Auto glass that is clean and clear? I know what you might be thinking. I already get my windows clean, thats easy enough right? While they may appear clean, until your auto glass is CLEAR its not really clean. Will you buy that?
OK. Enough small talk lets git r done. While to many this is no surprise some may not realize that
Many glass cleaners contain ammonia.
Ammonia is a chemical compound consisting of nitrogen and hydrogen atoms with the formula NH3. At standard temperature and pressure, ammonia is a gas. It is toxic and corrosive to some materials, and has a characteristic pungent odor.
That is the science of ammonia. However it is used in household cleaning products, one being glass cleaner. Due to some of the chemical parts of ammonia I recommend using a ammonia-free auto glass cleaner.
Why? Well ammonia is known for stripping the natural oils in vinyl and rubber, as well as leather. It has a strong gaseous odor to it that makes it harmful to breathe when it is used inside your car.
So what do you use?
Thats a good question. Use an auto glass cleaner that is ammonia-free of course, and one that is good at cutting through road grime and bug splatter. Meguiars NTX, Stoners Invisible Glass Cleaner, is really great at breaking up all the different contaminants that you are likely to encounter on your auto glass. It is also safe to use on tinted windows.
When you begin to clean your automobile glass, either clean all of the outside first, or begin on all of the inside glass. Why? So that any streaks you may leave in the process, can be seen more easily.(Be sure the window is washed before you begin) With that said, here are the materials you will need:
Meguiars NXT Auto Glass Cleaner, Stoners Invisible Glass Cleaner
0000 Steel Wool
either soft cotton towels(enough for the job)
OR Waffle-Weave Microfiber Towels
Take your glass cleaner and apply it to a 2'section of the front windshield. Take your steel wool and using a waving goodbye type of motion, and gently work the glass cleaner around.
Side Note:
(Don't worry, in my years of experience I have yet to see this type of steel wool damage a window. Speaking of scratches,You are more likely to scratch your window at the start of rain or a storm, due to the surface dirt getting pushed around by your windshield wipers)
Afterwards use your towel to dry up the cleaner on the windshield. Is it smooth? If yes, proceed to the other half doing the exact same thing. Continue this around the whole of the car, cleaning the auto glass.
Now for those hard to reach places on the inside of the the auto glass, use an attachment that is flat and soft with the towel wrapped around it.
It can be any thing you can think of, that will reach back on to the surface you are trying to reach. Just be careful not to scratch up the window.
The windshield wipers, in order to keep them operating as long as possible, you want to use a rubber dressing on them when you clean your auto glass to keep them soft and in good working condition.
K.M.Dodd is a car enthusiast, and an experienced auto detailer with over twelve years in the field of automotive detailing. Auto-detailings.com is a growing compilation of his knowledge and expertise. At Auto-detailings.com you can read up to date content-rich quality information in an easy to understand style. Written for the Do It Yourself Detailer.
