Pane in the Glass
What could possibly be easier than cleaning the windows in your car? Well maybe a lot of things.
First you have to make sure that you use the right products. Use a glass cleaner that’s designed for automobiles not for household use. The reason is some of the household products they can leave a film on the windshield that causes the wipers to streak and smear. That's not safe.
All right, second thing, if you happen to have tinted windows… I know a lot of us like tinted windows either to keep the sun off or just for the look. Well tinted windows have a plastic film on the inside of the glass. That plastic film has to be treated properly. You don't use any kind of glass cleaner that has ammonia or any other harsh chemicals in it. You use a tint safe window cleaner. Anything else could damage that film, and it looks really nasty when it happens. I also use microfiber cloths because you don't want to scratch it, and these things you see on the internet about cleaning everything with wadded up newspaper and so on… that will really do a number on your window tint.
Alright, lots of us have to have parking stickers or inspection stickers and things like that. Those come off. You take them off…replace them… but they leave a residue of adhesive behind them. So what are you to do? Well you use a sticker remover or some type of solvent to dissolve the glue. Then you carefully use a razor blade, or if you can find it a plastic razor blade, to scrape the residue off and that way you won't damage the glass.
Another thing, and this is almost unheard of for most people. The windows and the doors ride up and down in channels. Those channels get dirty. They cause the window to bind and chatter as it goes up and down. Well you can prevent all of that, and sometimes cure it, by using silicone spray. Yes, it's the same as silicone spray that you use on your weather stripping. You spray it into the channel… let it run down past the glass…move the glass up and down two or three times to distribute the silicone… and that will cure lot of problems and prevent the problem from happening in the first place. So silicone spray in the window channels.
And if you have a question or comment drop me a line right here at MotorWeek.