Windscreen Chemicals

DanWall

My son sprayed some of that chemical stuff on my windscreen that supposed to clear rain without using the wipers.
I find now that when it is dark it smears like crazy. I have tried vinegar, washing up liquid and acetone, but cannot seem to get it off. Has anyone else experienced this?

Alanstrainor

Bottle of coke!

EDIT: Read this

-Corkie-

Get a bottle of Coke and pour it over it and then rinse with water..

Alan got there first..

veetwin

BTW don't forget to kick your son's arse and tell him to stop putting stupid chemicals on your car.

DanWall

Coke did not work, neither did white sprits or windscreen clean. This stuff is clearly a driving hazard in the dark when it is wet, it should be removed from the market.

Bandara

DanWall wrote: »

Coke did not work, neither did white sprits or windscreen clean. This stuff is clearly a driving hazard in the dark when it is wet, it should be removed from the market.

You'll think I'm insane but a cloth soaked in diesel, rub it on and it should remove most chemicals

Give it a rinse with water and a bit of soap after or the smell will drive you nuts

RandomAccess

You could try Halfords Intensive Glass Cutter, as it is intended for removing rain repellents. (I have seen it on sale in Ireland)
http://reviews.halfords.com/4028/798736/reviews.htm

The reviews at the link above were either that it works really well or that it doesn't shift the stuff at all, so I would guess it depends which type of repellent compound was applied.


As for rain repellents,

I used some on my windscreen before as well, the halfords one which got a good review from autoexpress. It worked well, but there was some smearing so I didn't apply it to the windscreen again, I now use it on my side windows and mirrors and its great for that purpose, the water runs off them so I have an unobstructed view.


Alternatively there is something called bar keepers friend which some of the detailingworld crew seem to swear by..

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=247611

If you look on there you will find lots of people with love/hate relationships with rain repellents and some people sharing tips on how to remove it.

---

Edit to add some more positives experiences of the Halfords product

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=202849

And see post #17 on this
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=243114

Mr_Burn

What was the name of the chemical stuff your son used as a matter of interest.

DanWall

Rain-x

TheBody

Don't waste your money on the Halfords glass cutter. I've used it and it's totally useless.

Petrol, diesel or tar remover and elbow grease will remove any windscreen chemical including nano based ones like gtechniq

johnos1984

Don't forget to clean the wiper blades

YourName

Don't mean to sound stupid, but are you sure that what your seeing at night isn't on the inside of the windscreen, happens all the time in my car and i am endlessly washing the inside of my window. I think its because i have so much tea and eat in de car so much, must be the steam etc.

TestTransmission

YourName wrote: »

Don't mean to sound stupid, but are you sure that what your seeing at night isn't on the inside of the windscreen, happens all the time in my car and i am endlessly washing the inside of my window. I think its because i have so much tea and eat in de car so much, must be the steam etc.

Rainx will smear/give a cloudy appearance if not applied correctly to the windscreen.

-Corkie-

TestTransmission wrote: »

Rainx will smear/give a cloudy appearance if not applied correctly to the windscreen.

Exactly and the windscreen must be spotless prior to application..

Mycroft H

TestTransmission wrote: »

Rainx will smear/give a cloudy appearance if not applied correctly to the windscreen.

Bingo!

If rainx is not put on right it will smear like mad. When its done right it works beautifully. This is a lesson to read the bloody instructions first!

Skuxx

DanWall wrote: »

Coke did not work, neither did white sprits or windscreen clean. This stuff is clearly a driving hazard in the dark when it is wet, it should be removed from the market.

White spirits is very greasy and wouldnt be great for the job, if you could get your hands on some solvent, like C28/15 or something similar, it would clean it perfectly!!

DanWall

tried Auto Glym Glass Polish, Tar remover, Diesel. it's still smearing, what is in that Rainex? I hope I havn't damaged the windscreen by this stage. I may try some "T" cut on the passenger side first. Luckily I have not been out on a rainy night yet

vectra

DanWall wrote: »

tried Auto Glym Glass Polish, Tar remover, Diesel. it's still smearing, what is in that Rainex? I hope I havn't damaged the windscreen by this stage. I may try some "T" cut on the passenger side first. Luckily I have not been out on a rainy night yet

LOL
Get diesel on your screen and you are snookered

Spray your screen with APC a few times and wash it off.
Try the coke trick again.

DanWall

Hammertime told me to try Diesel Post 6.
What is APC?

vectra

DanWall wrote: »

Hammertime told me to try Diesel Post 6.
What is APC?

Found in every woman's essential cleaning collection





One question for you.
When you say it is smearing your window when you work the wipers. Do you mean when driving slowly in traffic? ie. through town?
If so then this is a characteristic of RainX. You need to be over 40mph I think for this stuff to come in to play.The fast you go the more water is displaced.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

RainX works great but must be applies to a spotless perfectly dry windscreen and left to dry and polish off with a clean cloth. I use it all the time since I discovered it and it works great.

dr.fuzzenstein

If acetone couldn't shift it, it looks bad. In our place we use acetone when everything else has failed.

tk123

Mr. Muscle shower cleaner sorted my greasy windscreen a few weeks ago. You spray it on and leave it to dry, then wash it off. I left mine overnight and it rained - crystal clear windscreen the next morning!

Del2005

DanWall wrote: »

tried Auto Glym Glass Polish, Tar remover, Diesel. it's still smearing, what is in that Rainex? I hope I havn't damaged the windscreen by this stage. I may try some "T" cut on the passenger side first. Luckily I have not been out on a rainy night yet

Have you tried using some petrol? Diesel tends to oilier than petrol. I've used petrol and elbow grease to clean a lot of things.

Don't use T cut, it's an abrasive and will damage the glass.

You won't do much harm to the window with anything that's been mentioned, but the rubber seals won't like a lot of them so make sure they are well rinsed afterwards.

Mc Love

Elsie Gifted Chimpanzee wrote: »

RainX works great but must be applies to a spotless perfectly dry windscreen and left to dry and polish off with a clean cloth. I use it all the time since I discovered it and it works great.

I wouldnt use any other windscreen cleaner

DanWall

"T" cut was the only thing that worked, or more precisely scratch remover, although a good idea the cream clean did not work. The haze was after the wipers has passed over. I cleaned the drivers side only and the difference is obvious.
I don’t see the point of of Rainx if you must be doing over 40 mph.

dr.fuzzenstein

DanWall wrote: »

"T" cut was the only thing that worked, or more precisely scratch remover, although a good idea the cream clean did not work. The haze was after the wipers has passed over. I cleaned the drivers side only and the difference is obvious.
I don’t see the point of of Rainx if you must be doing over 40 mph.

Be very careful!
T-cut is abrasive, this could cut into your windscreen glass and even if it looks alright by day, this could lead to bad problems at night, you could get a bad haze through light refraction from the now slightly opaque surface.

DanWall

I will let you know, but presently there is no problem with the glass after the "T" cut

DanWall

Windscreen is fine now, "T" cut did the trick, it did not affect the glass

vectra

DanWall wrote: »

Windscreen is fine now, "T" cut did the trick, it did not affect the glass

Now put some RainX on it to seal it up

ottostreet

Autoglym Glass Polish the windows...twice if necessary.

Then Rain-x the windows (properly!)

And Rain-x the interior with the anti-mist stuff.

Do it right, and the visibility is top class for weeks afterwards.