How to Clean Your Car Windows

Ensuring visibility when you’re out on the open road is essential. No one can be in any doubt that even the slightest smear on your window can impact clarity, especially at high speeds or in tight situations. And let’s face it, people are judging you on the state of your car, so it’s worth noting that clean windows give you a better-looking vehicle.

Cleaning your windows regularly means that you have a better awareness of other road users reducing your chances of a driver error or accident. But what’s the best way to go about cleaning your glass?

Tips for Cleaning the Outside of the Windows

• Always start cleaning the outside of the car. Wash your car first and this should get over the worst of the job, helping you clear off the bugs and dirt that have accumulated during your past road usage and stops you from getting grime back on windows you have cleaned.
• Clean your car in the shade or at least a lower heat so that the glass cleaner or water has a chance to clean the windows. If the car is too hot, the cleaner or water may evaporate rapidly or even leave marks.
• Get the right equipment together to clean the car’s glass. Get a good glass cleaner in a spray bottle, a clean microfiber cloth, access to water, a sponge, a bucket and if necessary a good blade wiper cleaner.
• When cleaning the windscreen remember to lift the wiper blades before you start. Spray the cleaning fluid directly onto the glass as it will hit its target with a little help from gravity. Need some assistance shifting stubborn bugs? Use concentrated blast of spray on the offending beasties.
• Prevent streaks on the glass by using the expert motion. Remember that you want to go from top to bottom in a vertical motion and then use a horizontal motion to best avoid streaks. You may find that dried on dirt and bugs require that little extra effort to shift.
• Go fifty-fifty on the front and back windscreens – and clean half at a time, allowing you to get the window cleaned before the fluid has a chance to dry out.
• Wind down the side windows and allow yourself to clean the little part at the top. Whilst you are on the side of the car take the time to use the cleaning fluid and glass cloth on the headlights and mirrors. Then wipe all your windows dry with a second micro-fibre cloth.
• Finally clean the wiper blades to finish with a little spray from your cleaner, then wipe them dry. This is now the ideal time to consider applying a wiper treatment to your blades. Clean the joints and leave the wipers in the air to dry before snapping back into place.

Tips for Cleaning the Inside of Your Windows

• Always do the inside of your windows after the outside. This gives you a chance to spot any smears on the inside of the glass and scout out marks from Sat Nav suckers, fingerprints and marks from anything else that’s stuck on the glass, such as your five-years old’s lips.
• Take your lead from the professional valet service and try to start with the passenger side first as you will find you have more room to move when it comes to getting past the driving wheel.
• Use a second micro-fibre cloth rather than the one you used on the outside and don’t fall back on traditional alternatives such as newspaper or tissues as these could leave marks or might not be strong enough for the job.
• Spray on the cloth instead of using the gravity method for the outside of the car. This way you can control and concentrate the use of the spray and stop it from finding its way around the rest of your vehicle’s interior. If you do not have any glass cleaner, then sufficiently hot water will suffice, but be sure not to use boiling water as this could damage the glass.

• Wipe the glass – in an up and down motion, then side to side, leaving fewer streaks and marks than by using the old circular motion. After you have used the original microfibre cloth for cleaning use a second cloth to ensure that you don’t transfer any dirt or grime onto the window.

And Finally…

Once you have gone to all the trouble of cleaning the windows, make sure that you have topped up your windscreen wiper fluid to help the windows remain in that beautiful, crystal clear state, giving you the visibility of champions as you make your way down the highway.