@#$%^% I hate cleaning Windows

J

jsoto

New member
I can never get these streak free. TW or EO glass cleaners. Using clean MF or newspaper.



Man......the one time I did get them streak free and MINT was when I experimented with one of those surgical wipe towels I swiped from my doctors office. Now those were good.



Newspapers are good to scrub the windows if you have grime. My they tent to lint. With the MF's, I just spray & wipe and then followup with a dry MF and still streaks. Looks good when I'm doing it as it's usually my last step and there's no sun. Just woke up this morning to streaky windows...ARGH :mad:
 
I have had great results with Stoners IG. No streaks at all. Some times I get dew on the outside windows in the morning but when the dew evaporates the window are still streak free.

*edited to add the following*

Do you use fabric softener on your MF's by any chance? I use vinegar instead of fabric softener in the wahing machine this insures that the MS's rinse clean. When I used towles on the window they would streak like crazy. I am pretty sure it was the fabric softener.
 
For my own car I use Stoners on the inside and once clean just a wipe with a damp MF followed by my WW MF.



The outside is strictly the WW.





Customers cars all get Stoners in and out with a paper towel ..results are excellent.
 
Glass Cleaning Cloth:

This (Norwex) Microfiber glass cleaning cloth has a super tight knit, lint free, cross-weave construction traps and collects water and is so effective (use damp) at cleaning glass that often a glass cleaner chemical (Stonerâ€â„¢s Invisible Glass) isn't even necessary. It features a very low-pile cut in a zigzag pattern, which literally attracts and removes off gassing, residue, smudges and oily fingerprints. Its efficient cleaning action is truly a time saver. (detailersparadise.com)



Paper towels and newspaper are formulated with adhesives, which class cleaners will break down leaving a tacky reside and paper â€Ëœlintâ€â„¢ on the glass surface. The inks used in newspaper print are now water-based (unlike the older oil-based they will not polish glass) But they will stain your hand black (they dissolve with body heat) so be careful what surfaces you touch after handling newspaper (fabric, leather, plastic, etc) as they may stain.

JonM
 
I have the "surgical towels" from winner's circle (on sale for a buck) and use stoner's or sprayaway with no streaking. The nubby quality of the towels (huck type weave) makes them a great choice and I think they could be used for interior work as well. They are very absorbent and thin enough to get into tighter places. Interior buffing of dressing products would still require a good quality MF in my opinion. For high volume, pro detailers, I found a web site that sells these towels at secure.cartsvr.net. They sell new, 16X26 towels for 28.50/50 towels with a color choice of white, green or blue. Used (in hospitals) towels are 48.75 per 25lb box/150 towels. I would think a couple towels and some good glass cleaner could be sold as a nice little kit cheaply and still make a little profit or one could be given to customers as a very inexpensive "complimentary" gift. I don't know if such things are really pratical, since I'm a hobbiest at detailing....it's just a couple of thoughts that crossed my mind when I came across the site. I also find these towels to be very low lint.
 
I see one can order IG by the case or by the gallon. I wonder, what, if any, difference in performance may be present if it is sprayed via a regular spray bottle or pump cooking oil spray bottle from the gallon vs. the individual aerosol can :nixweiss
 
add some (1 tbl spoon) white vinegar to water inside a sprayer of some kind. Spray on window and wipe off with WW or MF towel. Totally streak free, almost cost free, and certainly effort free.
 
Yeah, sometimes vinegar or even a vingear based glass cleaner can do it ( I have Clear Power in the stash). IIRC, you have to be very careful of vinegar cleaner around aftermarket tinted windows though.
 
Ya know...I never thought about vinegar in a bottle. Dug





That's exactly how I go about in when I do the house windows. I'm talking the entire window frame also and not just the glass and it's ALWAYS streak free :D



FWIW, the MF's are clean, extra rinse cycle and I do pour some vinegar in the 2nd to last rinse cycle every time I was . I don't use powdered detergents or softner.
 
Bill D.



Just out of interest. Where did you find 1 gallon bottles of IG? I always feel guilty using aerosol cans and since I apply it to the cloth I would prefer putting it in a spray bottle that I can control the spray pattern.



All I could find were Aerosol cans, single or by the case, and 5 gallon bottles on Stoner's site.



Thanks
 
I've followed up a cleaner with a very slightly damp microfiber towel, seems to remove any streaking for me.
 
You may need to "strip" your interior glass with a vinegar wash first to completely remove the gassing off residue.



It may appear it is gone for a little while but it then re-appears....like magic!:D



I have in the past used sudsing ammonia, like 2 or 3 ounces mixed with distilled water in a 32oz spray bottle. Use this mixture, as well as a vinegar mixture (which can be used full strength if needed) on FACTORY tinted glass only, not on after market tint films.



I'll give you all my glass cleaning "recipe" that you can make at home.



1/2 cup sudsing ammonia

1 pint ISP, about 70%

1 tblspoon dishwashing liquid (most professional glass cleaners use this in their water)



Mix those in with 1 gal of distilled water. Pour it into a spray bottle and I hope it works well for you all.



Fabric softner, either liquid or sheets, is a :nono As already noted it can cause streaking on both paint and glass. Also keep your glass towels totally seperate from your drying/polishing/wax removal towels. Even wash them seperately. Easy on the laundry soap also.



I wash mine in hot water every 3rd wash with some vinegar added.



Hope this helps,

Anthony
 
Try picking up a glass wizard at your local Walgreen's, these are a big help when it comes to the inside of the front and back windsheilds. Alot of the time I use an MF mit to clean the window and then dry with an MF. I feel like I get better control and scrubbbing action w/ the MF mit. I also keep mine seperated from other towels.
 
I think cleaning glass is like alchemy. There are so many different types of contaminents, and they all seem to love to bond to glass.



My advice is to try ALL the tips in this thread. After doing 3 or 4 of them, you will think your results are perfect, because the combination finally got rid of the different crap.



That is...until you see what NEW glass looks like! I prepped a car for concours and thought I had my technique down on glass. Then I had a windshield replaced the next week on my daily driver, and that was a humbling experience! NEW glass is breathtakingly clear, good luck if that is your goal!
 
BoxsterCharlie said:
I think cleaning glass is like alchemy. There are so many different types of contaminents, and they all seem to love to bond to glass.



My advice is to try ALL the tips in this thread. After doing 3 or 4 of them, you will think your results are perfect, because the combination finally got rid of the different crap.



That is...until you see what NEW glass looks like! I prepped a car for concours and thought I had my technique down on glass. Then I had a windshield replaced the next week on my daily driver, and that was a humbling experience! NEW glass is breathtakingly clear, good luck if that is your goal!
Click to expand...



I know how you feel, I use a Norwex glass cloth and IG on my glasses and like to think they are as clean as you could get them. Then I had the prescription changed and the new glass compared to the old ones is night/day (how does that song go I can see clearly now)



JonM
 
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