How to Clean Car Windows
You can have good or you can have great

Any Internet search on how to clean car windows will deliver up a mind blowing amount of results. I could reduce the countless search results into two categories:

• People with no experience repeating what they have learned from other people with no experience
• Companies who make a car window cleaner and want to sell you their car window cleaner
  

As a professional detailer, there are very few things I have struggled with more than learning how to clean car windows to perfection.

Most detailers simply give up the pursuit of perfection and accept "good enough". Car windows that are basically clean, but still have smudges, streaks, and haze.

"Good from far, but far from good!"

The good news is that a few years ago I stumble upon a product and a technique of cleaning car windows that blew my mind. I wish I could say that I developed it, but I can't.

I was simply shown the exact product and the exact technique that can produce the cleanest, smudge free, haze free windows I have ever seen.

How to Clean Car Windows:
When good enough, isn't

Since I accept that we are all naturally lazy creatures, most of us are looking for ways to get what we want with the least amount of effort.

I too am human and I want what I want with little to no effort. But when it comes to cleaning car windows, you must accept that a certain amount of effort will always be required.

You must also be willing to accept certain realities that I will put under the heading of "maintaining realistic expectations". But I will cover that in more detail further down the page.

Best Window Cleaner:
Super-simple and less-simple

We all want the "best".

I know I want the best. In this case it would be the best car window cleaner. I have yet to meet a person looking for the worst car window cleaner.

The problem is that most people simply go in search of the best of something, but don't know enough to ask the right questions in order to find what the "best" really means to them as a person.

What makes the "best" for one person, may not be what makes the best for another person:

• The cheapest to buy
• The easiest to use (regardless of results it can or cannot produce)
• The simplest to use (ready-to-use vs. a concentrate)

To circle back around to us being naturally lazy creatures, I accept that some of you reading this are actually okay with marginal results and are looking for the best window cleaner that delivers pretty good results, but do so with the least amount of effort.

Best Window Cleaner:
Super simple

Meguiar's Glass Cleaner on Amazon

• A very "good" car window cleaner
• For all those looking to keep car window cleaning basic and super-simple
• Probably the perfect window cleaner for the majority of people (assuming you are not looking for perfection)
  

Darren's Note: If you want a really good, ready-to-use window cleaner because you want good results with the least amount of effort (one product, no mixing from a concentrate involved), then this product is a sure thing.

Ready-to-use, and perfectly sized for cleaning the windows in your car. For both interior and exterior use. Safe for use on tinted windows despite any incorrect information you have read.

Best Window Cleaner:
Less-simple

This recommendation is not so much about a less-simple car window cleaner, but this kit has a special tool for effective cleaning of the front windshield.

Due to the slant and the tight forward facing crevice of the windshield and dashboard, cleaning the windshield is especially difficult. And if you have difficulty with strength and mobility due to health issues, cleaning the windshield can be an almost impossible proposition for a person.

Invisible Glass Cleaning Kit on Amazon

• This is an aerosol window cleaner (some people love this, some don't)
• This comes with an incredibly handy and effective tool for cleaning the windshield
• Even if you end up not liking the window cleaner itself, this tool is worth the money

Darren's Note: I have seen this Invisible Glass window tool for so many years but always considered it a gimmick. I figure it would be poorly mad and likely break sooner versus later.

I was pleasantly surprised at how sturdy it is made and how effectively you can now clean the tight areas of the windshield as well as allow you the additional reach that the tool gives you.

It is one of those moments where you have to experience it firsthand to fully appreciate.

Car Window Cleaning Cloths

One of the best tricks to streak free and smudge free windows has nothing to do with the window cleaner, but the type of cloth you use to clean your car windows.

In the event you perhaps have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, this incredible textile called micro-fiber has revolutionized just about every industry.

Unless you have experienced the benefits of micro-fiber sloths, you simply cannot fully appreciate how superior these are to any other type of cloth material.

Meguiar's Glass Cleaning Cloths on Amazon

• Half the battle of perfectly clean car windows is using the right cloth
• Ideal for cleaning windows
• Perfect color as you can visual identify these as your dedicated window cleaning cloths
• Not my first choice, but definitely a great choice

Darren's Note: these cloths are superior to any cloth you are likely using to clean your car windows. While these are not the cloths I recommend or use professionally as my first choice, these will still prove superior over the window cleaning cloths you are likely using.

How to Clean Car Windows

I will outline the actual steps I follow when detailing professionally:

Pre-clean: I take a traditional microfiber cloth and get completely wet with basic tap water. I wring the cloth to remove as much water as possible so I am left with a damp microfiber cloth to perform the pre-clean.

This initial step is designed to remove as much of the dust, dirt, and smudges from the glass BEFORE you use the dedicated glass cleaner and dedicated glass towel.

I always start at outside of the drivers side windshield and go in a circular pattern around entire vehicle —this systematic approach prevents you from any missed windows. 

Wipe each window with pressure using a cross-hatch pattern.

Dedicated Window Cleaning: I then switch to my dedicated window cleaner and dedicated window cleaning cloth and repeat this same pattern.

I fold my dedicated window cloth twice to create a working "square/rectangle". One side will serve as the "wet" working side, while the other side will remain "dry" for the final buff.

Spray each window with 1-2 sprays of window cleaner. Buff window with ample pressure to remove any trace dirt/water marks from your initial pre-clean.

Flip cloth to dry side and buff window to perfection!

Repeat this for each window until complete.

NOTE: I follow these exact steps when cleaning the interior windows. I also clean any of interior mirrors, rearview mirror, or reflective surfaces of the vehicle interior when cleaning interior windows. 

Basic Micro-Fiber Cloths

Amazon Basics Microfiber Cloths on Amazon

• These microfiber cloths will be used for your Pre-clean step
• Fold twice to create a rectangle 
• Saturate with tap water and wring-out as tightly as possible

Waffle Weave Window Cleaning Cloth

Autofiber Window Cloths on Amazon

• My preferred window cleaning cloth
• Border edge allows for better stability when cleaning windows

Darren's Tips: I prefer a waffle weave microfiber cloth that has a border or edge when doing windows. Some of the borderless or edgeless window cleaning cloths will "roll-up" on you as you attempt to clean your car windows.

How to Clean Car Windows Summary

If you are still reading this page, you must really care about your car—or you are just totally tired of cleaning methods that don't work!

My method has an extra step at the very beginning. However, once you get your windows perfectly clean, keeping them that way will be much easier every time you wash your car.

Good luck with your window cleaning!

Sincerely,

Darren Priest