A clean car always looks great, but having a clean windscreen is more than just appearances. It’s an important safety issue, particularly for night driving and driving in fog or rain. A dirty, smudged or fogged up windscreen could have serious consequences for you and other road users.
Best Car Glass Cleaner
- HG Car Windscreen Cleaner
- Autoglym Fast Glass
- Rain X Rain Repellent & Glass Cleaner
- Invisible Glass Premium Glass Cleaner for Window Windscreen and Mirrors
- Exel Lint Free Microfibre Magic Cleaning Cloths
When cleaning the windows in your car, you should always use a specific product for cars. These are designed not only for removing dirt from your car glass, but also to enhance driving visibility. That’s why it’s best to avoid using household cleaners on your car windows as many of these can negatively impact the clarity of your windscreen leave you with hazing, smudges or excessive fogging.
I tried out some of the UK’s best car glass cleaner and compared the performance of each one.
HG Car Windscreen Cleaner
Well-known cleaning brand HG has a product for practically every household cleaning task and the company’s car windscreen cleaner is a popular choice for drivers. This glass cleaner comes in a 500 ml spray bottle and is specially designed for car windows to remove dirt and enhance shine and visibility.
HG’s windscreen cleaner can be used both inside and outside the car and it is fully biodegradable and free from any toxic chemicals. To use the product, you simply spray a small amount onto the window surface, use a cloth to spread the product all over the glass surface and then finish by polishing with a soft microfibre cloth.
This glass cleaner works quickly and can handle mild to moderately dirty windows. If you are dealing with a really filthy windscreen, you’ll need to remove the heavy soiling before polishing.
I found that to get a really high shine, you need to exert a bit of effort with this cleaner but the final results are excellent. It took about a minute of full-on buffing to get my windscreen really shining.
As well as delivering a high shine, I was pleased with the longevity of the results of this product. A week later and my windscreen was still looking bright, clean and with noticeably improved visibility.
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Autoglym Fast Glass
Autoglym’s Fast glass is a bestselling glass cleaner which is suitable for internal and external glass and can also be used on screens such as in-car entertainment and Satellite Navigation systems.
This mid-price range product is especially suitable for acrylic and plastic windows and contains no waxes or silicones. You can also use this on your interior and exterior mirrors and it is safe for use on tinted windows.
I was really impressed with the results of this product on my windscreen. You only need to use a very tiny amount of the spray – a little really does go a long way. Just a gentle polish and my windscreen, side windows and my rear window were absolutely sparkling as if they’d been done professionally.
There were no smears or smudges on glass or mirrors and interior screen surfaces were also left looking super shiny and clean. You can see from the cloth just how much dirt and grime the polish removes with just a small bit of effort. I think I might just have to start using this indoors as well!
Autoglym can handle even thick, worn on dirt like bird droppings and tree sap. Its tough formula easily cuts through grease and grime but it isn’t abrasive and won’t scratch or damage your glass.
Another advantage of Autoglym Fast Glass is that it contains a protective ingredient which repels water and other fluids. This means that your visibility when driving in the rain is really improved and this effect lasts for weeks.
I used a microfibre cloth to clean and polish my car glass but you can just as easily use this product with kitchen paper or disposable paper towels.
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Rain X Rain Repellent & Glass Cleaner
Rain X is a 2-in-1 product which cleans your car glass, leaving behind an invisible layer of hydrophobic coating. This layer repels rain and also makes future cleaning of the surface easier as it prevents things like bird droppings, bugs and other grime from sticking as firmly to your glass surfaces.
This mid-price product comes in a 500 ml spray bottle and it’s quick and easy to apply. You simply spray the cleaner directly onto the glass, wipe with a paper towel or cloth and you’re done. There’s no need to polish or buff and it doesn’t leave any visible streaks, haze or residue.
A few days after using this product, I parked under a tree for several hours and came out to find that the local birds had done a nice job of re-decorating my windscreen. The protective coating that Rain X had left on the screen made it much easier to remove this soiling. I was able to just hose off the bird poop in a few seconds.
Please note that Rain X can only be used on glass windows. It is not suitable for plastic, or PVC surfaces.
Rain X is available on Amazon and it also comes in disposable wipe form which is handy for when you are on-the-go and need to spot clean your windows.
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Invisible Glass Premium Glass Cleaner for Window Windscreen and Mirrors
Invisible Glass is a premium priced auto glass cleaner designed to remove grease, grime and dirt from your windscreen and to enhance driving visibility.
Unlike other glass cleaners, this product doesn’t contain any soaps or surfactants and it completely evaporates from your windscreen without leaving any streaks or smudges.
Invisible Glass has literally hundreds of positive reviews online and once I had tried this product, I realised why. If you want immaculately clean, gleaming car windows with virtually no effort, this is the product for you.
This is a really powerful product but you will need to manually remove the surface layer with a squeegee or sponge if you have any real build up of dirt on your glass.
