Inside of windscreen greasy

[Hadrian1]

This applies to my Yaris, but could equally apply to any car.

The inside of the windscreen is very greasy, and anything I use seems to make it worse.

I've tried a variety of glass cleaners to no avail.  Does anyone have a sure fire way of cleaning the glass  ?

I've seen a US YT video, but that was rather long winded.

[Bper]

Hi Alan, you can try isopropyl Alcohol or surgical spirit . Both are inexpensive and readily available at superdrug, Amazon, Screwfix etc. and will remove grease etc . Hope this helps.☺️

[MikeSh]

I have a can of this stuff, with microfibre cloths, which does a good job for me:

https://www.dortechdirect.co.uk/bohle-glass-cleaner.html

It's quite a bit can and it needs very little, so is lasting me forever (it's sold for office blocks, etc).

[TonyHSD]

+1 for cleaning with alcohol. Then you can clean with anything else, if not working you can try dettol antibacterial spray. The trick is to spray and wipe away with two strokes only,. Down up and down again  and move to the side , little smear is best left to evaporate instead of trying to make it perfectly clear . In freezing cold you can start the car and set some hot air blowing towards the windscreen, fan speed max 2 ., so you have time to wipe and then evaporate. 👍

[ICF]

I use a cloth/sponge with soapy water and a squeegee.Takes a bit of practice but leave a supper smear free finish. 

[davidif]

+1 for the IPA (isopropyl alcohol)

[Roy124]

I had problems even reaching a Corolla windscreen and have just bought something like this 

Check this out! https://amzn.eu/d/1VTcHUa

Get a metal rod

[Hybrid21]

4 hours ago, Hadrian1 said:

This applies to my Yaris, but could equally apply to any car.

The inside of the windscreen is very greasy, and anything I use seems to make it worse.

I've tried a variety of glass cleaners to no avail.  Does anyone have a sure fire way of cleaning the glass  ?

I've seen a US YT video, but that was rather long winded.

I would recommend this Alan, does a great job 👍

[Cyker]

One product I DON'T recommend is RainX - I had a dual-pack for interior and exterior, and the interior stuff didn't help with the inside glass misting up at all, and also gassed me for a week or so, and the external rain repellent doesn't last very long before it needs to be reapplied, presumably because the wipers are rubbing it off with every pass. The PIAA silicone wipers I started using do a much better job; After a few good showers my windscreens become so hydrophobic I don't even need to use the wipers if I'm driving in the rain at motorway speeds!

I will say, when I first got my Yaris, the interior glass was very very prone to misting up and at certain angles you could see a film of something on it that would come back a few days after wiping it off - I suspect this was the off-gassing from the plastics (That 'new car smell'!).

It's been much better this year since the plastics are not off-gassing so much.

[corradovr6]

I also found Rainx on the outside caused the light to really disperse a lot making oncoming headlights very dazzling. I found it good for sude and rear windows and door mirrors. 

For cleaning the inside, i found the best results were achieved from using a half decent microfibre, ideally not the cheapo ones from tesco! That was with a normal glass cleaner, nothing special or proprietary. The 'test' for me is when the car does mist up and the mist is very even - a bit counter intuitive i know! Plus i absolutely hate it when passengers in their attempt to help, wipe the windows with their hands. Grrrrr!!

[Hadrian1]

7 hours ago, Roy124 said:

I had problems even reaching a Corolla windscreen and have just bought something like this 

Check this out! https://amzn.eu/d/1VTcHUa

Get a metal rod

Thanks, I bought one of those from Lidl a couple of years ago.

[Hadrian1]

Thanks for the advice chaps. Alcohol seems to get the most votes, I'll give it a go.

[paul9]

Wear gloves so it doesn't strip the oils from your skin.

[Bper]

14 hours ago, Cyker said:

One product I DON'T recommend is RainX - I had a dual-pack for interior and exterior, and the interior stuff didn't help with the inside glass misting up at all, and also gassed me for a week or so, and the external rain repellent doesn't last very long before it needs to be reapplied, presumably because the wipers are rubbing it off with every pass. The PIAA silicone wipers I started using do a much better job; After a few good showers my windscreens become so hydrophobic I don't even need to use the wipers if I'm driving in the rain at motorway speeds!

I will say, when I first got my Yaris, the interior glass was very very prone to misting up and at certain angles you could see a film of something on it that would come back a few days after wiping it off - I suspect this was the off-gassing from the plastics (That 'new car smell'!).

It's been much better this year since the plastics are not off-gassing so much.

I'm a bit surprised that rain x hasn't worked for you, I apply it twice on the outside windscreen and the side windows and also coat the wipers. To be honest it's worked for me and many others. Is your glass a specific type due to the HUD set up and sensors.🤔

 

[APS]

21 hours ago, Hadrian1 said:

This applies to my Yaris, but could equally apply to any car.

The inside of the windscreen is very greasy, and anything I use seems to make it worse.

I've tried a variety of glass cleaners to no avail.  Does anyone have a sure fire way of cleaning the glass  ?

I've seen a US YT video, but that was rather long winded.

You are not vaping in the car?

As others have said - alcohol works well. I've found so many uses for all the alcohol gel we have left after the pandemic 😷

To stop screens mist up you can use normal shampoo or liquid soap. A very thin coating will break the surface tension and prevent droplets and mist forming. Choose your favourite fragrance! 

