on my 50 roadmaster I just can't seem to keep the glass, film and streaks free. tried every possible cleaner and even newspaper. some guys mentioned to use very fine four oooo steel wool to clean the glass. not sure about that. any other suggestions ? thanks.
Try rolling the window down when you smoke cheap stogies I wouldn't use steel wool, it might leave very fine scratches that you won't see till the light hits them right. Vinegar and water works pretty good for me with a micro-fiber cloth...
Some please use a 1-3 part method. 1. clean with microfiber with alcohol, 2. then clean with new microfiber with windex. Some people use magic eraser instead of the alcohol. some people repeat. Make sure to clean the outside first
I have used 0000 steel wool on window glass with no problems. It will clean gunk in corners and not touch the glass.
Many years ago I prepped used cars for a dealership. One of the very first things I did was clean the glass with lacquer thinner and a brand new razor blade. I have used steel wool before too, but a razor blade is faster and not nearly as much labor. You will be surprised to see what comes off of “clean” glass.
I have used 0000 Steel Wool for years and it actually polishes the glass at the same time. I use it dry first and remove all of the crap on the glass that others have discussed here. Once complete, I carefully blow off the fine metal dust and then clean with a glass cleaner. Be SURE that each time you do it, the Steel Wool pad is new and clean or you risk scratching the glass if there is any debris left on an old piece. like what you would do with the final wipe down cloth removing wax. Last, a razor blade works well as described above but you have to be careful because if you catch an edge on the blade, you WILL scratch and chip the glass.
I like BonAmi and a little water. Make a paste and rub a small area, wipe with a damp cloth, repeat. BonAmi is a 'mild' abrasive and won't scratch. Follow up with a good glass cleaner (NOT Windex, etc.). Another approach might be silver polish. Side note.... Do they still make "Glass Wax" brand cleaner?? Rub on, rub off...
Soomeone on FB posted about using glass stove top cleaner/polish. My wife uses it all the time on our black glass stove top and it comes out really nice but I haven't tried it on windows.
I'm a pure 100% dickhead when it comes to cleaning glass before a show. So far the best I can figure is all these new paper towels leave a film, and ha e been since the 90s. "Perfect Glass", the shit in the black bottle is the best lately. I also now use white roll commercial hand towel as found in bathrooms. Kinda cheap paper toweling but leaves no film. Newspaper hasn't worked for decades. Old school windex is gone. 2 wipe method, wet 1st, follow dry immediately, do the outside 1st so you can see through and know you got it. Suck job but gotta be done. Works for me, no "tricks" needed.
I clean a lot of speedometer glass, and after super fine steal wool Zep 40 does better than anything else I’ve found. It’s not cheap it’s their commercial quality, but it cuts the fog and film well. It’s been streak free on windshields.
When I was working in the retail paint, wallpaper & carpet business we also had a picture framing business, I cleaned thousands of pieces of glass over the years, we used all kinds of glass cleaners, one day I ran out of the normal cleaner and went in the paint area and grabbed a aerosol spray can , the product is called Dirtex it works excellent and that's all we used from that point on. We used newspaper, paper towels and other assorted cloths but using the cotton cloth seemed to work best for the frame shop, I still use Dirtex to this day on the hot rods. HRP
Razor blade is useful in getting foreign shit off of glass, like overspray, just don't do it dry, spray window cleaner on first, helps with the scratching issue, also, make sure it's a new razor blade, no damage to the edge, and once you've started scraping the glass, don't flip the blade over, unless you're just dying to scratch the hell out of your glass. I've used my micro finishing compound that I use to buff clearcoat to get haze and hard water spots off of glass many times.
I loved that stuff! That was my go-to for windows, particularly for inside surfaces. Worked great on my '69 Torino fastback. That rear window was a real bitch to clean streak-free with anything else. Apparently no longer made, I tried to find some a few years ago. No luck at all...
