Author Topic: Made a right mess of my windscreen!  (Read 4372 times)

peteo48

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Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« on: July 18, 2020, 10:58:01 AM »
I had another thread about waterless washes. When I last used one (about a week ago) I cleaned the windscreen with it. A real schoolboy error.

It smears, not so you can't see but annoying nevertheless but it also affects the passage of the wipers - they become a bit juddery in light rain.

It shows that the waterless wash absolutely does leave something behind in terms of protection but I now want to thoroughly clean my windscreen.

Any tips to get it to a completely uncontaminated state?

Jocko

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2020, 11:34:12 AM »
I start with spirit. Lighter fluid is what I have to hand.  Then neat washing up liquid. Wash off then use a proprietary cleaner. My fave is Black Diamond.

d2d4j

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2020, 11:39:08 AM »
Hi

A clean cloth of tissue, wet cloth or tissue and wipe screen

Wipe of using newspaper (black print not full colour print) whilst screen is very wet until completely dry and no smears left

I have used this method since late 70’s and never had any screen issues and if used inside windows, they tend not to mist up and if misted, clear very quickly

If screen is very heavily coated, repeat 2 or 3 times using new tissue and newspaper

Many thanks

John

csp

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2020, 12:18:22 PM »
I used newspaper on a kitchen window once, after I had washed and dried it but it scratched the glass so I have not used it anywhere since. I may have been unlucky but I wouldn't risk it again.

d2d4j

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2020, 02:08:56 PM »
Hi

Sorry not sure how a newspaper (or paper) could scratch glass unless you had metal in it, such as staples. If so, remove metal or staples

Many thanks

John

madasafish

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2020, 02:16:53 PM »
Clean microfibre cloth and 70% alcohol hand sanitiser..

Small areas at a time. Alcohol dissolves old wax.. but evaporates so work quickly

culzean

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2020, 04:31:26 PM »
Clean microfibre cloth and 70% alcohol hand sanitiser..

Small areas at a time. Alcohol dissolves old wax.. but evaporates so work quickly

I have cleaned my spectacles and motorbike helmet visor with alcohol hand sanitiser for many years - if it works on those should be good on windows.  Also add a splash of meths to windscreen washer reservoir - seem to clean squashed kamikaze bugs off better...
« Last Edit: July 18, 2020, 04:33:01 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

culzean

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2020, 04:44:42 PM »
Hi

Sorry not sure how a newspaper (or paper) could scratch glass unless you had metal in it, such as staples. If so, remove metal or staples

Many thanks

John

May have been one of those papers that does 'gritty' or 'cutting edge' journalism  :D  Paper does contain clay,  which does make it slightly abrasive - my wife caught me using her 'best' scissors ( the ones she used for cutting cloth ) and I had an earful about paper blunting the cutting edge of scissors,  thinking about it she was correct.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

guest4871

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #8 on: July 18, 2020, 04:59:55 PM »
Barkeepers Friend (be careful not do it over a concrete surface).


guest4871

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2020, 05:07:14 PM »
May have been one of those papers that does 'gritty' or 'cutting edge' journalism  :D  Paper does contain clay,  which does make it slightly abrasive - my wife caught me using her 'best' scissors ( the ones she used for cutting cloth ) and I had an earful about paper blunting the cutting edge of scissors,  thinking about it she was correct.

Cutting aluminium foil with the scissors will resharpen them.

TnTkr

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2020, 09:29:07 PM »
Wurth Brake Cleaner. I've used it myself and we've used it at work when some grease or silicone has messed the windshield or other windows. It is also good for removing greasy fingerprints from matte camouflage paint for exhibition.

equaliser

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2020, 11:21:50 PM »
Autoglym Glass Cleaner, it's so good my wife uses it in the house to clean any hard shiny surface - magic on tiles too!

csp

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2020, 06:48:05 AM »
There were no staples or anything else in the news paper, but I would rather use soft kitchen paper, a soft cloth than risk scratching glass with newspaper again because getting scratches out of glass is not easy. I am not sure how the newspaper scratched the glass window but I can assure you it did.

I find Glass cleaning solutions or water with white vinegar and a drop of washing up liquid are best for removing marks on glass and a good quality silicone squeegee is good for removing excess water from a washed and rinsed windows. My squeegee came from Asda.

I use rain repellent on my windscreen, windows, mirrors and wiper blades, something like RainX. I started using it about 40 years ago when I was driving 25 to 30 thousand miles a year and have used it ever since, the screen stays cleaner for longer and rain clears off the screen quicker, it also extends the life of the wiper blades. Some people do not like using rain repellent but others like me swear by it. The treatment needs refreshing every few months, depending on how often the wipers are used or after use of Ice removing spray.

culzean

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #13 on: July 19, 2020, 08:58:41 AM »


I use rain repellent on my windscreen, windows, mirrors and wiper blades, something like RainX. I started using it about 40 years ago when I was driving 25 to 30 thousand miles a year and have used it ever since, the screen stays cleaner for longer and rain clears off the screen quicker, it also extends the life of the wiper blades. Some people do not like using rain repellent but others like me swear by it. The treatment needs refreshing every few months, depending on how often the wipers are used or after use of Ice removing spray.

The acetic acid in vinegar neutralises the lime found in most UK tapwater,  I use a splash of kettle descaler in water with a squirt of fairy liquid when doing house windows.  I stopped using Rainex pretty soon after I started - found it caused 'misting' on screen when the wiper blades cleared the rain the thin film of water that was left behind beaded up into millions of little domes after every pass of the wipers, and stayed there until wipers came back, and then beaded up again when wiper went the other way - super annoying when on intermittent wipers, and bad even on normal speed wipers - the theory of rainex is that it causes water to bead up and blow away due to wind over screen,  it works with larger drops ( above about 30mph ) but the gazillions of smaller drops after a wiper blade pass do not blow away even at higher speeds.  Rainex is better on side windows but still causes problems with the rain beading up and staying on windows ( uncles the vehicle is moving ) only thing I found rainex good for was making frost and  ice easier to remove from windows.

Never known newspaper scratch glass,  unless it was the diamond traders weekly, or the carborundum manufacturers newsletter.

I did try some silicone rubber wiper blades many years ago, they were a lot tougher than normal rubber blades but they also caused a misting / streaking on the glass, found out later that they blades leave a film of silicone on the glass which is a bit like Rainex in the way water behaves. 
« Last Edit: July 19, 2020, 09:57:27 AM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

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Re: Made a right mess of my windscreen!
« Reply #14 on: July 19, 2020, 10:38:45 AM »
I tried Rain-X a number of years back, and at first thought it was great. 70 mph on the motorway, moderate rain and no need for wipers. However, I then found that under streetlights the screen was very smeared and blurred. Once I managed to clean it off I never used it again.

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