Cleaning Interior Windscreen

[IVORTHE DRIVER]

I was too scared to ask that

[Gareth]

[quote="Slink_Pink"Is it contained in the washing up liquid?[/quote]
It used to be common knowledge that this was so. Don't know whether it was significant, and if it was whether it still is.

[fungus]

It is my belief that salt is added to products like washing up liquid and shampoo as a lathering agent.

In soft water areas, the amount of washing powder, washing up liquid, shampoo etc. needed, is less than in hard water areas. Isn't that why salt is added in a water softener? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[IVORTHE DRIVER]

Hi,

Looked at me fairy and see no salt, also I use spring water (not from a bottle, my own spring) wonder if that will make a difference?

Ivor

[Renny]

Hi,

Looked at me fairy and see no salt, also I use spring water (not from a bottle, my own spring) wonder if that will make a difference?

Ivor

Fairy was one of the better quality detergents tht did not contain salt. Some of the cheaper value brands do however.

[fungus]

Isn't that why salt is added in a water softener? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Not exactly. The softening action uses an ion exchange resin, which replaces calcium & magnesium ions with sodium ions. The salt is used to regenerate the exhausted resin.

Thanks for the explanation Chris

[fungus]

Oops . Cleaned the wifes with meths, and although it looks clean and sparkly, when driving into the sun it's smeary. Ive tried washing it with washing up liquid, but it's no better.

[Ancient]

Nigel, try vinegar in hot water, that should clean the smears off.

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

ALL of these methods will work. The difficulty is that the film on the windscreen is oily and hard to shift. All of your solvents are starting to move the film. If there are smears left they're either residue from not completely cleaning the film off, or they're left by the cloths you're using to polish with. Just persevere. Use disposable media - kitchen towel, newspaper etc. and renew it as soon as it gets dirty. You need to remove the film from the glass as soon as the solvent starts to dissolve it, or it just dries straight back on again. Very volatile solvents like meths work brilliantly for a second or two, then evaporate leaving the residue firmly in place again. Personally, although much vaunted in the past, I've never found newsprint that great at cleaning glass. I guess it's changed in quality since that particular tip was first circulated. If you can find a very lightly printed page, it might work better, but printing ink is oil-based, so once you've got some solvent on it, it's likely that you're just wiping oil back onto the screen.

[YorkshireJumbo]

E-cloth works for me - basically it's a set of special microfibre cloth. It usually works well with just water on my windscreen, though I'll sometimes attack it first with Windowlene if it's really bad

[lgw]

I have had very good results using Wurth Active Glass Cleaner, easy to apply and easy to remove leaving a smear free windscreen using paper to remove the grime not sure how much it costs retail as I get it at trade price

[madmoggy]

My best results have been with a product from Gtechniq called G4
Its a liquid cleaner which does a good job of breaking the film down on the glass and then removing it. Takes a while (and took me three microfibre cloths) but the results are worth it.
Edit: Sorry, should have been G4, G1 is the coating to put on afterwards (similar to rain-x)

[Grahar]

I think one of the biggest problems with cleaning interior glass is that it is not easy to rinse the glass. Any oil and dirt lifted on exterior glass with a cleaning agent can be immediately rinsed off with warm water. Maybe cleaning and then rinsing and having a sponge to collect the dirty water at the bottom of the screen might work?

Alternatively, I have used glass polish that drys to a residue and then can be polished off. This does eliminate streaks, but results in a fine powder (that absorbs/transports the oil/dirt from the windscreen) being left on the dashboard/trim that then has to be dusted/vacuumed away.

[fungus]

I have managed to remove smears with warm water and washing up liquid, but make sure that you put plenty of towels at the base of the screen to catch any excess water. I rinse by using a clean sponge squeezed out, wiping over the surface, rinsing in clean water and repeating the process until clear.

[Grahar]

Washing with water and washing up liquid with towels at the base of the windscreen is a good idea. I will definitely try it!