Re: How to remove Smokers Film off inside of windshield
Review and How-To - NEW BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Glass Cleaner
My wife Stacy used and reviewed the new BLACKFIRE glass cleaner here,
The House Detailer - Review: NEW BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Glass Cleaner
The above is her take on this new BLACKFIRE glass cleaner... the below is my take...
I don't do windows...
Yeah I know, that saying is an old cliché that comes from Maids in the house cleaning industry. And the truth is I actually do clean windows when detailing cars but the plain fact of the matter is... like most of you... I don't like cleaning windows. At least not the inside windows.
Why?
Because when it comes to the front and back windows you have to some kind of contortionist to move your body around in the car in a way to navigate your arms and hands into just the right positions to effectively clean the windows and not leave any streaks. (that's two things).
The outside glass is easy. If I'm going to machine polish the paint, then before I wash the car I simply machine buff the exterior glass to remove water spots, road grime and traffic film because,
A: These types of built-up contaminants don't wipe off with any glass cleaner.
B: Machine polishing restores a glossy surface to the glass so the glass will match the paint after I machine polish it.
C: I machine polish the glass before I wash the car thus when I wash the car I remove any splatter left by the machine glass polishing procedure.
So the outside is easy peasy...
it's the inside that's a pain in the rear.
I hate doing things twice
Just read enough of my posts about car detailing procedures and it's pretty easy to see that I like to do things once and do it right. That's just one of the reasons any of you reading this that also read my other posts and articles know I harp a lot on using top notch abrasive technology when doing paint correction, paint polishing or even using one-step cleaner/waxes. If the abrasive technology is junk not only will the results
NOT look good but to fix the problem you'll have to buff the car out a second time. And taking the time to tackle a car all over again is frustrating and a huge waste of time, energy and resources.
The same thing applies to cleaning glass and not just getting it clean but leaving it clear and streak-free.
There are hundreds of glass cleaners on the market. Even here at Autogeek we carry dozens of them and most of them, if not all of them are
VERY GOOD. This makes it very difficult to introduce a new product that's as good or better than the currently available glass cleaning options.
That all said,
this new glass cleaner in the BLACKFIRE line rocks!
That's right. Simply put... it works GREAT! It cleans all the dirt, oily road film off the outside and it also removes all the gunk that builds up on the inside of automotive glass like
smoker's film and
vinyl fog.
Smoker's Film - Smoker's Film is the oily residue in the smoke exhaled by the smoker that coats everything with an oily film. Smoke from ciggerettes smoke contains carcinogens. My guess is the smoker's film created by the build-up of ciggerettes smoke also contains carcinogens.
Vinyl Fog - Vinyl Fog is the oily residue that builds up all surfaces on the inside of a new car including the glass when all the NEW vinyl, plastic, rubber and another artificially manufactured parts, fabrics, foam, insulation, etc. outgas or give off fumes. The thing out vinyl fog is that you only see it on the glass but think about it? When all these new components outgas the fumes are touching all of the inside of the car not just the glass. It's just your eyes only see it on the glass.
A little trivia tidbit - vinyl fog tends to be made up of
carcinogens, that is
cancer causing substances. Some of you may recognize vinyl fog from its other well known name,
New Car Smelll.
Performs as promised...
The formula works as promised. The only way you'll find out how great of a glass cleaner this formula is would be to put the product to a test yourself. But don't take my word for it... take my wife Stacy's word for it because she's a lot pickier than I am when it comes to glass and mirrors. I'm confident you'll agree and it will become your new favorite glass cleaner.
When I first tested this product I tested it on a 2007 Mercedes-Benz SL 550 AMG. While a cool car, the glass on the inside and the outside only had
light dirt - so after looking at the pictures I knew I needed a better candidate car to really test the product and to write this review and how-to.
Here's my demo car - a BMW Z4
The biggest safety issue with windshield glass is the glare caused by the sun causes when it's low in the sky, like early in the morning or late afternoon as the sun is setting. Headlight glare from oncoming traffic at night is another time when dirty glass can be hazardous to your health. To re-create glare from the sun I positioned two spotlights at low angles to shine onto the glass in the same way the sun or oncoming headlights would cause.
The windshield is just as dirty as the rest of this car and for the record, this car is dirty!
(Stay tuned for another article on exterior black paint detailing)
Possibly the worst condition windshield I've ever cleaned!
