Cleaning the car windshield and windows is an afterthought for most people.
Most will let the windshield wipers take care of it. Or if they’re feeling ambitious they’ll give the windows a quick wash with those dirty squeegees gas stations leave out by the pumps.
Frankly, this is no way to treat your car or live your life. You can always take your car to get cleaned by a professional, but you should learn how to clean car windows yourself.
It’ll save you a lot of time, money, and headaches from squinting through your cruddy, blotchy, bug-splatted windows. Plus, it’s not like fixing a broken headlight. It’s not hard.
How To Clean Car Windows
You should be cleaning your windows inside and out pretty frequently. Cleaning the outside will take care of the dirt and grime built up from contact with the elements. Cleaning the inside will remove all those handprints and smudges your kids have left all over your windows.
Cleaning The Inside
The first thing you need is a microfiber towel. If you don’t know what microfiber is, it’s a material made of strands of synthetic cloth that is thinner than silk. It’s ultra-soft and absorbent. Because of this, it leaves no streaks when you’re wiping down your windows.
Okay, now that you’ve got your cloth, you need your cleaning fluid. Any old glass cleaner will do, you don’t have to overthink this step.
Now, you want to spray the glass cleaner onto the towel, not the window, because you’re inside your car and you don’t want to get it all over the upholstery.
Once your towel is wet with glass cleaner, the trick to not leaving any streaks on the window is to wipe it in both vertical and horizontal strokes. This pushes any remaining liquid down to the bottom and side of the window and lets it dry streak free.
Cleaning The Outside
Cleaning the outside requires a bit more effort, but there’s a lot more dirt, and it’s worth it.
The first thing you want to do before you start wiping down your windows is to give your car a quick rinse with a hose. This’ll remove a lot of the easy-to-get-off gunk on the windows and will prevent your microfiber towel from getting dirty super fast. Once you’ve done that you can move on to the actual cleaning.
In contrast to the inside of the car, you’ll actually want to spray your glass cleaner directly onto your windows and windshield here. You may even want to let it sit for a couple minutes before wiping it off. This will help to loosen up all the stuck dirt and debris on your windows.
Then, once you’ve done that you can wipe off the cleaner with the same method you used on the interior. Then that’s it! You’re done!
Want More DIY Tips?
Now that you know how to clean car windows, are you ready to improve your vehicle in other ways?
Have you always wanted to fix the dents on your car or buff out the scratches on your bumper? If so, check out the rest of our blog, we’ve got tons of resources on how to spruce up your automobile.