get alot of dash cleaner over spray on your windows?

 

i use turtle wax chrome polish with a nice microfiber cloth. it give u a streak free shine to your glass especially the front windshield. i used other products but i personally feel as if this does the trick for me. just wanted to add my try that and see how that works

 

You'll have to find a process that works easiest for you. You also may have to experiment with different products to see what works best for your particular sitituation. For more info on cleaning glass, check Autopia and Autogeek.
Exterior windows: I use a water moistened MF towel first to remove excessive grime and foreign matter. Follow with a glass cleaner of your choice (my preference: Stoners IG or Sprayway) and wipe with a MF towel (short nap). If you have trouble spots, you may want to use a glass polish.
Interior windows: Basically the same procedure, except spray galss cleaner onto the MF towel. If you have tints, use an ammonia free cleaner or a plastic polis/cleaner. You may also want to read this recent thread about cleaning interior windows.

 

I've used Stoner IG for a few, I'm getting disappointed. Last night, I cleaned my exterior (front and rear) windows, and noticed that my can of Stoner left that haze. The microfiber "glass" cloth I bought at Target was great at removing that "haze" residue.

The best I've ever used was a Federal NSN siliconized glass cleaner I had access to in Coast Guard Aviation. It was great ... cleaned great, and the residue made water bead up and run off. Better than that slimey RainX stuff. I'm looking for some again ... probably as close as my nearest general aviation supply shop (or Sporty's Pilot Shop).

 

I like sprayway because it comes out in almost a foam. My steps consist of:

1)wash windows
2) spray sprayway, massage with microfiber towel, remove most of moisture
3) Use new dry microfiber to remove rest.....

Never had a problem with residue after these steps

 

I use stoners ig with a microfiber and have streak and haze free windows.....but all of my windows are tinted including windshield.....which is great because you never have a really dirty windshield inside.....if any of you know what I'm talkin about

 

You made me do a little searching when you said something about aviation glass cleaner. I came across this: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/avlgc.php

Think this would be any good on a car?

 

Description Part No. Price Buy
AVL AIRCRAFT GLASS CLEANER 13-02959 $4.75

give it a shot! it's cheap... but who knows after s/h.

 

I think I've used that before....If i remember correctly it was pretty good!

 

Can't tell, but at that price, looks like the stuff that the dealer left in my car when I picked it up -- not much. Stoner's a foaming, high quality glass cleaner. I believe the kinds which don't contain ammonia are of this ilk

What I used was explicitly called "siliconized glass cleaner," with something like 0.5% (memory fails miserably) silicon. You could tell, when it first rained on it, the water beaded up like Rain-X was used, only it didn't smear and come off like Rain-X did when I tried it. The big deal with aviation glass cleaner is that it has to cut things like grease, oil, exhaust residue (which can be very, very tough), not to mention organics (insects, bird strike leftovers) which can be beaten and cooked on by airflow and sun. All without damaging paint or stripping the kinds of coatings that some aviation windows have (not all are glass, BTW). You're going to pay more for a basic aviation glass cleaner, but on a car ... it might be overkill.

Okay, so I'm looking at the Tomar brand spotless glass cleaner that the dealer left me. Contains 2-Butoxyethanol, Ethyl Alcohol, Methyl Alcohol, deionized water, and liquefied petroleum gas. Is it any good? Feh. Stoners seems better. Stoners used to be sold by Hammacher-Schlemmer as a premium glass cleaner, but I think it was 50% marketing.


(What I used to fly in.)

I think I just found out what I was using: this page refers to two kinds of aviation glass cleaner, Type I regular and Type II anti-fogging. Bingo. I think for sure what I used was a siliconized anti-fogging cleaner. It didn't last a long time on external windows, but it was what we used for ALL window cleaning, interior and exterior -- which includes interior instrument and display glass, which has to be 102% residue and smudge free. I remember, none of those instruments fogged up, even when the doors were open and the ECUs were blowing clouds of misted air into the cabin. I used to carry a can o' this glass cleaner in my headset bag so that on a preflight, I could wipe any windows and instruments my heart desired. I got a good rep from my pilots and crews for doing this without being asked. (It's an old-fashioned thing, the "tweets" were "Aviation Window Cleaning Techs.")

