Best windscreen cleaner

[culzean]

With less frequent use I noticed windscreen on our cars were getting like a hazy / streaky film on them that even good quality prestone summer screenwash ( I know winter anti-freeze screenwash can cause smearing ) and new wiper blades was not shifting.  It is bad enough when sun is on the screen to compromise vision,  and at night was really annoying with oncoming headlight. 

I had some sugar soap in the garage  and I nicked one of those washing up sponges with the white nylon fuzz on one side from kitchen and gave the screens a good scrub with neat sugar soap,  then left foam on for 10 minutes and washed it off with lots of clean water.

The results were amazing considering the small effort I had to put in,  screens now sparkling and the wipers glide smoothly...

[Kremmen]

Over the years I must have tried every product on the market. The problem with most of them is that they leave some residue which smears and or streaks, especially the windscreen with wipers.

What I've been using for some years now is 'Invisible Glass' you can get plain or with rain repellent.

Once I've washed the car and got the inevitable wash'n'wax over the screen I use an old kitchen scour sponge and work invisible glass all over the screen. As you apply it it evaporates and leaves nothing behind. A good finish with a clean microfibre and it's job done.

Wiper blades, Bosch Aerotwin of course

[culzean]

I will never use anything with 'rain repellent' in it,  I learnt my lesson the hard way that all it does is smear the screen, there is a small clear area that follows the wiper blade across which quickly turns into an area covered with tiny beads of water as the rain repellent does its job ( which is being hydrophobic ),  which is to make the water bead up ( rather than spread out ) until the slipstream blows the beads off the windscreen ( when wipers are not used this effect normally happens above 25 to 30 mph ) but add screenwash and wiper into the equation and the rain repellent quickly loses it effectiveness but does cause misty / smearing effect for weeks afterwards until it wears off the screen.

Rain repellent does work quite well on motorbike helmet visor where no screenwash or wipers get involved,  but I never ride in the rain these days anyway ( except by accident) so still don't use it.

[madasafish]

Just cleaned car. Sprayed windows with cheap Aldi Mirror and Window cleaner (vinegar mainly) , wiped dry with microfiber cloth, then washed with wax shampoo.. Spotless.

(Which is unusual as bees leave a deposit of brown poo on car which dries to a hard waxy finish.. In summer I have over 500k bees in our garden  and a spotty car)

[peteo48]

I've been experimenting with various approaches. This car has a dealer applied sealant which includes a glass protection product. I think I have made a bit of mess of things since. Yesterday I polished the windscreen with Autoglym Glass Polish. This is supposed to be a polish in the true sense of the word - ie not leaving anything behind. I then re-applied some of the glass treatment that came with a kit.

Water beads up well but there is a definite smearing - not to any dangerous extent but slightly annoying. I also sense that there are some patches of wax (possibly from wash and wax shampoos and/or other drying aids like Autoglym Aqua wax)

The rain does blow off the windscreen as it is supposed to do but not to the extent that you can do without wipers. I am coming round to the viewpoint that the best approach is a completely uncontaminated finish as Culzean suggests.

[guest9236]

Just cleaned car. Sprayed windows with cheap Aldi Mirror and Window cleaner (vinegar mainly) , wiped dry with microfiber cloth, then washed with wax shampoo.. Spotless.

(Which is unusual as bees leave a deposit of brown poo on car which dries to a hard waxy finish.. In summer I have over 500k bees in our garden  and a spotty car)

Thank you for a short simple solution to windscreen cleaning it is refreshing not to have to read a lengthy screed on a simple subject.
I shall use this method, on the cars and tractors thank you, we have bees in the field but they are not ours, we let the local Bee Keeper man use it,  so we do not have the same Bee poo problem that you described.

[culzean]

Our 8th gen Honda civic ( without rear wiper ) has a hydrophilic coating on the rear screen glass from new that is the opposite of rainex or similar hydrophobic coating - the hydrophilic coating causes water to 'lie down' and spread out rather than bead up....but the trouble with wipers is that they quickly degrade any coating, especially when combined with sreenwash chemicals.

[springswood]

Thanks this has been helpful. It looks like the smears I get come from using a garage jet wash, and now I know how to fix it.

Also half a million bees, flippin' eck.

[madasafish]

Thanks this has been helpful. It looks like the smears I get come from using a garage jet wash, and now I know how to fix it.

Also half a million bees, flippin' eck.

Try counting the bees 

[culzean]

Thinking of trying something like this hydrophilic coating on side and rear windows, exterior mirrors etc ( and if I had a reversing camera then that as well ) it actually stops the water forming droplets and encourages it to spread out and run off the glass. It is the opposite of rainex and other hydrophobic coatings.  I will give windows a quick scrub with sugar soap liquid first to try and get all the cr4p off.  I did notice using rainex on side windows and mirrors made ice easier to get off, but it did make water bead up annoyingly and compromised visibility until slipstream was fast enough >25mph to blow the droplets off.  As I said Civic rear window ( the models without rear wiper ) had a hydrophilic coating on the glass from the factory,  which I compromised by trying rainex on there, was never as good at self cleaning afterwards.

https://shop.alienmagic.com/anti-fog-pro-hydrophobic-glass-coat-sealant-200ml