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Glass cleaner

redwrench60

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Sep 10, 2011
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East Tennessee
Sprayway, you don't need much, and a microfiber cloth
This is worth repeating. SprayWay is a great product and won’t hurt your aftermarket gangster window tint. Just don’t use too much. A light spritz is all it takes. I used to slobber it on there thinking it would “cut” that film, but it just makes a streaky mess.
 
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seber

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May 31, 2016
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Deep East Tx.
Some gas stations provide rather heavy windshield wipe towels. They are more like cloth than paper. Those work exceptionally well dry on the inside of the windshield.
 

KnurledNut

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Jan 28, 2011
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n/a
Has Sprayway changed their formula? It seems like the new stuff doesnt cut heavy soil like bug guts or bird **** very well. Not that those would be on the inside of your windshield, unless you drive in reverse a lot. :lol:
For outdoor use, I usually end up dispersing more of the aerosol version into the wind than where I want it.
 

danielbuck

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Apr 15, 2014
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916
for glass windows I used to use Windex and newspaper. I don't get newspapers anymore so I use paper towels.

For soft top plastic windows, I use lemon pledge.
 

Rockable

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Jan 6, 2019
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482
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Oak Ridge, NC
Has Sprayway changed their formula? It seems like the new stuff doesnt cut heavy soil like bug guts or bird **** very well. Not that those would be on the inside of your windshield, unless you drive in reverse a lot. :lol:
For outdoor use, I usually end up dispersing more of the aerosol version into the wind than where I want it.
I think Sprayway used to contain ammonia but it doesn't now. Almost all of them use alcohol as the main ingredient.

Back when I subscribed to a daily newspaper, the newsprint made great lint free paper for cleaning glass. It's kind of hard to do with my tablet. 😄
 

Ohio Andy

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Jul 31, 2024
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Columbus, Ohio
I think Sprayway used to contain ammonia but it doesn't now. Almost all of them use alcohol as the main ingredient.

Back when I subscribed to a daily newspaper, the newsprint made great lint free paper for cleaning glass. It's kind of hard to do with my tablet. 😄
I use a special cleaner with all my phones, tablets and computer screens
 

GTO

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May 8, 2009
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NJ,FL
Is there anything that stops the film on the inside of the windshield from coming back ?
 

Jokester

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Jan 10, 2023
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Is there anything that stops the film on the inside of the windshield from coming back ?
Short of buying a new car every year or so not really, bwahaha. Surely some vehicles are a bit more tolerable than others based on interior materials leading to that, but I just clean as needed and don't overthink it.
 
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dscheidt

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Apr 26, 2017
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Short of buying a new car every year or so not really, bwahaha. Surely some vehicles are a bit more tolerable than others based on interior materials leading to that, but I just clean as needed and don't overthink it.
new car makes it worse -- the film is plasticizers leaving the plastics in the car's interior. The rate at which they sublimate goes down over time.
 

toolenthusiast

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Jan 21, 2017
Messages
723
I just looked and found that one spray can was showing at $10 and change on Amazon, then checked the grocery store I use, same size can $2.99. Admittedly I didn't search Amazon for a better price, but $8 is a big gap.
Wow, the whole “add $0.99 on the price and people still just look at the first digit” thing really does work. :ROFLMAO:
 

rlitman

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Oct 18, 2010
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Is there anything that stops the film on the inside of the windshield from coming back ?
Time, or a different (not new) car. Some car interiors release a lot of plasticizers into the air, and some don't. Hyundai IIRC was the first to switch to a polypropylene based plastic that doesn't off-gas, probably because it's cheaper. Other manufacturers prefer plastics that aren't as brittle, probably because brittle plastics lead to assembly issues when tabs snap off. Well, nothing lasts forever, so you get a few years of smeary glass, followed by glass that stays clear but all your interior plastic rivets snap when you look at them. Sure, it's not that simple, because lots of other things lead to plastic embrittlement, but plasticizer loss is one of them.
 

