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My Windshield looks horrible in the sun

10K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  PowhatanDP 
#1 ·
Why does my windshield look horrible in the direct sun light. I have spent long hours with micro fiber cloths and Stoner's invisible glass cleaner trying to get rid of the thousand specs that show. My car has only 20,000km on it and could not be pitted to that extent can anyone suggest something I can do. Is there a cleaner or technique I am missing.

Thanks in advance :)
 
#2 · (Edited)
If they are pits created by pebbles, rocks, debris, in other words physically created by impact, no glass cleaner in the world that I am aware of can fix that. What might be able to help is the involved process of machine polishing the windshield with a cerium oxide based optical grade glass polish. There was a reputable product that used to be available a few years ago, but I don't know what to point you towards today as far as a brand. And it's involved as far as how much heat will be created, and you have to be wary of distorting the laminated windshield with the build up of heat. I therefore will advise contacting the highest level pro(s) that you can possibly find in your area, and ask for their advice and references.
 
#3 · (Edited)
OP - I have been struggling with the same issue for the past one year! And when I saw the title to this thread I was hoping someone would suggest a neat trick to get rid of it.

Assuming yours is not a case of rock chips (mine isn't) here is a solution that worked reasonably well for me - not perfect. Hopefully someone else has a method that will address this issue 100%.

In my case I realized the specs were the lint like material you see in dryer filter - very minute in size. Changing the car wash soap made a significant difference - I went back to what I used to use originally Meguair's Gold Class shampoo.

Next I changed the way I launder the microfiber towels - I no longer use the regular laundry detergent (liquid Tide in my case) . . . switched over to Pinnacle Micro Rejuvenator. I set the washer to the hottest water temperature and use the longest cycle. This sure gets the microfiber CLEAN. I do not mix loads - i.e. everything in this wash is a microfiber towel.

Another thing I tried was to clay the windscreen - this was somewhat effective but not as effective as I had hoped it would be.

After washing the car with Meguair Gold Class shampoo I do a wipe down with Stoner's Invisible glass.

Lately I tried Pinnacle's Water-less wash - sprayed this on the windshield and wiped it with a clean microfiber towel. This seems to take most of the lint like material out.

Again, as I mentioned, I am not 100% there . . . you may want to try one or more of these steps and see if some combination of these steps will work for you.

GL

PS: I am not a professional detailer - just a guy with two black cars!
 
#4 ·
Why does my windshield look horrible in the direct sun light. I have spent long hours with micro fiber cloths and Stoner's invisible glass cleaner trying to get rid of the thousand specs that show. My car has only 20,000km on it and could not be pitted to that extent can anyone suggest something I can do. Is there a cleaner or technique I am missing.

Thanks in advance :)
Are you micro fiber towels linting? That means that tiny particles are coming off your towels and staying on the glass. One to find out is clean the glass with paper towels and see if that takes it away.

Another way to understand it, use a sandwich bag on your hand and on a clean window, run you hand over the surface palm side down, do you feel anything? If so it's on the surface of the glass, clay or 0000 steel wool will take that off.
 
#5 ·
I wiped clean the windshield with paper towel and it seemed to have helped a little but now I noticed it has lightly scratched the glass. The scratches seem to be on the inside and I can only see them in the light. Im thinking there must of been something stuck to that part of the glass for it to have scratched. Has anyone had this happen to them, they are more annoying then wiper wear marks for some reason.

Thanks in advance!
 
#6 ·
Paper towel will lint, and it has glues as well.

If you ask for advice, why do you ignore the professional's instructions?

Try what dboy has advised, then report back. It wouldn't hurt to answer his question either. Lastly, high quality pictures wouldn't hurt either.

In fact, I'd go ahead and clay anyway, particularly the outside, but probably the inside as well.

@RPsX5d, I highly recommend trying Griot's polypropylene glass towels, line free, glue free. The choice of glass cleaner is very secondary IMO, and I've used a bunch. Meguiar's might be the most important detailing mftr IMO, but there is better than Gold Class for maintenance wash IMO. Regardless, I don't think it is the wash, or even the glass cleaner, so much as the "applicator". Anyway the Griot's blue glass towels, do not cut them, leave them whole. Report back.
 
#8 ·
My bad, you're right, he had mentioned that. I take this to imply that you had indeed used MF towels.

I would take some high quality pictures, maybe that would give dboy more to work on.

1000 specks, that's a lot.

If the scratch is rather superficial, once you get everything cleaned off first, you might try one of the available glass polishes. I might look into CarPro's product, simply because their stuff seems to be a bit more serious than the OTC types of stuff. I say clean first, so that you may not create yet more scratches.

If it's really bad, and you're afraid of making it worse, you might consider hiring a pro.
 
#9 ·
If the windshield is pitted, there is lite you can do. Pits are holes in the glass. The only way to fix a pit is to level the glass, but the pit is a small chip, it would require removing too much glass material to be realistic.