Here's a few more BEFORE shots showing the heavy accumulation of smoker's film plus normal dirt and dust build-up on the inside of the windshield
Here you can see where I've used my finger to write the words Smoker's Film on the inside of the windshield
Here's the greasy finger smears looking at them from the outside...
Yes... those are on the inside!
This windshield is so dirty on the inside it's a real safety issue.
How To Directions
Here's a few tips and techniques to make you a more effective window washer!
Make at least two wipes per window using two glass towels. One for the first or initial wipe and one for the follow-up or secondary wipe.
1. For the initial wipe, use plenty of glass cleaner to break-up and make it easy to remove the majority of dirt and film off the glass. Spray the glass cleaner onto one side of a folded towel to avoid getting glass cleaner overspray on the dash pad or surrounding surfaces.
First - Focus on the corners of glass, along the outer edges of glass and around anything mounted to the glass like rear view mirrors, electronic transponders for toll roads or glass mounted radar detectors. Since these areas are naturally more difficult to get to and wipe clean they will tend to have more dirt and oily residues built up next to them and if you don't get these areas clean during the initial wipe they will be the cause of streaks during the final wipe.
Second - Focus on the major section of glass. The gunk you loosened our of the corners will now be mixed into the smoker's film, dirt and dust on the larger more open section of glass and it is during this wipe that you'll remove the majority of these residues. Again, use plenty of glass cleaner to break-up the dirt and oily film to make it easy to get the majority of this gunk off the glass.
2. For a secondary wipe of a single window, assuming you removed the bulk of any dirt or oily films with the first wipe, reduce the amount of glass cleaner to a light mist onto a clean dry towel. As you work around the window, continually fold to a fresh, dry side of towel or swap out to a fresh clean towel, continue to mist the glass cleaner onto the towel instead of the glass.
3. Optional step - Use a Glass Master Pro for the final wipe on the inside glass for the finishing touch.
Technique tips
A: For your final wipes on interior glass use an up and down directional motion. For the final wipe on exterior glass use a side to side motion. Then if you do see a streak after cleaning the glass you'll know which side the streak is on.
B: When making the final wipe on either side of the windshield or back window, have a friend play the role of
Streak Spotter. That is while you're on the inside cleaning the glass have someone on the outside inspecting your work and pointing to any areas where you need to continue wiping for perfectly clear glass. This way, if there is a streak you won't have to get in and out of the car to inspect our work.
C: Re-inspect the glass at dusk or dawn when the sun is low in the sky and casts a glare on the glass.
D: Have a collection of glass towels that are
DEDICATED for
ONLY cleaning glass and always wash them with themselves and no other fabrics, towels or other laundry items. Also use a dedicated microfiber cleaner to maintain the performance of the microfiber.
Let's clean some glass!
BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Glass Cleaner and lots of microfiber glass cleaning towels
Step 1: For the outside, simply spray BLACKFIRE glass cleaner directly onto one half of the windshield.
Step 2: Spread the glass cleaner over the glass.
Step 3: For the final wipe, fold to a clean, dry side or section of towel and make your final passes using a side to side direction like the arrow shows below.
Exterior dirt and road grime = black
Here's the dirt I remove from just the driver's side. I took a picture of this to show the color of the dirt and road grime removed off the glass. Note the color is predominantly
black.
I have multiple articles that share and explain how the paint on your car because stained and cloudy over time due to the fact that airborne dirt and road grime accumulate on your car's finish and impact onto it to the point that it will not wash off. The only way to get impacted dirt stains and road grime of your car's paint is to periodically apply a paint cleaner, a paint polish, a combination of compound followed by a polish or a quality one-step cleaner/wax also called an AIO or All-in-One. A product with some type of cleaning or abrading action is needed to remove the dirt stain and road grime that builds up on your car's finish.
See these two article for more information
Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film
Here's why you need to polish paint...
Dirt in Paint or DIP - Stained Paint - Dirt Embedded Paint
How to remove stains and embedded dirt out of paint
Once the outside is clean, it's time to move inside...
How to remove smoker's film, vinyl fog and other oily films on the inside of your car's windows
Smoker's film and vinyl fog are the most difficult types of oily films to remove from interior glass. Follow these directions and use a high quality glass cleaner with dedicated microfiber glass cleaning towels and you'll make a hard job easy.
Step 1: Spray glass cleaner directly onto microfiber towel. The reason for this is to avoid getting glass cleaner overspray onto the dash or any other nearby surfaces.