Ohio Andy

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Time, or a different (not new) car. Some car interiors release a lot of plasticizers into the air, and some don't. Hyundai IIRC was the first to switch to a polypropylene based plastic that doesn't off-gas, probably because it's cheaper. Other manufacturers prefer plastics that aren't as brittle, probably because brittle plastics lead to assembly issues when tabs snap off. Well, nothing lasts forever, so you get a few years of smeary glass, followed by glass that stays clear but all your interior plastic rivets snap when you look at them. Sure, it's not that simple, because lots of other things lead to plastic embrittlement, but plasticizer loss is one of them.
I noticed that my license plate had only one screw holding it on. So I bought some replacement stainless steel screws and then I went to remove the still remaining screw. I barely breathed on it and it snapped off. That's when I realized it was plastic. Incredibly crazy Brittle plastic. I had to drill them out, obviously.

I really dislike brittle plastic.

The job turns into, and we have to replace your entire front dash....
 

DrinkMan

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Sep 13, 2020
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Location
Georgia, USA
Stoner Invisible Glass. Wipe on with microfiber, dry with newspaper.

If Stoner, Sprayway, etc... aren't working (it happens), we break out the denatured alcohol full strength.
 

rlitman

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Oct 18, 2010
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Long Island
I noticed that my license plate had only one screw holding it on. So I bought some replacement stainless steel screws and then I went to remove the still remaining screw. I barely breathed on it and it snapped off. That's when I realized it was plastic. Incredibly crazy Brittle plastic. I had to drill them out, obviously.

I really dislike brittle plastic.

The job turns into, and we have to replace your entire front dash....
Yeah, you can't win there. Metal plate screws rust, plastic ones snap and leave your plate on the roadside when you hit a pothole. Stainless can be ok, if you keep an eye on it, but lots of stainless that spends it's time around brake dust and road salt starts to rust. Just look at Cybertrucks and DeLoreans.

...dry with newspaper...
I keep seeing newspaper on this thread. 40 years ago, newspaper was the best glass cleaning option. It was a coarse grained unsized (or at least hardly sized) paper that was designed to both accept printer's ink well, and assist in that ink drying as fast as possible. The ink itself, again in the need for speed, would be overloaded with carbon black, because less binder dries faster. That would get carbon black all over your fingers as you read the paper, but it would also rub the carbon into the scratches in your glass, reducing haze and glare, at least momentarily.

None of the above applies today with the advent of post-consumer recycled newsprint paper that is dusty as hell, and with the demise of linotype, the paper is now sized to minimize ink usage (for even higher speeds of printing), which means it's no longer all that absorbant.

If you've still got a basement full of your grandfather's newspaper clippings... well it might work for cleaning glass (I doubt it though, because the high acidity of the paper base will make it all crumbly). but you also have other issues.

Buy an old car, I don’t have a problem with plastics offgassing in the ‘54 Woody wagon 😂
I bet you will every time you re-varnish everything. ;)
 

Ohio Andy

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Jul 31, 2024
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Yeah, you can't win there. Metal plate screws rust, plastic ones snap and leave your plate on the roadside when you hit a pothole. Stainless can be ok, if you keep an eye on it, but lots of stainless that spends it's time around brake dust and road salt starts to rust. Just look at Cybertrucks and DeLoreans.


I keep seeing newspaper on this thread. 40 years ago, newspaper was the best glass cleaning option. It was a coarse grained unsized (or at least hardly sized) paper that was designed to both accept printer's ink well, and assist in that ink drying as fast as possible. The ink itself, again in the need for speed, would be overloaded with carbon black, because less binder dries faster. That would get carbon black all over your fingers as you read the paper, but it would also rub the carbon into the scratches in your glass, reducing haze and glare, at least momentarily.

None of the above applies today with the advent of post-consumer recycled newsprint paper that is dusty as hell, and with the demise of linotype, the paper is now sized to minimize ink usage (for even higher speeds of printing), which means it's no longer all that absorbant.

If you've still got a basement full of your grandfather's newspaper clippings... well it might work for cleaning glass (I doubt it though, because the high acidity of the paper base will make it all crumbly). but you also have other issues.


I bet you will every time you re-varnish everything. ;)
@rlitman very informative.... Never have thought of some of this.
 
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