 

Best way I have found so far is to mist a water dampened low nap M/F towel with Stoners I/G and wipe the window .. immediatly polish it then with a W/W M/F.

 

For 50 bucks, i'm absolutely positive thats not what we use. I'll ask our detailer today, i wouldn't be surprised if it was just Stoners Invisible glass.

 

To clarify, the 'haze' I'm complaining about is generally not visible in 'typical' lighting, but at certain times of day, with certain types of direct sunlight, it's very visible, and generally follows the direction of 'wipe' from the towel/cloth. I tried to 'polish' / wipe this off with a clean, dry m/f cloth, but it does not wipe off. Also, the m/f cloth 'grips' the window glass ... maybe this is typical and expected with a dry m/f cloth (I'm new to using m/f cloths). Is that why one poster above suggests using a water-misted m/f cloth - as a 'lubricant'?

Regarding newspaper ... in my neighborhood, one local paper uses the (now common) 'no mess' ink process, which means, newsprint does not come off on your hands. Another newspaper continues to use the older process whereby, when you are done reading it, your fingers are black! Does it matter which type you use for the windows?

I searched around and read one post suggesting the use of alcohol. I got some denatured 97% alcohol from the cabinet and put it on a towel, and tried using it on the rear interior - but I noticed some significant discoloration on the towel, suggesting it was removing the defroster / diversity antenna that is attached to the interior - so I guess that's one extra wrinkle to all this ... not ruining the rear element!

Thanks!

 

Do you have tints? or not?

Alcohol + tints = BAD (if I recall) since it's similar to ammonia... but I could be wrong as well.

 

No tints. Car is brand new, also; this may account for the 'gripping' of the MF cloth?

 

I dunno, the "gripping" seems normal to me whatever I use a MF.. if it's inside window cleaning, try spraying it on the MF first. If outside, just spray the windows first then wipe.

 

you dont need all this fancy stuff to clean glass. my mom made me a mix of white vinegar and water and i used a J-Cloth (stronger than a paper towel) and it left no streaks/debris and cost nothing considering we had the vinegar and water.

 

I finish off interior glass with a clean microfiber towel. Sometimes glass cleaning products will leave haze or residue. Usually I just use kitchen paper towels and windex though.

Exterior rarely needs special attention outside of washing thoroughly. I'll hit the windshield with a microfiber towel and Goo-Gone to take the pesky stuff off sometimes.

 

My windshield is still hazy at times, even after using microfiber cloths and "invisible glass" spray. My windshield has been treated with the diamond shield process. Could this be part of the problem??

 

I know of the haze that you speak of. It looks like a refraction of light giving a rainbow effect when viewed at an angle. It seems that 'clean' windows can be seen with this. The newspaper method will enhace the hazing probably due to the oils in the ink. I think it could also be from car wash liquid waxes that are sprayed all over the car and ends up accumulating in the windshield. Avoid car wash soaps with carnauba.

If Stoner's IG won't work, try Bon-Ami foaming spray glass cleaner. I picked this up from a local (Rona) harware store and costs around $4, recommended by some BMW clubs for the Sekurit glass. Pretty strong stuff. Another one to try is one called No Touch Auto Glass Stripper which needs to be applied by a scrub pad and hosed off. Avoid getting this on your paint! Using this, I was able to remove glass streaks and hard water spots.

I also tried Autoglym Glass Polish but the preferred method is with a PC. If you do this, apply Klasse AIO right after and your windshield will bead off water much better than RainX.

 

In the Autoglym link, I love the 60-70ish old lady using the PC that's classy.

ROFL