Properly caring for your glass can be quite difficult at times. When you are working on your paint, there is a certain amount of imperfections that can be hidden depending on your car's paint color. With glass, however, you won't be so lucky. Glass is completely and entirely transparent, meaning that every single smear, streak, smudge, and spec can be seen with absolute clarity. Because of this, you have to be extra diligent in how you care for your glass.
Not only are these apparent imperfections detrimental to how your glass looks, but also how your glass functions. In order to make sure that you are able to safely drive your car, you need to be able to see clearly out of the glass surfaces on your car. When your glass is riddled with imperfections, clearly seeing the road in front of you can be difficult at times. To make sure that your car always looks its best and operates as safely as possible, we have made this detailed guide on how to car for your glass.
Before you jump right into trying to clean all the imperfections off your glass and bringing it back to its transparent, blemish-free look, there are a couple things you'll want to think about first.
1. Glass can become just as covered with contaminants as your paint can at times. If you attempt to clean your glass with these contaminants still resting on the surface, you will not achieve the results you are hoping to achieve. If your glass is particularly contaminated, you may want to do a decontamination step prior to cleaning your glass to ensure that your results are as expected. If you are unsure how to do so, you can decontaminate your glass using the same method outlined in our guide on how to decontaminate your paint. You can find the link to that guide here.
2. When you are cleaning any part of your car and using products on it, you want to make sure to do so outside of direct sunlight and on a cool surface. This will ensure that the product does not dry prematurely and leave behind unsightly residue.
Cleaning your glass properly is more dependent on the products you use rather than the technique in which you use them. As such, we recommend you use the following products to care for your glass.
1. SONAX Glass Cleaner (SON-338241) This extremely effective glass cleaner is made using a phosphate-free formula that will prevent streaks from developing. It will be able to eliminate any film, dirt, or insect remains that tend to find their wat onto your glass. You can even use SONAX Glass Cleaner on your house-hold glass surfaces as well.
2. SONAX Microfiber Interior & Glass Cloths (SON-416541) The shallow nap of these cloths will ensure that you get a perfect, streak-free finish without any linting!
To achieve the best results when you clean your glass, we recommend that you use a two-towel method. You will want to take one of your two SONAX Microfiber Interior & Glass Cloths and dampen it with some water. This will ensure that the SONAX Glass Cleaner is kept mostly on the surface of your glass instead of being absorbed entirely by the cloth.
If you are cleaning your windshield, you will want to raise your windshield wipers before you begin cleaning.
When cleaning your glass, it is best to work in 2' x 2' sections to ensure that you are able to properly work the product on the surface and wipe it off before it dries.
Start by spraying your SONAX Glass Cleaner directly onto the outside surface of your glass. Then you will want to take your damp glass cloth and gently work the product over the glass using left to right motions. Working the product in using left to right motions is important because you will use up and down motions while cleaning the inside of your glass. By using these different cleaning patterns, should any streaks occur once you are finished cleaning, they will follow the pattern in which you applied the glass cleaner, allowing you to easily identify which side of the glass will have to be re-cleaned.
Work the product onto the glass until you are confident that all the smears, streaks, and residue have been sufficiently removed. You will then take your dry microfiber towel and gently wipe the remaining glass cleaner off of the glass surface, once again working in left-to-right motions.
Once the product is wiped off, inspect that section of glass to ensure that all imperfections are adequately removed. If you see that there are still some blemishes left, the glass may have been dirtier than originally anticipated and will have to be cleaned again.
Once you have finished cleaning the entire exterior surface of the glass, you will then want to move onto the interior. You will use the same cleaning method that you did when cleaning the exterior, however, you will work the product up and down instead.
Once both side of the glass are sufficiently cleaned, the only thing left to do is stand back and admire your handiwork!
