How to clean stubborn grease off windscreen?

Skilid

Skilid

Skilid

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I recently cleaned all the windows on my car using Autoglym glass cleaner. I then applied a small application of Rain-X. All seemed well upon first inspection. However, the next morning was chilly and the windscreen was fogged over. Using the wipers seemed to clear it, but it fogged straight back up again. In the cold, the film got worse unless I kept the wipers on. As the car/windscreen heated up the smearing reduced gradually however I still get a second or two of smearing after each wipe. The inside of the glass is perfectly clean. This is only on the outside of the windscreen. All other windows are fine. I've had this on cars before but never really managed to resolve it properly, even using dish soap etc. Have you guys come across this? What tips do you have to help remove this layer of, what I assume is, grease?

Lots of tutorials just say to use glass cleaner, but I've done that and it doesn't resolve the problem. The wipers are also new so they are not the issue.
 
Rain-X is crap (and I speak from experience) and is exactly what is causing the smears. Never put it on a window that has wipers on it.
I would try 99.9% isopropyl alcohol to take the stuff back off.
 
darkblade said:
Rain-X is crap (and I speak from experience) and is exactly what is causing the smears. Never put it on a window that has wipers on it.
I would try 99.9% isopropyl alcohol to take the stuff back off.
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I've used it for years without issue so not sure why it's causing a problem now. Is there an alternative you'd recommend?
 
if its grease, try this stuff

Elbow Grease All Purpose Degreaser​


I use this a lot around the house,its a joy to use on most stuff, very good for cutting straight through greese, infiitely better than hot soapy water and a bonus for the thrifty its only £1.25 a bottle !
 
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thebandit said:
if its grease, try this stuff

Elbow Grease All Purpose Degreaser​


I use this a lot around the house,its a joy to use on most stuff, very good for cutting straight through greese, infiitely better than hot soapy water and a bonus for the thrifty its only £1.25 a bottle !
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I don't know what it is to be honest. Some kind of traffic film/grease. I'll look into it.
 
Skilid said:
I've used it for years without issue so not sure why it's causing a problem now.
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Skilid said:
I've had this on cars before but never really managed to resolve it properly, even using dish soap etc.
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Those statements are somewhat conflicting.

If you do a search, you will find large numbers of people having the same issue with Rain-X. There are also numerous posts on how to remove the stuff.
Just leave the front (and rear if you have a rear wiper) free from any windscreen sealants - they don't play well with wipers.
 
Get this stuff:

I had similar on my screen, a film of product which was helping water roll off, but was highly visible in direct sunlight, almost made the screen opaque. Tried glass cleaner, glass polish, clay bar and nothing shifted it. Using this Glaco Compound took it straight off.

Bear in mind the whole point is that it's used to thoroughly clean and degrease a screen before you re-apply their own rain repellent product. If you want that, I'd recommend applying their Glaco Ultra stuff afterward, but if you just want the screen thoroughly clean and free of smearing or coatings, use the compound and that's it.
 
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How new are the wipers - when they deteriorate they smear as inflexible rubber skates over the surface.

they have a hard life over winter anyway - you see people dragging them over the frost, so I usually try to change in Spring, and always remember to wash blades,
 
Skilid said:
I've used it for years without issue so not sure why it's causing a problem now. Is there an alternative you'd recommend?
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It used to be good - somewhere around 2019 or so it went to **** at first I thought I'd maybe got a fake but after buying from a couple of different reputable suppliers with the same result I've given up on it. Even then you had to make sure the windscreen was 100% clean before applying it or you'd get smearing in light rain.
 
Conscript said:
Get this stuff:

I had similar on my screen, a film of product which was helping water roll off, but was highly visible in direct sunlight, almost made the screen opaque. Tried glass cleaner, glass polish, clay bar and nothing shifted it. Using this Glaco Compound took it straight off.

Bear in mind the whole point is that it's used to thoroughly clean and degrease a screen before you re-apply their own rain repellent product. If you want that, I'd recommend applying their Glaco Ultra stuff afterward, but if you just want the screen thoroughly clean and free of smearing or coatings, use the compound and that's it.
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This is the only correct answer.

Apply to slightly wet windscreen. Keep spray bottle of water to wet it and do multiple passes.



It'll get rid of all of the crap on there.
 
Conscript said:
Get this stuff:

I had similar on my screen, a film of product which was helping water roll off, but was highly visible in direct sunlight, almost made the screen opaque. Tried glass cleaner, glass polish, clay bar and nothing shifted it. Using this Glaco Compound took it straight off.

Bear in mind the whole point is that it's used to thoroughly clean and degrease a screen before you re-apply their own rain repellent product. If you want that, I'd recommend applying their Glaco Ultra stuff afterward, but if you just want the screen thoroughly clean and free of smearing or coatings, use the compound and that's it.
Click to expand...

MrRockliffe said:
This is the only correct answer.

Apply to slightly wet windscreen. Keep spray bottle of water to wet it and do multiple passes.



It'll get rid of all of the crap on there.
Click to expand...
I've just used that Glaco kit. Used the compound as directed on the packaging and then used their own repellant. Used clay bar before doing any of that also. Will report back as it isn't raining at the moment.
 
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