Glass Cleaners and Smokers Haze On Windshield

[smriddlert]

Just wanted to bring up a quick topic that I came across this past week.

Ive cleaned several cars with thick grimy smokers haze. So bad that you could see a thick film of guck on the windshield that blurred all light. My first time dealing with it was to scrub with my glass cleaner (invisible glass or RainX). Thisngot then better, but not great.

My last car I cleaned came out quite different after I used Megiuars All Purpose Cleaner (Green) with a terry cloth towel prior to using the glass cleaner and WOW, it got everything off. Meg’s APC is great!

What do you all use on glass? And what do you all use when you come across bad smokers haze?

 

[Finick]

When I got my car earlier this year, the previous owner was a smoker (still trying to figure out how to get the smell 100% out) and I had issues with the film. Reading around and watching some videos, some people recommended getting a magic eraser, keeping it wet, and gently scrubbing the inside of your windshield to really cleanse all that gunk and disgusting stuff off. This worked wonders.

For areas I couldn't fit the eraser into while it was whole, I sliced it into thin strips and glued it to an old putty knife and carefully got it down into all the nooks and crannies. I threw the contraption away after this.

 

[smriddlert]

Not bad. I like the eraser putty contraption. However with the Megs APC,’it was literally spray and wipe. I’m not sure if I included the attachments correctly,’but here’s some other results for that cleaner. I’ve had great results with tuff stuff, scrubbing bubbles and this all purpose cleaner, along with leavin windows open over night and throwing some air fresheners in temporarily. That gets rid of smells great. You’re goig to have to Tuff-Stuff all surfaces including everything fabric and let the car air out over night. This works great.

 

[The Guz]

This works great

Review: McKee’s 37 20/20 Cockpit Glass Cleaner

 

[Finick]

Not bad. I like the eraser putty contraption. However with the Megs APC,’it was literally spray and wipe. I’m not sure if I included the attachments correctly,’but here’s some other results for that cleaner. I’ve had great results with tuff stuff, scrubbing bubbles and this all purpose cleaner, along with leavin windows open over night and throwing some air fresheners in temporarily. That gets rid of smells great. You’re goig to have to Tuff-Stuff all surfaces including everything fabric and let the car air out over night. This works great.

I actually didn’t have D101 when I originally cleaned the windows, otherwise I probably would’ve tried that. D101 was however used on every surface I could get to.

This towel started out completely clean, and was only used to clean the headrest.

It’s pretty amazing how dirty something can actually be without looking it. Not that I'm implying the headrest didn't look really disgusting, it absolutely did. I just didn't think it looked that dirty. I really want to get an inexpensive extractor and give the interior a thorough once over at some point.

 

[smriddlert]

That’s EFFING nasty! Someone had a lot of cheese on their head! LOL. Yes D101 works great. Try Folex too! That seems to be a common go-to for the pros on here, and it’s readily available at Home Depot too. What I hate aboitmspray cleaners though is that they push the dirt down further. You’ll notice if you spray the service and wipe, it will appear clean. However if you go over the surface with a vacuum, you’ll pull up all that grime back to the surface again. What you really need is a hot water extractor/steam cleaner. These are usually big truck mounted machines that the pros use when they come and steam clean house carpets, etc. that machine will pull anything out of your carpet and make it look brand new. However, our access to that machine is rather limited.

 

[DogRescuer]

Magic Eraser is fine but if you don't want to buy one just spray some APC on a scrubby sponge. Don't over complicateglass.