It’s the least-fun part of cleaning a car, but an important job nonetheless: cleaning a vehicle’s windows. It’s important to make sure you know how to clean a window properly to get the perfect streak-free shine, because it can be seriously annoying driving around with windshield haze, smudges and streaks from dirt and grime instead of clean glass surfaces.
The first step is a good car glass cleaner, and after gaining experience with many products, we picked our top car window glass cleaners. Read on for the results and helpful glass cleaning tips below.
Invisible Glass
Invisible Glass is the top dog when it comes to glass cleaners. It’s really simple as that. We like using it on the interior and exterior glass parts of a car’s windshield, and it’s super-easy to wipe off with a microfiber towel for zero streaks. There’s really not much else to say, because it’s a car window cleaner that just works as it should, and leaves a result just like the name implies.
Whoosh
Not all glass cleaners work well with a vehicle’s touchscreen or infotainment unit, but that’s OK because Whoosh exists. The cleaning solution spray does wonders for all sorts of touchscreens, phones, televisions and more, but we found it’s also really great for a car’s infotainment screen and gauge cluster panel ahead of the driver. The auto glass cleaner even comes with three microfiber towels so you can have dedicated cloths just for this purpose.
Chemical Guys
What we like about Chemical Guys Signature Series Glass Cleaner spray is the fact it works really well for inside dirt and outside road grime. It’s also a pretty affordable cleaning product, and if you’re not one for harsh chemicals, it doesn’t include ammonia. Bonus: it’s totally safe for tinted glass as well, according to the company.
Meguiar’s
It’s our favorite, most affordable glass cleaner spray, and it’s even on sale at the moment. Meguiar’s Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner does the job, even if we found it takes a little more spray and elbow grease with a microfiber rag or paper towel to get a great, streak-free shine. It won’t let you down for the price, though, and is available in a spray bottle or an aerosol spray.
Invisible Glass
You know what helps the window cleaning process? A good tool. What’s a great tool in our book? Invisible Glass’ Reach and Clean tool. The wand makes reaching across the front windshield and rear window a breeze, especially in some modern cars with sloping rooflines at the rear. It gets into interior glass corners and extends to the length you need.
It also means you don’t need to carry around paper towels or a microfiber rag any longer. When the pad gets too dirty for use, just pop the microfiber bonnet off and toss it in the wash. We really like it, and it makes windshield, side and rear window cleaning a whole lot easier.
Best car glass cleaner details
| Brand | Type | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Invisible Glass | Interior/exterior glass cleaner | $16 |
| Whoosh | Interior screen cleaner | $16 |
| Chemical Guys | Interior/exterior glass cleaner | $8 |
| Meguiar’s | Interior glass cleaner | $4 |
| Invisible Glass | Glass cleaning tool | $20 |
How to clean a windshield properly
- Ideally, make sure the glass is a tepid temperature: You’ll have far better success if your car’s windshield and windows aren’t piping hot or incredibly cold. Hot temperatures can cause product to dry too quickly and smear. Cold temperatures can lead to fogging as you work on the glass surface.
- Use enough glass cleaner spray: This one depends on the auto glass cleaner product, but if you find more of the product works better, do it. If a little goes a long way, go that route for clean car windows.
- Up and down, left and right: Try not to make swirls in the windshield. Instead, sweep the product and your microfiber cloth or paper towel from left and right, or up and down to push the glass cleaning product around.
- If needed, follow up: One pass might not be enough if your windshield is really dirty. You may need to make a second pass with your windshield cleaner to clear up any remaining remnants of dirt or smudges.
- Use a clean towel on each window: If you use paper towels, rip new ones off for each window. If you’re using a microfiber towel, try to use a clean side on each separate window when cleaning.
Clean windows are the best windows.
Chemical Guys
Products and technique for a Roadshow-approved clean
Keep our tips and tricks in mind while using any of our car glass cleaner products and you’ll get a squeaky clean and perfectly see-through windshield in no time. Cleaning windows is a pain, but when you get it right, you’ll be super thankful the next time you take your car for a spin.
