Ask-A-Pro: Cleaning Interior Windshield
by Greg NicholsI NEED TO REMOVE SPRAY PROTECTANT FROM INTERIOR WINDSHIELD. ANY HELP OUT THERE? I’VE TRIED STONERS GLASS, WAX, OOOO STEEL WOOL, AND BABY POWDER WITH NO LUCK. HELP PLEASE. George Eckert III
George you have experience the off-gassing of a poor product onto your interior windscreen!
Many over the counter products will do this over time, and it’s annoying. My method to this madness is to use full strength 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) in a spray bottle and several towels; never using the same side of the towel more than once. Break the area you need to clean into sections and clean. Your towels will remove the product onto them, so don’t reuse that side of the towel again. Depending upon how bad it is, you may have to do more than one application of this method. Once you get the product off the glass, get it off your dash. This will take some time to properly remove all the imbedded product. Spray your towel with IPA and wipe. This might have a drying effect to your vinyl, but you can use ONR to help restore some of the drying effects. I like to use ONR (diluted 2oz/32oz distilled water) for my interior dash cleaning and protection. I also like 1Z cockpit premium for cleaning and protection. Both leave a matte finish, and don’t leave the horrid hard to remove off gassing.
Let us know how that cleaning works out, I’m sure you will need to swear a few times so keep the kids out of the area!!!
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Greg,
That is great information!! I have been using Meguiars Natural finish interior. Would this be considered one of the “poor products” that does off gas? Is is a water based issue, or a solvent based issue? Thank you for your time and great information.
Joel.
Wow, i was just thinking about submitting a question about cleaning the interior glass of my vehicle. I dont have this issue, but i tried to clean my glass using a clean MF followed by the DI MF Glass Polishing towel and still got a lot of haziness and streaks on the inside that are driving me absolutely crazy. how can i get rid of that? Thanks!
MO,
Question, is the hazyness from the product used to clean the glass, the towel is dirty?, or previous product is still on the glass??
I would IPA the glass to start with a clean surface and see what that gives you, then try your product.
Also to help know if the streaks are inside/outside on the interior wipe down left/right and on the exterior up/down. If you see any streaking going left/right you will know its on the interior…….
Please report back what you find, your feedback will help others!
Cheers,
Greg
Reflections-detailing.com
Greg,
Thanks for your reply. I used Chemical Guys Window Clean and 2 new/washed MF towels. I will say I am guilty of not rotating the towel as I used it, so that may have been the problem. I will try IPA this weekend on 2 new MF towels and see how it turns out. And thanks for the tip on the cleaning direction. I actually read that on here before and use it (up and down inside and side to side outside). I will let you know how it goes. Thanks.
Greg, I took your advice and used a 50/50 solution of IPA on the interior windshield of my Jeep Wrangler. It not only gets outgassing from the plasticizers in the vinyl but it collects slat from the beach area where I surf fish. I would clean it 3 or 4 times with Invisible Glass and the next morning you would never lnow it. Well, not anymore. I covered the dash and used the IPA and 2 MF towels and it is crystal clear. Thanks.
Ray Scott,
Thanks for the feedback, we don’t get much dialogue with our postings, especially postive feedback!
Cheers,
GREG
The most effective glass cleaner I’ve found for the haze on the inside of a window or a really heavy build up of grunge on the outside is Bon Ami. Wet a cloth, wring in out then sprinkle just a little powder on the cloth and go to work. It will leave a light powdery residue but that is easily cleaned up. I don’t know if it would be safe on windows with tint applied. This has worked for me when rubbing alcohol, paint thinner and acetone failed to touch the haze.
@ Greg – For the longest time, i’d say at least 10 years i would not only use paper towels on ALL my car windows but i would only go left-right until i read what you said about a month ago i believe going left-right and up/down and life has been a breeze – LITERALLY – i really wish i knew about this system years ago, but i guess the teacher only appears when the student is ready right, life is good – i’m a disabled vet and i can’t work so i am trying to do some detailing on the side and having a hell of a time here in the Boston area , ” Squeeeky Clean ” over and out.
Rich
* Any suggestions ?
@rich getting going in detailing is a bit of a long term project. I would suggest you market towards some of the local Military groups. You will likely have to do a fair amount of tough jobs for little pay before you earn the trust of upper clients.
Cheers,
GREG