Ultimate Compound as window cleaner.?

[Don]

I wasn`t home, when I tested a theory and couldn`t write it up then. Well, after reading Mike Phillips` article:

Remove the Glare Where You Stare

He uses Griot`s Garage Glass Polish, which I don`t have, so I asked if Ultimate Polish would work. He said he thought it would, but was semi-concerned about the polishing oils in the UP, but said the alcohol in glass cleaners should remove them. Well, I thought that Ultimate Compound should have fewer oils, so I used it.

You`ll need at least 2 mf cloths and 1 terry cloth towel (mf is optional), Ultimate Compound, Glass Cleaner (I used Invisible Glass) and water.

I used an old, thinning mf cloth, soaked it in water an wrung it out really well so it was only damp and applied a small amount of UC on the cloth and applied it to the inside windshield of my wife`s Explorer (it has NASTY windows), wax-on wax-off style, straight lines, back & forth, up & down, etc.just to make sure I got all of the glass .... I used a water-dampened cloth to help `cut` or `remove the oils from the equation.` It seemed to have worked.

Since it was cold and muggy today, I had the defroster on to help the glass dry. Then I took the terry towel and buffed off all the UC & water off the glass. Then a light misting of Invisible Glass, followed by a good buff and I was done.

The glass was perfectly clear, no smears, nothing.

Now, I can`t be COMPLETELY sure it worked as good as it seems so far, being that I haven`t had anything to glare back at me on the glass (headlights, streetlights, sun glare etc), but I do believe this might be yet another option for glass cleaning.

[jrock645]

I can see this bringing embedded gunk out of the glass, absolutely.

[Accumulator]

I`ve used made-for-paint abrasives on glass with OK results, but I`m always a little careful about it given the way *some* autoglass is awfully soft (more "plastic" than "glass" IMO). As long as you get the Polishing Oils off I wouldn`t expect any problems at all.

Consider that the abrasives *made* for glass are really *REALLY* harsh stuff, so aggressive that you don`t want to get `em on the paint if you can help it...

[Don]

I`ve used made-for-paint abrasives on glass with OK results, but I`m always a little careful about it given the way *some* autoglass is awfully soft (more "plastic" than "glass" IMO). As long as you get the Polishing Oils off I wouldn`t expect any problems at all.

Consider that the abrasives *made* for glass are really *REALLY* harsh stuff, so aggressive that you don`t want to get `em on the paint if you can help it...

I figured that the Ult Compound has mild enough abrasives and enough buffer ingredients that it shouldn`t harm the glass, being diluted with water should help too. I don`t see me ever needing an actual glass polish for anything.

[Accumulator]

I figured that the Ult Compound has mild enough abrasives and enough buffer ingredients that it shouldn`t harm the glass, being diluted with water should help too. .

Opinions/experiences vary with regard to the addition of water to the nondiminishing Meguiar`s products, but yeah, that oughta be plenty gentle as long as we`re not talking my Jag`s Triplex glass.

[Lonnie]

I think that there are a lot of "imbedded` debris that gets baked onto interior glass, if nothing more than the hydrocarbon "fumes" from interior material gas-offs due to the heat generated by the greenhouse-effect of glass in vehicle interiors. It`s one of the reasons I sometimes use a APC degreaser or even an adhesive remover to get the "gunk" off of neglected windows on daily drivers. Cigarette/cigar/piper smoke film is another reason. I also think it`s one of the reasons uninformed "detailers" cannot clean glass thoroughly without streaks: OTC ammoniated glass cleaners and cotton clothes or paper toweling simply do not remove this film.