Tip #25: New Black Car, those "dusters" and how to deal with BUGS!

How to get "Invisible" glass without special products, even my own!

So here comes something you don't see every day;  I am going to tell you a secret I just discovered, that will help you get great looking glass on your car, and I am not trying to sell you anything!  Yes I am going to mention several of my products, but you may already have them or something similar. 

Here goes:

Getting glass on your car (or home) to be totally streak free is a tough job.  I sell a great glass cleaner from Wurth, and recommend you use it, but it is hard to get totally streak free glass, even with it.  Other places advertise "Invisible" glass if you use their glass cleaner, but even it will leave streaks, if you don't do it exactly right, same as my cleaner.

Over the course of this spring and early summer, I found out something I had been missing for a long time (years).  The Hydra-Wipe synthetic chamois that I sell, can give you totally streak free glass.  (Note, I have tried all the synthetic chamois products, and some really fine expensive real chamois.  I like the synthetic chamois a LOT better than the real ones, for reasons explained in tip #7, but have never found one better, or one that lasts longer than the Hydra-Wipe.) Also, it will give you streak and bead free paint, if you USE IT RIGHT! 

For years I have been using it wrong, or at least not as "right" as I should have been.  Are you ready?  Here is the big secret:

Go Slow.

"WHAT?"  You say.  

Yes, when drying glass or paint, flop the Hydra-Wipe onto the paint, long or short side out, and when pulling it across the surface, go VERY, VERY SLOW.  (think of porky pig when you say that and get a grin.)  Why slow?  Because if you go fast, you will almost always leave small beads of water, and fine lines that turn into streaks when they dry.  

Why, you might ask do tiny lines of water beads turn into streaks when they dry?  Because in all water, at least any water we are likely to use to wash a car or windows, there are all sorts of chemicals and contaminants that dry onto the surface.  Even if you can't see them, when the humidity goes up, like on a rainy day, or especially at night with outside lights shining on the glass, those dried contaminants absorb humidity and become visible.  They also catch dirt in the air and become visible, all the time, eventually.

By dragging the Hydra-Wipe (no guarantees with a real Chamois, but give it a try) very slow, you give the product time to absorb all the moisture.  I have been able to achieve the best looking, streak-free glass ever, in the last few times I have washed vehicles by using this method.

When doing this, you may notice that the Hydra-Wipe will "chatter" a bit.  This can leave nasty lines of tiny water beads on the paint if you go too fast.  If so, slow down even more, it may still chatter some, but you will quickly get the method and maximum speed you can pull the Hydra-Wipe across the surface.

HINT: The cleaner the surface of your paint and glass, and the slicker the surface (use our DC CarCare super glaze and Collinite wax to get the best shine and slickest surface on paint), the easier to dry without streaks.  You can also use Amsoil Rain Clear Windshield  Protectant. to help keep your glass and headlights slick.

This trick works well on outside glass where you can pull the Hydra-Wipe across the surface, but how about inside the vehicle?  Try folding the Hydra-Wipe so a nice flat surface is presented to the glass, and using LIGHT pressure, very slowly drag it across the glass.  This will be hard to do on the windshield and back glass, but if you are limber enough, it should work.

I do recommend using my Wurth Glass Cleaner on your glass on a regular basis. Why?  Because it cleans the contaminants off the glass, especially inside where vinyl fumes, smoke, and your own breath coat the glass and make it fog up on humid days, and streak when you try to clean it. And don't forget why we use a clay product on glass; because it removes contaminants that get stuck in the glass like bits of steel, other glass, brake pad material, paint overspray, etc., that not only keep your windshield wipers from working right, but can eat up a new pair of blades in one rainy day!

HINT #2: Wadding up the Hydra-Wipe to dry certain areas can work, but for the most part you want to fold it so a flat and smooth area is touching the paint/glass.  Working down the side of the car for instance, you can't really flop the Hydra-Wipe onto the paint and pull it across, so you have to fold it up some and hold it on the surface as you dry.

So go out and try this neat trick.  Go SLOW and have patience, trust me you will dry your car quicker this way than with blades (not recommended, too easy to scratch paint, can't get to small areas) or any other device, and you won't have streaks.

Don Mallinson, President
DC CarCare

Tip #25: New Black Car, those "dusters" and how to deal with BUGS!