[Cyker]

18 hours ago, corradovr6 said:

I also found Rainx on the outside caused the light to really disperse a lot making oncoming headlights very dazzling. I found it good for sude and rear windows and door mirrors. 

For cleaning the inside, i found the best results were achieved from using a half decent microfibre, ideally not the cheapo ones from tesco! That was with a normal glass cleaner, nothing special or proprietary. The 'test' for me is when the car does mist up and the mist is very even - a bit counter intuitive i know! Plus i absolutely hate it when passengers in their attempt to help, wipe the windows with their hands. Grrrrr!!

Ahh if that's the test then it worked well as the mist was very very even, impenetrably so!  

Now I just use isopropyl alcohol and when the glass is super clean that seems to stop it fogging up in the first place...

You've also reminded me I still need to get one of my friends back for drawing a cock and balls on the inside of the rear windows in my old Mk2 - Sneaky git did it when the windows were dry and it wasn't until they started fogging up that his handy work appeared... Revenge must be had!!

 

6 hours ago, Bper said:

I'm a bit surprised that rain x hasn't worked for you, I apply it twice on the outside windscreen and the side windows and also coat the wipers. To be honest it's worked for me and many others. Is your glass a specific type due to the HUD set up and sensors.🤔

This was on my older cars, as I'd not used it since. I think it was just normal glass TBH! These days, between the alcohol and the silicone wipers it's not been an issue for me for many years now! (Although when I get the new windscreen it's going to take a while for the silicone coating to build up again...! That'll be a PITA, as it also stops ice sticking to the windscreen, making it much easier to scrape off!)

 

[Hadrian1]

Just to go back to my original question, it was the "inside" of the windscreen which is the problem.

Getting rid of the greasy film rather than the mist.

[MRichards]

I would also suggest rubbing alcohol or white spirit. Try cleaning a little section of the windscreen at a time - I often end up with a streaky finish if I clean the entire windscreen in one go (perhaps because I use too much glass cleaner, less is more with glass cleaner I find).

[TonyHSD]

11 hours ago, Hadrian1 said:

Just to go back to my original question, it was the "inside" of the windscreen which is the problem.

Getting rid of the greasy film rather than the mist.

Yeap, these two always goes together. More greasy is the windscreen from inside more misting will form. Cleaner windows stays clear ❇️👍

[Hadrian1]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:13 AM, MRichards said:

I would also suggest rubbing alcohol or white spirit. Try cleaning a little section of the windscreen at a time - I often end up with a streaky finish if I clean the entire windscreen in one go (perhaps because I use too much glass cleaner, less is more with glass cleaner I find).

I've tried Whit Spirit, but I found it left a greasy deposit.

[TonyHSD]

1 minute ago, Hadrian1 said:

I've tried Whit Spirit, but I found it left a greasy deposit.

White spirit it’s not the right stuff imo, rubbing alcohol or pure lukewarm water and clean microfibre cloth., or some good quality windows cleaner. Also very important here are the movements with the cloth., perhaps this is the most important of all. 
Here is my way how to clean a greasy and dirty windows from inside & out. 
I use wet synthetic chamois  folded 4 times and I wipe the half of the windscreen a few times using movements up and down then side to side, I go around mirror and corners first then the rest.  While windscreen is still wet I go second round with dry microfibre cloth also folded 4 times and similar size of my palm. Start from corners , near dashboard and around the rear view mirror then I go from top to bottom in straight lines starting from middle of the windscreen and working my way towards outer corner. Movements are total of two, start from top to bottom and back then slightly move the cloth and repeat until I dry the passenger half. Passenger Sun visor mirror gets cleaned now and I am ready to move to the driver side. Before I start the driver side I fold again the chamois to have clean working side and fold the cloth to have dry working side., repeat exact same process and finish with dashboard instruments glass and driver sun visor mirror. Job done for the inside windscreen, can do the small side windows, then wash the chamois in clean water and go around all other windows. Very important to keep fresh and clean sides on both chamois and microfibre cloth for each window. 
For the exterior windows clean I use exact same stuff and techniques. 
Important bits:

Do not clean windows under direct sunlight, if there is no other option you can do so but use more water. Do not push too much onto the chamois and the cloth, just use low to moderate pressure . 
Well that’s pretty much all. 
Good luck 
 

[Tomv]

Just wonder, if it is something that remains on the windscreen from the factory or it builds up after some time ?

I have it on my Corolla and had it on previous cars too.

 

My friend gave me some special foam that should get rid off any grease but I have to find some way how to apply it without messing the dashboard etc. 🙂 

 

[Cyker]

In new cars, I reckon it's almost certainly off-gassing from the plastics; Mine was quite bad for it in the first year but is a lot better this year.

 

[MikeSh]

54 minutes ago, Tomv said:

Just wonder, if it is something that remains on the windscreen from the factory or it builds up after some time ?

You spend a lot of time behind other vehicles spewing confusion products, and your vents direct some of that across the inside of the windscreen. And of course humans will be off-gassing various products too.

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, Hadrian1 said:

I've tried Whit Spirit, but I found it left a greasy deposit.

Yes, it's oil based. I often use it to get sticky residue or permanent marker off things, but if I want it properly clean I finish off with some meths or other alcohol to remove the white spirit residue.

I wouldn't use it on windows though. Other things are easier/quicker/more effective.