Like Highlander said, modern paper towel is no good. I think they put a little detergent in it so it soaks up water instantly. I have a roll of old brown paper towel that works great with Windex (up here it's still okay, or I just have old stuff). Usually you have to do it twice, and the glass isn't clean until you hear it squeak when wiping. On the final wiping, use vertical strokes on the outside and horizontal on the inside. Then if there's still any smudges you will be able to tell what side they are on.
Probably just me, but if my windows are dirty enough that I can see it, I clean them, twice. Every time, twice. Once just does not seem to be enough.
Hello, Most will have their glass cleaning experiences. Lets go back a few steps. Throughout our car history, the older cars have heaters and those are culprits for interior “stuff” blowing out into the whole car. So, that is one place to clean out the stuff. As teens, our heater was just a black box that spewed out heat for our cold bodies after a couple of hours of activity. The 40 Ford Sedan Delivery only had the front windshield to clean. But, everyday driving to the beach or to high school, the windows were cleaned with Windex, the staple back then. It cleaned the windows, but we did nothing to render the possible culprit for the constant interior crud on the windshield. The more the vents are open for early A/C and stuff blows in, the more it gets on everything. Also, the more bodies are inside of the car at all stages of activity, before and after beach activities, just hanging around, going from place to place for the normal teenage stuff… the crud starts its activity on the inside of the windows again and again. Jnaki But, even my brother’s new 58 Impala had to have the windows cleaned inside and out, due to constant bodies inside during the cruising/racing activities. That was my job, so I always borrowed our mom’s Windex and the windows were “spic and span.” Speaking of Spic and Span, that solution also worked on really thick stuff on the windows from neglect. The technology changing over the years, what is good for one may not be acceptable for others. We found out later that a part of the interior cleaning is the rear view mirror. Windex kept it clean at anytime. So, we thought it was safe to use anywhere, including the outside mirror. Well, the windex and other solutions with ammonia caused the mirror surfaces to lose their silver stuff and the mirrors started looking like 80 year old antique mirrors. So, no more ammonia laced solutions like Windex. Glass Plus has no ammonia in its compound, cleans the windows and the interior glass takes a little longer to have to clean the normal crud off again. With the advent of A/C, most windows are always up, increasing the circulation of crud from the blower usage. Some new cars have filters in the vents and motor outlets, so that helps, but you have to change those filters, too. It is just something not all drivers have in their cars/hot rods. So, one might think about filters for those areas of air movement. So, what do we use in today’s car care of the windows? No ammonia laced Windex, plus daily Glass Plus solution for the outside surfaces… Note: Rain-X was/is a window product that came out to make water roll off of the outside window. The secondary usage was to keep moisture and fog off of the inside surface of the front window. A coating of the liquid usually did the trick on the window surfaces. But, the product needed to be reapplied after a few weeks. original product bottle from a long time ago… still half full or half empty... We tried driving with only the Rain-X product on the windshield and the beads rolled off of the glass surface. But, the overall vision was still not absolutely clear as we like it to be for safe driving. With the Rain-X, the water drops did roll off of the window at speed, but it does so with the wiper, too. When the new funny looking sponge with a chamois skin surface appeared on the market, one was used to better results. The sponge, looking thing wiped all of the interior glass cloudy stuff in one swipe. It was able to squeeze into the lower edges to get to the narrow space created by the sloping window and dash. Now, any liquid was not needed as it was a dry wipe and clean. It worked wonders. But, again, it lasted longer, but it was not a permanent thing. Perhaps a couple of weeks of driving around and mild weather made it last longer. The more the defrost is used, the more “stuff” it picks up and sends it through the blower fan motor, covering the window surface and us. Some newer cars have an air filter that filters stuff from any blower fan outlet, but the results are still questionable. So, the results are good, the dry sponge thing worked the best and took less time out of our busy retirement schedule, so the windows are perfectly clean and clear… until the next month of driving. For the outside window glass, you can still use Rain-X if that is your thing. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
