Interior Out Gassing.....

[imported_Luster]

The more a car sits in the sun the faster the interior glass gets "fogged" with that unknown substance that isn`t dirt, isn`t fog....... It`s more like a film! Even if you keep your windows up all the time, it still manages to find it`s way to the inside windows.

What the heck is that stuff and.....
Where does it come from?

It`s called "Out Gassing."

Here`s an excerpt from an article from the L.A. Times:

The worse period of unhealthy out gassing is when vehicles are new; when the chemically based new car smell still permeates the air. Many people find the new car smell intoxicating. This is a sad way to express what is really taking place. You are in fact being in-tox-ified (much like intoxicated with a drug or alcohol). Not healthy!

As the new car smell dissipates, the out gassing slows but still exists. In fact, once the heat of summer arrives the interaction of UV-rays on glass and interior PVC parts can raise the cabin temperature to over 110 degrees.



This releases additional toxic chemicals. Worse, the longer those chemicals sit on the glass the longer you breathe them in when they are again released by extreme summer heat. Every time the glass is heated (from the sun or your heater) those chemicals are reconstituted and sent back into the air as fumes, which you and your passengers inhale. This situation can be even worse in trucks, buses and RV?s which have many more windows and larger glass surfaces.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE TOXIC CHEMICALS IN YOUR VEHICLE?

L. A. Times writer Ralph Vartabedian: ?As PVC ages, the plasticizers form gases which escape from the plastic. Out gassing causes an oily fog on interior car windows that are a headache to clean up and ultimately restrict visibility. Although all PVC undergoes some out gassing of plasticizers, it is more pronounced in a car because on hot sunny days, a PVC dashboard can reach 200 degrees. Ultraviolet rays also accelerate PVC aging and out gassing?

I usually clean my interior glass every 2 weeks. Hard to keep up with it!!!!!

[Old Pirate]

This happens with the wife`s car on a small portion of the drivers window.

[imported_Luster]

This happens with the wife`s car on a small portion of the drivers window.

On my cars, it always seem to be the worst on the windshield. Perhaps it`s because of the window tint on the back and side glass. They just don`t seem to get the out-gas film as quickly.

[egoXtension]

Maybe this another reason to be glad for purchasing (nice) used cars like I do.

After 12 to 16 years the amount of that gas is greatly reduced. :tongue:

[Bostonsfavson]

This used to happen a lot more frequently back when I used Armor All on my dash (dark days, those).

Ever since I switched to 1Z, it rarely, if ever, happens.

[bigpoppa]

I do notice it a lot on certain cars, both of my parents have BMWs (02` X5 and 06` X3) which have this issue, and they are kept in the garage. About a month or two after cleaning, the interior glass is foggy again, it seems to happen about the same on both cars (oddly enough the older one almost seems worse in this regard). I don`t apply dressing.

My Lincoln, which is not kept in the garage, gets it too, but not nearly as bad. I clean the inside glass maybe once a month so they stay crystal clear. The other, non garaged vehicle in our family (05` Envoy) doesn`t seem to get it anymore, but it`s beat on and it is hard to notice any out gassing because the glass is always dirty.

I guess it is just worse on some cars than others.

[imported_Goose]

For the dash, I try to use water-based products. They tend to outgas less...