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Windows and Clear Plastic |
Your "window" to the world is through your glass and dash
gauges, |
The interior of my 1971 Z-28 with 9600 actual miles. A nicer/newer 28 year old factory stock interior you will never see. Glass and clear plastic |
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Glass: We have all fought with re-appearing streaks and fog on the inside and outside of the glass in our car (and home). The problem most of the time is the type of cloth/paper we wipe the windows with. Typical paper towels just don't work for this type of job. Cloth is even worse, what a smeared mess! What you need is the detailers secret (and almost totally free) method. Newspaper. Here is how I get a clean window. Use a good cleaner. I make my own from distilled water, a bit of ammonia and denatured alcohol. Use them in a 10-1 ratio of water to alcohol with just a splash of ammonia per gallon. Put it in a trigger spray bottle and coat the glass well. Then use a good paper towel. I like the blue paper "shop towels" that are in most discount stores. Wipe the windows down but not dry! Next take a wadded up newspaper page and dry the window. Start by going around the edges, then wipe over the whole widow and repeat till gleaming. Do it again if you still see streaks and use a new newspaper. Remember to do both the inside and outside. NOTE: Do not use the newspaper trick on aftermarket plastic widow tint, or on soft plastic windows or gauge/lens covers. It could leave fine scratches in the surface. It won't hurt glass. A rubber squeegee works well outside, but makes a mess inside, and leaves water dribbling over the outside too, so the above newspaper trick works the best from what I have found. UPDATE: A new tip I have found is gone over in "detail" in tip #26. Be sure to read that one too! |
Plastic gauges and plastic windows: Here you do NOT want to use paper towels or newspaper. Treat these items like a fresh clear coat paint job. Use your softest polishing towels. Ones completely clean (remember never use or wash final polishing cloths with those used to compound or wash dirt off your car, keep the two types of shop "rags" separated, more on shop rags in the near future). Meguires makes an excellent clear plastic polish that is an extremely fine cut polish. Used with care with a soft cotton polish rag like our 100% cotton polishing cloths, you will keep lenses looking like new for years. This product also works with taillight lenses and plastic headlights. Do NOT put products meant for vinyl on hard clear plastic. |
Super Tip: Avoid dry dusting dash gauge lenses at shows, this will put fine scratches in them faster than anything. Use a clay product (sometimes called "Quick Detailer" sprays) lightly on a soft cloth (don't spray the lens directly, it could run down into the gauge). |
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