However, it is possible to remove scratches in glass like these:

Technology Photography Driving


Technology Photography Cameras & optics Electronics Auto part


Headlamp Automotive lighting Auto part


Its involves using a DA or rotary polisher, CarPro Rayon Glass Pads, and Ceri Glass - a cerium oxide based glass polishing compound:

Water Tire Automotive exterior Bumper Auto part


Circle


Glass Window Net Automotive window part Plastic wrap


After:

Cameras & optics Optical instrument Camera Photography Monocular


Cameras & optics Lens Gadget Photography Camera


Technology Personal protective equipment Room Photography Helmet


If your interested, I can help you more.

Sent from BimmerApp mobile app
 
#10 ·
BMW glass is soft and gets pitted pretty easily. If you scratched your glass with a paper towel, well, that's what I mean. If the pitting is shallow, you can remove them with a cerium oxide glass polish as Swani demonstrated. If your pitting is deep, which will happen in the long run, the only solution is to either just live with it, or replace your windshield.
 
#11 ·
FWIW I had a few small chips and a lot of scratches in a windshield.I told my insurance company it was difficult to see out when I was driving into the sun. They sent an adjuster out and replaced my windshield.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using BimmerApp mobile app
 
#16 ·
Yeah, MF towel care is really a topic all its own. I've not tried the Pinnacle, but have used Chemical Guys (didn't think much of it at the time), and am currently using Micro-Restore, a bought a big jug of it. I've used it a couple of times, but don't really have an opinion yet, though people I really trust swear by it. I was using Tide for a long time there.

I too used to put towels all together. After some time, I split into two batches, bad and not so bad. Now it is three separate batches, drying/WW that only has ever touched water (or so far as I can help it); nicest polish/wax cloths; dirtiest and cheapest utility cloths. I highly recommend this route, I have three bins in the garage. I always use extra rinse, and I personally don't use the dryer but if I did of course no fabric softener.

For any of the towels, from most expensive drying to cheapest Costco utility, I will spray Optimum Power Clean (I think it's generally considered the pinnacle of APCs, often referred to as OPC), but at full concentrate directly on any gross/black spots/marks on the towels, to let dwell indefinitely until they finally go into the wash. Break the stuff down immediately for washing out later.

Windshield glass is about the most exposed thing there is, meaning any residual wax/polish/cleaner/dirt/anything will be the most visible to you here than anywhere else. If I used glass MFs, they would be going with my drying towels.

If you want to try an amazing drying towel check out the Dry Me Crazys. Fantastic. The Crazy Piles are great, but the DMCs are even awesomer.
 
#17 ·
Yeah, MF towel care is really a topic all its own. . . .
If you want to try an amazing drying towel check out the Dry Me Crazys. Fantastic. The Crazy Piles are great, but the DMCs are even awesomer.
No I wasn't aware of the Dry Me Crazy MF towels . . . I will definitely try them out. A neat step I just learnt after watching the video about DMC (included below). Before drying the car just spray a little quick detailer - very easy to do and does make a difference.

Yes laundering the MF towels the right way is critical . . . after adopting the obvious steps (two-bucket wash, starting at the top of the car and working you down to the lower panels, etc . . . the next big thing is how you take care of the MF towels - particularly the ones that cleans the glass.

Here is the DMC Youtube video . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wvb1uzTpn8?t=58s
 
#18 ·
Yes, I too have used a drying lube for a long time, I personally use ONR. However, I use it a lot less, I think, with the DMCs. I don't feel that I need much lube at all, it is so soft.

I'm glad you agree with me about MF care, because I was wondering what you meant when you typed "I use separate towels for glass but I wash them all together - easier to make up a full load". If you wash drying towels, DMCs, with your other towels, all that wax/polish will beeline straight into the stupid plushness of your drying towels, rendering them much less effective. Get the most out of your money, wash them separately please. It's not like I do three loads at a time, I do the drying towel batch the most often, and the utility cloth batch very rarely in fact. Anyway, that outta the way!

These are one towel each, my previously best Korean made plush and WW drying MFs, next to CP on top of DMC. (The latter two along with the Micro Restore and OPC being my latest purchase in the summer both of which are used for MF care; I really got to go buy so more wash soon though.) I will say that I still have plenty of uses for the gray towel, and I'll also say that WW underneath is a very, very high quality towel, very good. Tough to compete with DMC though.

Thread hijack complete! Okay, MF care is still very relevant to having a clear windshield perhaps, heh.

 
#19 ·
Why does my windshield look horrible in the direct sun light. I have spent long hours with micro fiber cloths and Stoner's invisible glass cleaner trying to get rid of the thousand specs that show. My car has only 20,000km on it and could not be pitted to that extent can anyone suggest something I can do. Is there a cleaner or technique I am missing.

Thanks in advance :)
I have exactly the same issue. Mine has been that way since day 1. I suspect the windshield is defective or was exposed to something during shipping. You only notice it when driving directly into the sun, but it is really bad, thousands of lint like specs everywhere. Washing, scrubbing, rubbing, drying with squeegee, nothing makes a difference. I'm going to try claying it to see if it makes a difference, but I'm not getting my hopes up. :cry:
 
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