Tip: For the initial wipe, use a lot of glass cleaner so you have a lot of liquid cleaners on the towel to transfer to the oily film and thus break it up and dissolve it so it will wipe off the glass and onto the cloth.
Color Change
Here's just one side of the
first microfiber glass towel I used to wipe the driver's side of the windshield clean.
Note the color is more of a
BROWN color, unlike the
black color of the dirt and road grime removed off the outside of the windshield.
Two very different kinds of dirt - one glass cleaner takes care of it all
The towel on the left was used on the outside of the driver's side windshield and the towel on the right was used on the inside of the driver's side windshield.
Repeat the initial wipe to the passenger side
Remember to spray the glass cleaner directly onto the towel, (not onto the glass), and use plenty of glass cleaner to break-up and dissolve the oily smoker's film to remove it off the glass and transfer it onto the microfiber glass towel.
Technique tip: For the final passes when cleaning the inside of glass windows, use an up and down direction for wiping.
Motion sequence shots -showing the direction to move your towel
Don't fight yourself and avoid frustration
Smoker's film is very oily and to avoid
fighting yourself, you must use
lots of towels. After you have made the initial wipe using lots of glass cleaner, if you don't switch to a fresh, clean dry towel - all you're going to do is cross-contaminate the glass. That is you'll take oily smoker's film removed from one section of glass and transfer it to another section of glass. This will cause you to become frustrated because the more you wipe, the more you simply
move the oily film over the glass. You MUST get rid of these first or initial towels that you used for the first wipe because they are going to have the majority of the oily smoker's film or vinyl fog on them from the first glass cleaning step.
Optional Step - Glass Master Pro
I love this tool but most people use it the
WRONG way. The Glass Master Pro is a unique tool that enables you to do four things better than you can do using only the human hand.
1: Make the final wipe for streak free results.
2: Get close to the glass where it meats the dash pad.
3: Get into corners.
4: Get around rear view mirror brackets.
So first, let me share the
wrong way to use the Glass Master Pro and that's for the
INITIAL wipe. It's easy to see why people would make this mistake. The tool is for cleaning glass right? Why not just get after it then?
The reason why is because if you spray a heavy concentration of glass cleaner onto the
THIN microfiber bonnet (over the Glass Master wedge-shaped head), you'll make it wet and soggy. Using this tool like this will loosen and dissolve the oily smoker's film but you'll end up pushing it all over the place.
What works better is to the grunt work
by hand using a microfiber glass cleaning towel exactly like I show above. Save the Glass Master for the final wipe or for getting into corners, close to the dash pad or around rear view mirror brackets.
How to use the Glass Master Pro for the final wipe
Mist a little glass cleaner onto a clean bonnet
Think about it... you already removed all the oily films off the glass. All you need now is make a final wipe to get any of those last remaining streaks or smears and to do this all you need is a
LITTLE liquid.
In other words, a little glass cleaner. Remember, microfiber by itself excels and removing oily films off smooth surfaces. So for this final wipe you have two things working for you, the glass cleaner and microfiber.
Clean corners and glass around brackets first
To get into the corners and around the brackets, again only use a light mist of glass cleaner and then use the pointy tip to get into the tight corners and around rear view mirror brackets.
Cleaning the major sections of glass
Next, work the Glass Master Pro over the inside glass using the up and down directional passes.
1: For the major portions of the glass, first install a clean, dry bonnet as the first bonnet will likely have dirt and smoker's film on the edges and the tip from cleaning the corners and around brackets.
2: Then flip the head of the Glass Master Pro so that that flat edge will contact the glass next to the dash pad.
3: Use up and down directional passes to make the final passes and leave behind perfectly clear, streak free glass.
To get across the top of the windshield you can turn the Glass Master Pro sideways and make a finishing touch pass or simply give it a wipe by hand.
Motion sequence shots -showing the direction to move your towel
Just like looking through glass....
In this first shot the focus in on the pack of cigarettes - the words Smokers Film are no longer visible because the glass is crystal clear and streak-free.
In this second shot the focus is on the back wall. Because there's no longer a film or any dirt on the windshield, my camera has nothing to focus on and that's a sign of perfectly clear glass.
The more important end results?
The driver can see where's going no matter the position of the sun or when driving at night when the headlights from oncoming traffic are beamed at his car's windshield.
On Autogeek.com
BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Glass Cleaner
Microfiber Glass Towels
Glass Master Pro Glass and Surface Cleaner
Deluxe 6 Inch Blue Microfiber Bonnets
