How to Clean Car Windows Perfectly

Aren’t those window streaks and fingerprints bloody annoying? Making your windows crystal clear can be a huge in the butt. You might think they’re clean until the sun shines in a certain direction. You then find yourself looking at all kinds of streaks.

On the other hand, when your windows are crystal clear, it makes you go “WOW”. It’s like the glass isn’t even there.

Here are 5 steps to get those crystal clear windows

Step 1: Have patience, it’s not going to be easy.

No matter what product you use, it’s all prone to streaking. There’s no such thing as “streakless” glass cleaning products. That’s because it’s not the product that creates the streak, it’s the dirty cloth. You need clean cleaning clothes to get perfectly clean windows.

Step 2: Prepare 5 clean cleaning clothes.

Don’t use paper, that will leave not only streaks but a lot of lint. Some people say use newspaper – uhh I think not. The cleaning clothes you need to be using are high-quality microfiber cloths or glass-cleaning clothes.

Purchase on Amazon: Double-sided Glass Cleaning Cloth

Step 3: Do a complete cleaning of glass.

Spray a high-quality glass cleaner like Invisible Glass – Glass Cleaner directly onto the glass. You want the glass to be wet so you can remove all the stuck on fingerprints, dust, and whatever else happens when you sneeze towards the windshield. Make sure you get into the corners, around the mirror, and the edge.

Purchase on Amazon: Invisible Glass – Glass Cleaner

Step 4: Remove remaining streaks

Now what you want to do is take a new clean cloth and mist it evenly (1 shot). The point is the provide some kind of lubriation as you’ll now be doing the fine cleaning. If you don’t mist it, the cloth won’t slide on the window smoothly and you’ll be super frustrated as it gets stuck on the window. If you mist too much, you’ll be creating more streaks.

Work in small sections and start with the middle 95% of the glass panel. Do not go to close to the edges because those areas may still have debris. You don’t want to smear the remain debris on your clean window.

What you’re trying to here is to provide even and consistent movement with the cloth to wipe off the streaks. Go in straight lines. If you go in circles, you’re more likely to get streaks. Also remember to flip your towel at least 2 times per glass panel.

The reason for flipping your towel is because there’s actually dirt on your towel, and if you don’t switch to a new side, you’ll be spreading the dirt around all over again. Sometimes, you can’t see the dirt on the cloth and think it’s clean, but your towel needs to be microscopically clean to be able to prevent streaking.

With each glass panel you clean, finish off by wiping the edge of the glass clean using the same method: light mist and flipping your towel to make sure.

Pro tip: apply your towel with even pressure distributed throughout the cleaning surface. Use a gentle pressure and do not try to scrub. If you need to scrub, that means you didn’t do a good job in Stage 1.

Step 5: Triple check from different angles.

Now that you’ve done most of the hard work, don’t pack up just yet! Check the vehicle from the outside at different angles. Use the sunlight’s reflection as an indicator to test if the windows are 100% perfect. Look for streaks. Also look for spots in the corners, edges, and the mirrors. Make sure you look from the outside as the inside will hide many flaws.

If you spot any missed spots, touch up using a perfectly clean new cloth. Make sure the cloth is DRY and buff out any missed spots.

Voila! You should have windows that are so clear that you can’t tell they’re there.

Windows are the most difficult place to clean in a car due to their reflective nature. Every little fingerprint will be seen as the sun uses the glass to magnify the flaws of the cleaning process.

Here are 2 more bonus tips to help you maintain those crystal clear windows:

1. DO NOT TOUCH!! When there some fog on the window or some debris, don’t touch the glass and try to wipe it with your hand! Always use a perfectly dry and clean cloth to do the cleaning. If you use your hand to clean the windows, you’ll leave some body oils which will be hard to clean off later. 
2. Apply wax to our windows!! Yes, you can do this. Applying wax to your windows will leave zero residue. What it will do is help you prevent dirt from sticking to the window, just as wax helps do this for the rest of your exterior. This will help you maintain those clean windows.