The Art of Glass Cleaning

asap2stacks

asap2stacks

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This topic is based on the difficulties of cleaning glass on automobiles, one of my least favorite steps in detailing a vehicle.

Whether it be water spots,streaking, or built up grime on Windows it can be a huge pain to remove.

In this topic please post the steps,products, and tools in detail that you use to clean your glass to leave a flawless view for your customers!
 
Glass is one of my favorite parts of a detail. Guess I'm crazy.

The exterior glass gets cleaned during the normal wash with soap. I don't think I've ever had windows that didn't come pretty clean doing that. If there are hard water spots or something I'll clay and/or hand polish using Duragloss 501 or another chemical cleaner.

Follow that up with a dedicated towel(waffle weave, glass, fast glass cloth, etc) and some glass cleaner, then a wipe on walk away sealant. Final wipe with distilled water(if I notice any streaking)
 
My most significant advances came after a long talk with a veteran pro window cleaner. Obviously, they're using squeegees, which I haven't tried yet, but I made some changes in technique that have helped me greatly. First, I use two mf towels. First is a regular mf, used as a "mop" to dislodge and pick up dirt, still leaving the glass slightly damp. Second pass is with a silky, thin nap glass mf from a local janitorial supply house. Second pass is done slowly and with very light pressure. He said "What's the use of a hi-tech cloth if you don't allow it to its job. Let the microfiber fabric do the work of absorption, rather than pressing hard and going fast, relying on friction". Once I dialed in my technique, the chemical became less important. Sprayway, Stoner's, Meg's D120 or even ONR all do the job well.

Bill
 
I don't mind cleaning glass. My method seems to work very well, for me.

First I inspect the glass, any tree sap or pine tar gets taken care of with Tarminator and paper towels.

Secondly, (or firstly if there's no tar to remove) I use ONR and an Opti-Eraser to lightly pre-clean the windshield and remove any suface contaminents.

Then I clean with Invisible glass and MF towel.

Then a final go-over with Rain-X.

For interior, a wipe with a dry MF towel to get off surface dirt. Then a cleaning with a Mr Clean Magic Eraser and hot water wiped down with a MF towel (I do a two foot square area at a time)

Final pass with Invisable glass and clean MF towel. - Done! glass is always crystal clear w/no streaks.
 
The biggest thing I've learned is how much Less-is-More applies to glass cleaner.

I had been using glass specific microfibers and the two towel method Bill mentioned. I've since switched to the Griot's PFM window towels and have had really good luck with a single towel. I'll switch it out for a new one if it starts to get saturated though.
 
Nowadays...This works for me:

•(S.) Korean, 70/30 Blend, 400gsm,
Waffle-Weave Microfiber Towels
•Meguiar's D120 Glass Cleaner
(or, I may choose another one,
out of the many, that tickles my
fancy at the moment)


-Make sure glass surfaces are not "hot"
-Clean window moldings...inside & out...
before ever tackling the glass surfaces
-One WW MF towel used "to wet";
another WW MF towel "to dry"

Note(s):
1.) Let the WW MF towel do the work:
no need to use undue pressure.
2.) If my window cleaning process
winds up not being good enough...
then "The Good Wife" can follow-up,
if she so desires. (Again: no need to
use undue pressure.)



Bob
 
I've found that the silky towel (like the little ones to clean glasses) is the only towel that doesn't leave those tiny lint trails. I get it on my paint regardless of towel i use but it's not that noticeable
 
Cliffnopus said:
I don't mind cleaning glass. My method seems to work very well, for me.

First I inspect the glass, any tree sap or pine tar gets taken care of with Tarminator and paper towels.

Secondly, (or firstly if there's no tar to remove) I use ONR and an Opti-Eraser to lightly pre-clean the windshield and remove any suface contaminents.

Then I clean with Invisible glass and MF towel.

Then a final go-over with Rain-X.

For interior, a wipe with a dry MF towel to get off surface dirt. Then a cleaning with a Mr Clean Magic Eraser and hot water wiped down with a MF towel (I do a two foot square area at a time)

Final pass with Invisable glass and clean MF towel. - Done! glass is always crystal clear w/no streaks.
Click to expand...

The magic eraser is a great idea. I've had issues recently with vehicles that have had new windshields installed and there being a film on the inside of the glass that has been a PIA to remove.
 
I've found no matter what glass cleaner you use, always follow up with a dry clean one as a buffing towel. I just use regular old cg quick detailer foe my windows. For a full on thorough cleaning though, I like using Mckee 37 glass restoring polish after a quick claying. Most of the time too I'll throw on either some Gtechniq G5 glass coating or PBL Synergy just to avoid using my wipers.
 
When it comes to interior glass, the most effective cleaner I have ever found is WATER! Perhaps not when the glass is really dirty. I have a small spritz bottle with water, spray it on the window, wipe with a terry cloth towel. Perfectly streak free clean EVERYTIME!

Exterior windows all depends on the condition or what I am doing to the car. On my personal cars, they are all coated in some sort of hydrophobic coating so they mostly resist water spotting. If I am polishing or compounding a car, I will usually go over the windows as well and that generally removes any hard water spots as well.
 
Believe it or not,a watersprite chamoi wet and one waffle weave towel works great indoors.outdoors D120 and clean micros maybe 4 per car cause the towels get warm and don't perform really well in the scorching sun.on classic cars with single stage dash boards you must make sure the residual spray that gets on the dash is dried up quickly other wise you will get Presoak damage.
 
I use steel wool on exterior glass as part of my detail prep during the wash,makes a huge difference than the clay.
 
I usually water pressure the entire car (especially glass panels), foam the entire vehicle, and agitate the glass with microfiber mitt while the foam is still on, thank god glass don't induce swirls easily (unless you have a dumb ass cleaning it with an old rag repeatedly over time or u got bad wipers etc then YES this will scratch the hell out of your glass from my experience), back to topic, rinse glass again with water pressure and all around the frames especially where most dust and crap stays, and for drying I found thick MF's leaving lent or fibers behind, so probably just use short looped microfiber towels, and the waffles don't usually do a good job for me as they leave glass streaked, I guess the most important thing when drying to use one towel/side for drying, a second towel/dry side for wiping off excess and I use a third towel (which i must make sure is 100% dry) to remove any streaks, YOU will have those streaks even on your car paint, but due to the transparency of the glass you will notice them easier especially in direct sunlight that's why you need to use dry towels to get rid of most streaks !...
 
Glass cleaning is super easy and fun with

Meguiars D120 or Stoner glass cleaner with dedicated MF glass towel.

If there are hard water spots, I use ceriglass.

BOOM.
 
After properly decontaminating and coating the glass in my cars, cleaning is so easy. All I need usually is a few sprays of diluted Rinseless wash solution to get a clean streak free window.
 
If I need to prep glass, I use Poorboy's Pro Polish 2 with chemical and mechanical cleaning then was normally a two towel method. I have been know to clay as well.
 
I use the steel wool method I find it the most fastest and constant method out there, this method stands up to any job from the cleanest to the dirtiest and that my friends is what us as professional detailer are looking for .
 
choijw2 said:
Glass cleaning is super easy and fun with

Meguiars D120 or Stoner glass cleaner with dedicated MF glass towel.

If there are hard water spots, I use ceriglass.

BOOM.
Click to expand...

Not easy if you have an extremely filthy vehicle and the glass has hard water spots that have sat for months or acid rain, things can get kinda time consuming in cases like this.
 
Does anyone use Bar Keepers Friend? If so, what is your method (technique)?
 
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