My Glass Cleaning Method

[Anthony Orosco]

Originally Posted by David Fermani

I'm also a firm believer in the 2 towel method, but never thought about implementing a squeegee. What happens when the excess water that falls off the squeegee while you clear off the glass? I'd imagine that even the slightest film of wetness will accumulate and puddle? It seems like it could either: (1) get all over the outside of the car (probably finished product?), (2)get all over the dash/door panels creating more work (especially if it's dressed with a water-based product), or (3)get the inner/outer belt moldings wet (making the window wet if they roll down with soft touch operation)? What's your process to eliminate this?

Excellent questions David.

Most of this is eliminated with learning how much water to have in your application towel. My guide is if I apply my wet towel and the water right away starts to collect and roll down the glass I am obviously using too much water. The water should actually cling to the glass which indicates to me the right amount.

I almost always do the interior glass first so on a Porsche, for instance, I'll wet the drivers door glass and then swipe the squeegee across the entire glass which swipes any excess straight off the glass. This can be done this way because the later Porsche models have no window frame.

On cars with window frames I'll use my wet towel to catch or wipe the excess from the blade after each swipe. After some practice you can squeegee the glass in one continuous swipe.

Also remember that not all water must be removed, in fact it works nicely if a few water drops are left behind and then buffed away with your drying towel.

In the case of dressed areas I use less water on my towel and/or forgo the squeegee altogether in that case. For me it matters little for I rarely dress dash and panels, only seats.

For the exterior I rarely get any excess on the paint because it's all about the amount of water on your application towel which comes with trial and error. So if your using this technique and you're having issues with too much excess water then you'll need to wring out more water from your wet towel.

Again great questions and I hope my answers help out.

Anthony

[Denzil]

Originally Posted by Anthony Orosco

Hey thanks everyone for the "welcome backs"

I forgot to mention that those of you with steamers may also want to try steaming your glass and then either using the squeegee method or a nice towel to buff dry.

I used to use a natural chamois also that worked nicely but they are very expensive also!

Anthony

Heh, I totally forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder Anthony.

[David Fermani]

Originally Posted by Anthony Orosco

Again great questions and I hope my answers help out.

Sure did. Thanks!

? - Do you do all the windows with this method? I imagine it's kinda tight in 1/4 glass cleanings? Especially on a small Porsche window.

[JonP]

Sometimes I just use the little rubber squeegee that I use for window tinting and a few mist sprays of good glass cleaner. But most of the windows I clean are good enough to use glass cleaner and a good quality waffle weave microfiber towel. I have used the steamer a few times when I had it out and it worked great, saved me some time.

[Mindflux]

Originally Posted by Anthony Orosco

=

I haven't purchased glass cleaner in a very long time, especially after finding out that many glass cleaners are mainly water with a small percentage being any actual surfactant.

If we applied this logic to everything in a detailing arsenal we're be using water as an APC, Rinseless Wash, polish and so on and so forth. Just because it's mostly water doesn't mean the other ingredients don't play a crucial role.

[92SC300]

nice

glass is always so tricky

[Anthony Orosco]

Originally Posted by Mindflux

If we applied this logic to everything in a detailing arsenal we're be using water as an APC, Rinseless Wash, polish and so on and so forth. Just because it's mostly water doesn't mean the other ingredients don't play a crucial role.

Well "water" is natures solvent

Also those other ingredients are a surfactant of some sort like a detergent. Many professional window cleaners use a mixture of water with a few drops of one or more of the following:

1) alcohol
2) vinegar
3) ammonia

Others I have spoken with use straight water because their window washer does all the work then their squeegee cleans up the residue. Besides this is my personal preference, I am not telling anyone to only use water.

Side Note: - Also, it's not that a black rubber squeegee won't work it's just that I prefer the silicone blade type. Again a personal preference.

Anthony