addysdaddy
New member
- Jun 13, 2012
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Pinnacle unveils a new glass cleaning system consisting of three components: Crystal Clear Glass Cleaner w/Water Repellent, GlassWork Spot Remover and GlassCoat Window Sealant with Rain Repellent pictured below. Note I read and followed the directions on the package (for the most part) and secondly I've tried various glass cleaning products & techniques so I have a diverse basis of comparison in this category. Also keep in mind I'm an enthusiast & not a pro and always searching for the Gee Whiz, best in class product even if it takes longer to accomplish a task. Price is secondary to me - within reason. And let me say that IMO with all the great products and product lines out there, very good is commonplace for product performance so finding that Gee Whiz item is difficult because the competition is that good.
The procedure was pretty straightforward though somewhat time consuming. Clean the glass with the Crystal Clear, apply GlassWork and finish with GlassCoat. To complete the entire process using all three products on both the front windshield and the rear glass, it took about 20-25 minutes, so it's not something I personally would do on my daily driver weekly. Rather I would probably do the full treatment 3-4 times per year, since I live in south Florida and the glass gets bombarded with bugs & debris constantly. YMMV but I think it will be dependent on your geographic location as to how often you need to use the spot remover and the window sealant products. Of course if you're a pro, that would be something entirely different.
Though not mentioned in the instructions, I used a Wolfgang clay bar first on the front windshield to get it clean, since doing a plastic baggie test revealed it was a mess. (this is where I deviated from the instructions.) After that, cleaning the glass with Crystal Clear was straightforward WOWO using two MF waffle towels and uneventful with little to no streaking.
Step two; the GlassWork Water Spot Remover acts like glass polish to remove embedded containments. What was most surprising was the amount of dirt that came off on the foam pad even after I had clayed the glass. Impressive.
After applying GlassWork by hand to the entire windshield, I sprayed with the Crystal Clear Glass Cleaner and wiped clean per the instructions. You can see at this point the glass is looking very good.
The third and final step was applying the GlassCoat Window Sealant. For this I used a MF pad and applied a thin coat and let it dry for 15 minutes. Note the car was in full shade. Hopefully you can see the "cloudiness effect" after the sealant was first applied.
After allowing the sealant to cure, I used a two MF towel combination to buff the glass clean. This required some "passion" as Mike P would say and was the most difficult part of the procedure. There was smearing that I had to work at to remove. In fact I had to break out a third short knap MF towel which finally did the job to my satisfaction. End result shots are featured below. The glass was VERY "clear" and noticeably clean when I took the vehicle out for a quick test drive to evaluate my work.
Summary
I really liked the Crystal Clear Glass Cleaner as a standalone product and can easily recommend it as your "go to" window cleaner. Goes on easily and wipes off without any fuss. As good if not better than any other glass cleaner I've used. And thinking about it more, I would probably use the GlassWork Water Sport Remover on a regular basis as well - though doing that will probably remove the sealant which has some obvious downsides. But again, I viewed this as a "system product" and think for the detailing pro or someone who details a variety of cars or those who simply love super clean glass, this system would be a good choice because of how the spot remover is glass specific and does such a terrific job. Frankly, that was the big WOW to me in the whole process. Furthermore I would like to try applying the GlassWork Water Spot remover with my 3" pneumatic DA and a crimson LC-HT pad - I think the results would be fantastic. But to evaluate these products fairly, I need to put some miles on the car and observe how the sealant holds up and whether it makes my daily driver that much easier to clean and maintain. This will be the true acid test for this glass system trio. Stay tuned, I'll report back in a couple of weeks.
The procedure was pretty straightforward though somewhat time consuming. Clean the glass with the Crystal Clear, apply GlassWork and finish with GlassCoat. To complete the entire process using all three products on both the front windshield and the rear glass, it took about 20-25 minutes, so it's not something I personally would do on my daily driver weekly. Rather I would probably do the full treatment 3-4 times per year, since I live in south Florida and the glass gets bombarded with bugs & debris constantly. YMMV but I think it will be dependent on your geographic location as to how often you need to use the spot remover and the window sealant products. Of course if you're a pro, that would be something entirely different.
Though not mentioned in the instructions, I used a Wolfgang clay bar first on the front windshield to get it clean, since doing a plastic baggie test revealed it was a mess. (this is where I deviated from the instructions.) After that, cleaning the glass with Crystal Clear was straightforward WOWO using two MF waffle towels and uneventful with little to no streaking.
Step two; the GlassWork Water Spot Remover acts like glass polish to remove embedded containments. What was most surprising was the amount of dirt that came off on the foam pad even after I had clayed the glass. Impressive.
After applying GlassWork by hand to the entire windshield, I sprayed with the Crystal Clear Glass Cleaner and wiped clean per the instructions. You can see at this point the glass is looking very good.
The third and final step was applying the GlassCoat Window Sealant. For this I used a MF pad and applied a thin coat and let it dry for 15 minutes. Note the car was in full shade. Hopefully you can see the "cloudiness effect" after the sealant was first applied.
After allowing the sealant to cure, I used a two MF towel combination to buff the glass clean. This required some "passion" as Mike P would say and was the most difficult part of the procedure. There was smearing that I had to work at to remove. In fact I had to break out a third short knap MF towel which finally did the job to my satisfaction. End result shots are featured below. The glass was VERY "clear" and noticeably clean when I took the vehicle out for a quick test drive to evaluate my work.
Summary
I really liked the Crystal Clear Glass Cleaner as a standalone product and can easily recommend it as your "go to" window cleaner. Goes on easily and wipes off without any fuss. As good if not better than any other glass cleaner I've used. And thinking about it more, I would probably use the GlassWork Water Sport Remover on a regular basis as well - though doing that will probably remove the sealant which has some obvious downsides. But again, I viewed this as a "system product" and think for the detailing pro or someone who details a variety of cars or those who simply love super clean glass, this system would be a good choice because of how the spot remover is glass specific and does such a terrific job. Frankly, that was the big WOW to me in the whole process. Furthermore I would like to try applying the GlassWork Water Spot remover with my 3" pneumatic DA and a crimson LC-HT pad - I think the results would be fantastic. But to evaluate these products fairly, I need to put some miles on the car and observe how the sealant holds up and whether it makes my daily driver that much easier to clean and maintain. This will be the true acid test for this glass system trio. Stay tuned, I'll report back in a couple of weeks.
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