Cleaning the inside of a windscreen

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
D

Deleted member 35268

Guest
Windowlene and newspaper works a treat
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
I use Windolene spray which has vinegar in it; leaves the screen completely clean and streak-free. You could always make up your own in a spray bottle.

windolene.jpg

GC
 

subaqua

What’s the point
Location
Leytonstone
AutoGlym fast glass. A lot depends on the cloth you use to clean it, too. Lint free polishing cloths work best IME..

I love all the auto gym stuff . I do also recommend the turtle wax glass cleaning polish as that sorted out a particularly smeary screen on a van in work
 

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
Forget all those expensive for what they are cleaners. A squirt of decent washing up liquid in half a bucket of water (preferably hot) is the best way. Put something over the dashboard to catch the falling water then use the solution liberally using a dish cloth or similar. An absorbent cloth is then needed to wipe the glass dry.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
AutoGlym fast glass. A lot depends on the cloth you use to clean it, too. Lint free polishing cloths work best IME..

brilliant stuff
 

PeteXXX

Cake or ice cream? The choice is endless ...
Location
Hamtun
Vinegar and newspaper... Dishwasher 'rinse-aid', used sparingly, on a lint free cloth isn't bad either.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Accy cyclist has it. What you are seeing is plasticiser film, the last problem the motor industry has never solved. It's the plasticiser migrating out of the vinyl trim and settling on interior surfaces. Most motorists don't even notice it and carry on driving with their windows becoming foggier and foggier. The film attracts moisture so makes the windows mist up, disastrous for drivers who don't understand how to use the car's ventilation system. It obscures vison at night and makes the windscreen opaque when driving towards a low sun with a dark background, which is extremely dangerous for cyclists especially.

The secret is to keep on top of it and give the insides of the windows a good polish every month with a clean dry towel. If the film has built up, use water and dishwash liquid and marvel at the filth that appears on the cloth. It's quite tenacious so you'll need to do it a couple of times to get the glass really clean before buffing with a dry towel. You can see it beginning to build up again by wiping the corner of the windscreen with a finger while the sun is shining on the screen. Old cars don't suffer from plasticiser film because they are trimmed with leather and wood. It worries me that I'm inhaling that stuff, which is another good reason for keeping you car well ventilated by always running the fan on its lowest speed.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
It's really dangerous; I keep my windscreen inside assiduously clean because when I was child my Dad was involved in a horrifying crash in which somebody died; the Police said that his car was in perfect order but that if there had been any fault they might have gone for manslaugher. I'm surpised the Highway Code isn't stronger on this and the Police and the Courts are so ignorant of it as a possible contributing factor to cyclist deaths.
 
I had to scrape the snow off my car this morning - about 4-5 inches had fallen in the night.

And you'd be horrified to see how many people drive around like this:

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTEjhgheMkeFFgqrqdY29zPq6mEnL-u-x7EFQG2tmBz_79aDlaU.jpg


As for the inside, if you give your windscreen a good clean (with some of the above-mentioned methods), then you can keep it spotless by using a microfibre cloth every now and then. They're quick, cheap and effective:

http://www.environmentalhealth.ca/summer07cleaningmicrofibre.html
 
Top Bottom