HELP with cleaning inside of glass.

[drossel]

Every other month or so a white film builds up on the inside of my car, most noticably on the inside of the front and back windshield. I HATE cleaning this crap off. For one, the windshields on my E46 are so steeoly raked i strain my wrist trying to get all corners of it cleaned. Secondly, I dont know what this crap is but it's the cockroach of window film - it never goes away. I spend 10-15 minutes cleaning the windshiled, thinking I did a good job, only to drive it at night and see that I've only smeared the shit around. Can someone please help. Thanks in advance.

(I've used just about every glass cleanr known to man.)

[Boomerbimmer]

I believe what you are noticing is the out gassing from the vinyl on the dash. I have had good luck with "Invisable Glass" but it will come back in a matter of a week or so.

[dave162]

Try a glass polish. I used to use sprays on windows that havn't been cleaned for months, and they seem to spread the dirt all around the window.

[KevinA]

You may just have to give up and clean more often... I've had to do that with all my vehicles in the past.

[drossel]

thanks for all the input. i've heard of people using old newspaper to clean windows with? how does this work exactly? do you still need glass cleaner? do you spray the glass cleaner onto the newspaper and wipe wipe onto the glass? or do you just use the crumpled up newspaper dry?

[cohiba]

You can try cleaning the glass with a microfiber cloth. They work great for cleaning everything.

[drossel]

i have tried cleaning the inside glass with microfiber, but it leaves large amount of microfibers everywhere. it very annoying.

[owen]

Using an old newspaper will help to reduce streaks and the amount of dust/lint that paper towels or cotton towels can leave behind.
I'm having the same problem with my rear windshield, I've tried using rubbing alcohol and have had some success. Although it dries quickly and requieres more work then most glass cleaners it seems to remove more of the grime, buffing lightly afterwards helps clear everything up nicely.
Has anyone tried waxing the insides of their windows, I usually do this to the outside to act like a Rain-X, and help repell dirt.

[drossel]

never tried waxing the inside. waxing the outside does help though.

[Glenn 328is]

Any regular household glass cleaner should do the job. After applying the cleaner, I use a small rubber squeegee to pull the cleaner off so there aren't any towel smudges or streaks.

I also have tried the newspaper method, but I seem to push extremely hard on the window to do anything.

Does you guys notice that the rear side windows streak up quickly from the inside? Water leaks behind and catches dust. I seem to be cleaning that window every few days and I never have those windows opened.

[David]

Ahhhhhh!!!! The shi**y window film. I hate that stuff. But yeah, one of the previous posters was right on the money when they said it's the outgassing from the plastics in the car. I tried everything(even the things listed in this thread), and nothing seemed to work well, until...

The best way to clean this shit is to take a wet cotton towel and wipe the insides of your windows. Then take a second towel, and buff all the water off until the window is bone dry. If you leave any streaks of water they will dry and look nasty. Trust me, this works. I haven't cleaned my windows since the beginning of July and there is no noticable film build up. I've been using this method since last summer.

Good luck.

[Cobra Jet]

The BEST product to use:

Eagle One 20/20 glass cleaner. Can be found in Auto Zone.

It's the BEST glass cleaner I have ever used.

Also, another "trick" - when using paper towels, use PLAIN WHITE paper towels, with NO PRINTS on them... the plain white paper towels work the best and will not leave any smudges/streaks (which is mostly caused by the dyes/pigment in the printed towels).

Another thing to do, is after spraying the glass and wiping it, go over the entire glass pane again with a completely dry paper towel. The best way to do this is a SIDE TO SIDE motion, not up and down...you cover more area side to side.

Using all of those "dash protectants" that contain all sorts of nasty chemicals and "grease" to make your dash look nice and shiny is what leaves that "film" all over the windows... the film is caused by the release of the gasses from those cleaners as the car sits and bakes in the daylight sun with the windows closed. Since there is no way for the gasses to escape the car, the gas rises and coats the windows. That's where the *ghost* film comes from....


Using a sheet of newspaper is an old artist's trick. It cleans the glass surface and will not leave any residue, lint etc... One other reason not to use 'mircofiber' or regular bath towels, high lint content...

Good luck!!

[Caymandiver75]

Great post.. Thanks for sharing.. I didn't realize the film was caused by outgassing of the plastics in the car. How does that work? It seems rather odd that plastics leave gas.

[Cobra Jet]

the plastic/vinyl/rubber used for interior panels, etc is actually porous, even though it is actually "solid".

These plastics need to breathe believe it or not. When they are coated with any type of product, the product clogs the very small pores in the panels/dashboards, etc... Once the pores are clogged and the product has seeped into the pores, as the product disipates, or is "heated" from the daylight sun, it actually bakes and gives off the gasses (that cannot be seen) and this is what coats the windows.

Armor All was KNOWN to wreak havoc on dash pads, they advertised how great their product was, but after repeated use, the sun actually BAKED this product to the point that the dash boards and pads would crack over time or years of use.

Applying any chemical like that, which leaves a high gloss finish is only intensifying and MAGNIFYING the sun's rays as it heats the dash surfaces, or door panel surfaces. As this heating occurs, the dash material (plastic, vinyl or rubber) over time will actually dry out from the baking process.

The only product I use for my interior enhancements is Nu Vinyl. It does not leave any greasy residue, does not leave a sheen or high gloss shine at all. Once it is applied, it basically disappears. It is kinda like a satin finish. It also does not appear to leave any "ghost film" on the windows, if it does, it's very slight because I have never seen any residue.

If you keep up on your interior, all you really need for cleaning would be a damp rag to wipe off the dust. Constantly applying chemicals to the interior panels/dash area is not good, especially if you car is one that is always out in the sun.

*One other trick which saves the interior and exterior finishes - always park your car in a different parking spot while at work, and at different angles. Back it in one day, park it forward one day, maybe move to another spot etc...

Cars that are always parked in the same exact location at the same exact angle every day will suffer from more paint fade/interior fade/wear in those areas getting the sunlight every day over time than one that is constantly "moved" or parked differently. I know most may have their "favorite parking spot" at work, but if you just alter your parking habits every so often it will save the paint and interior over time. Cars that are parking garage kept, makes no difference, park the same all the time.

good luck everyone... I better stop giving out my detail secrets... LOL!!! (kidding)