MyFirstAudiQ5

Invisible Glass Premium Glass Cleaner | Invisible Glass

Redd

Paper towels are not all the same. Some will scratch soft plastics, others won't. And to a large extent, that means all the less expensive ones will scratch, because they are meant for kitchen spills not soft plastics.

I had a cheap ***, excuse me, extremely thrifty, boss in a retail store once. He insisted on using old newspapers to clean the front windows. Sure, they worked. But newspaper is also not designed for that purpose. It is highly UNabsorbent, and made that way on purpose so the ink does not spread and smear during printing. So it can clean your glass but it is never going to be the best tool for that. It is not meant to be.

You can make many things "work" for many jobs, but there's a reason the pro's don't. They're usually looking for "best" not "cheapest".

tmfstyle

I am kind of a fanatic when it comes to car windows. When I take delivery of a new car (on the outside of windows) I usually use a very mild abrasive glass cleaner or clay. Follow up with alcohol (applied and wiped with Bounty) then use water applied with sponge cloth, using either high quality super clean towel, ( microfiber or cotton) or lots of Bounty to wipe. After the first cleaning I scrub with water and sponge cloth and use towels or Bounty to wipe. If water does not work I use alcohol first then a cleaner only if necessary. I do the first inside window cleaning with alcohol applied with Bounty then water applied with a sponge cloth then wiped with Bounty. I find abrasive window cleaners a pain to use on the interior of windows. Most of the time I use plain water on the inside but plastic and leather fumes leave a residue which requires occasional alcohol use. I have tried virtually every window product noted in the thread but except in special cases plain water scrubbed over window then wiped with good towels or Bounty works better. Having said that, I bought a case of Invisible Glass Premium a couple of years ago and found it required excessive wiping to eliminate streaking. I gave the Invisible Glass to my wife for mirrors, etc. - she loved it and still uses it.








When

shokhead

I have read that once or twice a year to use ajax or any brand cleanser on outside front windshield.

tmfstyle

I think any mild abrasive from Ajax to mild auto polishing compound to specialized glass cleaners will work. I would be cautious in applying and removing - use only soft cloths - and test on a small section first to avoid any difficult to remove etching or scratching.

Redd

Maybe 30 years ago, "all" the major brand cleansing powders (in the US) switched from harsher abrasives to the same one that BonAmi had been made from all along. Diatomaceous earth, Fuller's earth, the same main ingredient that is in traditional tooth powders/pastes.

We used to use only BonAmi to clean lab glassware (borosilicate glass, pyrex) because it was the only one to not scratch, like the label says. The other formulas were changed after the popularity of ceramic (Corelle, Corning Ware) in the kitchen, and formica and acrylic surfaces in kitchens and shower surrounds. Too many customers complained "it ruined my..." and the companies changed the products.

So using any of them, especially BonAmi, is a safe bet. You could use toothpaste but the BonAmi won't leave your car smelling fresh and minty.(G)

A clay bar, or 3M Finesse polish, would be the same level of abrasiveness but more expensive.

I noticed recently that when the sun is just low enough and bright enough, there are gobs of micro-pits in the windshield that I'd never seen before. But I don't think fine polishing will cut the glass down enough to really help those.