My car windows were pretty filthy with tree sap, bird poop and general road dirt when I tried out Invisible Glass. I sprayed a small amount on the windscreen and then used a window scraper to loosen the dirt. I rinsed this off the window frame with my garden hose and then give the glass a quick wipe with a microfibre cloth. That was it! Invisible Glass will have even the dirtiest windows gleaming in just a couple of minutes.
Invisible Glass is also suitable for use on tinted windows and is available from Amazon and several high street stores.
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Exel Lint Free Microfibre Magic Cleaning Cloths (Pack of 10)
For a high shine, dust-free finish on your glass, you really can’t beat a microfibre cloth. Unlike other fabrics, microfibre doesn’t drop fibres so you won’t be left with flecks and debris on your window surface.
Exel’s bundle of 10 clothes is excellent value and should give you several years of polishing. The clothes can be washed again and again while retaining their high quality and without losing fibres.
At 16 x 8 inches, these microfibre cloths are supersized, allowing you to polish larger areas quicker. As soon as you open the package, you can feel that these cloths are heavier and denser than other microfibre products. I always wash and dry microfibre cloths before using them for the first time. Remember to never use fabric softener on this kind of material.
After you’ve applied your glass cleaner to your window product, use the cloth to gently polish and buff the glass to a high shine. Excel’s microfibre cloths give you a streak free, smudge free sparkle.
After use, pop in the washing machine, again making sure that you don’t use fabric softener. The cloths dry very quickly and can be used again and again.
Exel’s magic cloths are available from Amazon in a variety of different pack sizes and buying in bulk will get you a discount. The cloths come in blue, green, pink, yellow and white.
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The Verdict
While I was impressed with a number of products on this list, in my opinion, the quickest and easiest cleaner to use was Invisible Glass. I loved how rapidly it cut through dirt and the entire process just felt easy and effortless. After using the product, my windows looked cleaner than I’d ever seen them before and two weeks later, the results are still there. My windscreen is still repelling water and dirt is not adhering to the glass.
Another very positive aspect of this product is the fact that you can use it on all glass. It’s fine on tinted glass, on headlights, on interior and exterior windows and electronic screens. Although Invisible Glass is a little on the pricey side, I think it’s worth the investment. You only need one or two squirts on even a really dirty window and the results last for such a long time that in the long run, it is better value than many other competitor products.
Buyers’ Guide: Car Glass Cleaning Products
With such a huge variety of car glass products on the market, making a decision on which one to buy is not easy. Here are some tips to make choosing the best car glass product a little bit more straightforward:
Glass or Plastic
There are a wide number of specialist car glass cleaning products available and while most of these, like Invisible Glass, Autoglym Fast Glass and HG Windscreen cleaner are universal and can be used on all types of car glass, others like Rain X are only suitable for glass windows.
The vast majority of car windows are made of laminated or tempered glass which prevents it from shattering or from shards flying off on impact. Plastic or PVC glass is not commonly used in car windows but headlights are generally covered in these so if you plan on using your car glass cleaner to do your lights, ensure that it is a universal type.
Tinted Windows
Tinted car windows require a little bit of extra care when cleaning. You should never use products containing ammonia as this can remove the coating from your glass. It’s also best to avoid cleaning around the edges to prevent moisture from getting in underneath the adhesive. Most glass cleaners will note on the packaging whether or not they can be safely used on Tinted windows.
How to Clean Exterior Car Windows
The latest generation of car cleaners has been designed to take much of the effort out of cleaning your car windows. However, if you have heavy soiling from tree sap or birds, you’ll have to remove some of this with a cloth or squeegee so that the cleaner can get to work properly on your glass.
Spray your car cleaner directly onto your windscreen and distribute with a cloth or sponge. You can then use a squeegee, scraper or your windscreen wipers to take off the surface layer of grime. If you are dealing with a very heavy build up, you may want to have a hose handy to rinse it off your car bonnet and window frame.
Once the grime has been removed, spray your window once more with the product. Take a soft microfibre cloth like the Exel Magic Cleaning Cloth and gently polish your window surface. Make sure that you’ve covered the whole windscreen. Your windows should now be gleaming!
How to Clean Interior Car Windows
The internal windows tend not to accumulate as much dirt. Kiddie handprints, doggie nose art and dust are usually the main issues here. To remove dirt from your interior windows, take a microfibre cloth and apply a very small amount of car window cleaner directly to the cloth. Less is more here and avoid using too much as this can result in hazing and streaks.
Gently wipe the cloth all over the glass surface and give it a quick polish. The last step is important as skipping the polish will result in a dull finish.
Remember, that although you shouldn’t use household glass cleaner to clean car glass, the reverse is not the case. Many car glass cleaners will also do a brilliant job on your interior glass, although car glass cleaner does tend to be much more expensive than the household variety.
I hope this article has given you some helpful hints and tips for picking the best car glass cleaner for your vehicle.
Enjoy!
