Auto Detailing Guide - Glass Care

• Overview
• Frequency
• Interior Glass How-To
• Exterior Glass How-To
• Facts and Tips

Glass Care Overview (Return to Top)

Caring for your glass is not only important for your driving visibility and safety, but it can also really make a detail stand out when cared for properly. Nothing looks worse than a freshly detailed vehicle with streaked glass. Glass that has excess product can be a determent to your visibility, especially at night when lights shine on the product and hinder your vision. Do yourself and others a favor by properly caring for your glass.

Frequency (Return to Top)

You should care for your glass on an as needed basis to ensure you always have the best visibility when driving.

Interior Glass How-To (Return to Top)

When caring for interior glass you are usually dealing with different problems than your exterior glass. Interior glass is often subject to bodily oils from people touching windows, product over spray from treating your trim pieces, smoke residue and light contamination. While reaching certain parts of interior glass may be difficult, caring for the glass is pretty straight forward.

One of the most common mistakes we see in detailing is people overusing glass cleaner. Only the smallest amount of product is needed to clean a glass surface. The more product you use the higher the chances of leaving streaks behind. We recommend using a total of 3 towels to care for your glass. One all purpose towel to apply the glass cleaner, a second one to buff off and a third, low nap, glass specific microfiber towel to buff to a streak free finish.

Another common mistake detailers make is they try to clean glass that has been sitting in the sun. You always want to care for glass when it is cool, otherwise you increase the chances of leaving behind some streaking.

The first step is to mist a small amount of glass cleaner into a microfiber towel. Avoid spraying your glass directly as you will use too much product which casuses streaking and you increase your chances of product over spray getting on your trim pieces. It's actually best to spray the product onto the towel outside of the vehicle. Using the misted towel, gently wipe the glass spreading the product. Once the product is on the glass, go back and apply some moderate pressure, slowly working the product into the glass. Pass over each area multiple times to ensure you clean the glass from different angles. Take your second microfiber towel and buff the product into the glass as best you can. Again, you want to make slow, overlapping passes while applying some pressure to the towel. Finally, take your glass specific microfiber towel and give it a final wipe down using slow overlapping passes with a good amount of pressure.

To get the most out of your glass cleaning, the first thing you should do is roll your windows down a couple of inches so you can clean the very top of the glass effectively. Follow the same technique that is outlined above. It's best to do this prior to washing your vehicle because when you roll your windows down after a wash, you'll notice the glass becomes wet and will leave water spots if you don't wipe them away immediately.

Caring for the inside part of your windshield is usually the most difficult place to reach. We recommend investing in a microfiber mini mop kit to effectively clean and reach the corners of your windshield effortlessly. Without a tool like this, it is difficult to apply pressure in those lower corners and it is also hard to not touch the glass. Follow the same techniques using the three different pads (coarse pad to apply the cleaner, microfiber duster pad to remove most of the product and the glass specific pad to leave behind a streak free finish). You can also simply wrap microfiber towels around the head of the mini-mop to get the same effect. Another tip when treating the inside windshield is to sit on the passenger side of the car when cleaning the drivers side glass. This helps you get behind the steering wheel a little bit easier.

Exterior Glass How-To (Return to Top)

Your exterior glass is exposed to various elements as you drive and park your vehicle. Caring for your exterior glass is somewhat similar to caring for your paint. You want to wash, prep the glass which can be done by using a clay bar and protect your glass. By protecting your exterior glass you can help make your maintenance on your glass significantly easier and you can improve your visibility during poor driving conditions.

If you are simply maintaining your exterior glass, wash it as you would the rest of your vehicle. When you are done, follow the same cleaning steps as you would for your interior glass, using multiple towels and as little glass cleaner as possible.

To give your glass a deeper cleaning, you may want to consider using a clay bar.

If water spots are a problem on your glass, we recommend using Glass Science Glass Scrub. This is a unique creme glass polish designed to dissolve mineral deposits typically left behind when water evaporates on the glass. Glass Scrub needs to be applied on a wet surface, so the best time to use this product is when you are washing your vehicle. It's also important not to over use this product as it can leave behind product film, especially if you do not rinse it off immediately. After using the glass polish, be sure to follow up with the interior glass cleaning techniques to remove any excess product residue and to ensure you have streak free glass. A home remedy for water spots on glass is using distilled white vinegar as your glass cleaner.

After your glass is as clean as you'd like, it's best to apply some sort of protectant to your glass. This will help water bead right off when its raining and minimize the contamination that builds up on your glass. It will also help prolong the life of your wipers since you won't have to use them as often. A glass specific protectant is Glass Science Rain Clear. This is a gel based formula that needs to be applied thinly and buffed off using some elbow grease, but the results are great. It leaves behind a barrier of protection that makes water roll right off your glass. You can also use a paint sealant, carnauba wax or an all in one product to clean and protect your glass in one step.

Facts and Tips (Return to Top)

• Use as little glass cleaner as possible to minimize streaking
• Never use ammonia based glass cleaners on tinted windows
• Use multiple towels to clean your glass, this will help reduce streaking
• Always clean your glass when it is cool to the touch and out of direct sunlight
• Protect your exterior glass to make maintaining your glass easier and to improve visibility during poor weather conditions
• Using a glass polish or distilled white vinegar can help remove water spots on glass