Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

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Sun 13 Mar 2011 15:37

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Roly93

We have 2 cars, a newish Ford Focus and a 3 year old A4. Both cars are well cared for but even though only the Audi does a lot of motorway miles, both have perenially smeary windscreens.

I have tried everything I know to cure this as follows :-

Thorughly cleaning screen with pressure washer detergent or special extra strong glass cleaner, then rubbing the widscreen dry with screwed up newspaper or kitchen roll.

I then move onto the blades, which I have cleaned with hot detergenty water after having used meths on a cotton wool ball to wipe the sweeping surface of the blade. This usually harvests a lot of black grime, which I am assuming is road film etc, and the blackmess does go away with subsequent wipes.

However in no time at all the smeryness comes back. You can see it from outside the car in the form of a rainbow like film on the screen after the blades have swept.

I am planning to empty my screenwash reservoir and refill with plain clean water, as I am starting to suspect the screen wash, is the blue stuff actually any good ??

Any suggestions/tips/hints please..

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Sun 13 Mar 2011 16:47

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Avant

I agree it's a good idea to empty the reservoirs, in case there's anything in there causing the smearing. Then I suggest getting the 'blue stuff' concentrate that VW / Audi / Skoda garages sell. It's surprisingly cheap and very effective against both freezing and smearing.

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Sun 13 Mar 2011 20:38

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Halmer

Clearalex tablets used to be excellent but for some reason they don't seem to do them any more :(

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Sun 13 Mar 2011 23:35

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - captain chaos

As mentioned previously, empty/flush washer bottle. Clean windscreen with thinners, avoiding contact with windscreen rubber seals, wash with soapy water and replace wiper blades with quality Bosch or Champion blades. Oh, and don't park under trees.

Hope this helps, cc.

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Wed 16 Mar 2011 15:32

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - dadbif

Okay, let's sort this once and for all, go and buy yourselves some ammonia, (80cents a litre in my local supermarket in Spain), add about a cupful to your screenwash bottle, NO MORE SMEARS, QED.
I suffered terribly with smearing on my new c3 Picasso, despite using nothing but screenwash, then I remembered an old car valeter telling me once that he used to p I s s in the water before cleaning his screen, this wasbecause of the ammonia in his urine. We had some in the house (use it got gnat bites), put some in and, voila!

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Wed 16 Mar 2011 16:51

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Andy P

Just to clarify - it's Lemon Ammonia you need, not ammonia (which is corrosive and smells.....pungent).

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Wed 16 Mar 2011 19:13

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - kestrel

Just to clarify - it's Lemon Ammonia you need, not ammonia (which is corrosive and smells.....pungent).

Where can i buy this in the UK?I've looked on the internet but all the ads are from America.

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Thu 17 Mar 2011 07:33

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Andy P

Turns out Lemon Ammonia is just dilute ammonia (~10%) with lemon perfume added to it. Doh.....

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Sun 20 Mar 2011 17:37

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Roly93

I got hold of some basic household ammonia from Homebase, the smelly stuff. I dilluted about 3:1 and rubbed on the screen rinsing thoroughly afterwards.

This has definately done the trick, now wipers sweep with no residuals.

So detergent, meths, jewelers rouge, rubbing with newspaper/kitchen roll, vinegar and special extra strong glass cleaner didn't completely do the job.

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Fri 18 Mar 2011 12:39

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - softopdriver

In my quest to rid the horrible ghostly marks that often appear on the outside of the glass during the colder months, I have tried many things and finally arrived at something that works, its dirt cheap and stunningly effective - deionised water.

Following on from various tips and advice, I've thoroughly cleaned the windscreen with mild cutting cleansers such as AG Glass Polish and even Halfords Intensive Glass Cutter, yet the following morning those nasty vertical streaks were all over the windscreen, and when the wipers sweep, the image remains for a good few seconds, leaving visibility impaired and the screen looking well below par. In constant rain this proved to be a real annoyance.

I have since replaced my washer fluid mix with deionised water rather than tap water, and the regular cleaning method now is to get some blue paper (the sort often found on a roll in factories/garages) and soak it in deionised water and vigourously rub the glass, making sure to use firm effort. No other chemicals are necessary, the slightly rough texture of the blue paper is enough to really cleanse the glass (I am told that kitchen roll is not suitable due to the chemicals in the paper which make it soft and pliable, and these leave a waxy film on the glass - having used that for years I can vouch for the extra effectiveness of the blue paper). After 1 sweep, use some fresh blue paper and go over it to dry it, then wait a few minutes until completely dry and buff the glass with a clean (preferably unused) microfibre cloth.

Deionised water costs about 50p/litre, microfibre cloths can be picked up cheaply from most places these days, and I now keep a kit in the car to do the windscreen as necessary. I understand the streaks that can be seen are often very fine deposits of minerals in tap water, or picked up from the road as grit salt residue and diesel/oil particles. They can also be caused by wash & wax products that do not get completely rinsed off the glass before starting to dry. I now never wash the windscreen when washing the car, I simply use the above method and occasionally use one of the glass polishes to maintain a crystal clear finish.

Try it and see what you think.

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Wed 18 Dec 2013 13:43

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - johnaerial

I suffered for years with smeary hazy windscreens. I used every glass cleaner under the sun - Auto Glym, the lot. I tried isopropyl alcohol, wire wool, even vinegar but nothing would stop the smear until....I decided that perhaps it wasn’t grease or wax but a build up of limescale. I live in a very hard-water area and limescale builds up on everything to do with water.

Even though I had tried vinegar previously, this time I soaked a towel in vinegar and left it on the windscreen for an hour or so. Then I gave the screen a vigorous rubbing and hey presto, I now have a crystal-clear windscreen and NO MORE smear.

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Wed 18 Dec 2013 14:41

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - John Boy

Like John Aerial, I think the water supply is a big factor in this.

In the late 60s, I was trained in photography at a college in south London. After developing, fixing and washing films, we were taught to briefly dip the strip of negatives in wetting agent (dilute detergent). The theory was that it relaxed the surface tension on the film, caused partly by the sprocket holes on each edge. That allowed the water to run straight off the film when it was hung up to dry. It worked well, but didn't work at home in west London. The water would run off the film leaving chemical deposits of some kind.

I was plagued by those marks on my negatives until I moved to east London, close to the reservoirs in Walthamstow and Chingford. From that point on, drying films become straightforward - I didn't even need to use the wetting agent.

The only variable I could find in those scenarios was the water supply.

Edited by John Boy on 18/12/2013 at 14:42

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Wed 27 Sep 2017 13:38

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - azoayboni

You should buy a pressure washer for clean your car. Because for your car washing you have to spend lots of money. If you buy a pressure then you can clean your car. And you shall be able to recover it. And with a pressure washer, you can also clean your home for free and very fast. And you can use soap with a pressure washer. It will give you more better result.

(Link deleted)

Edited by Avant on 28/09/2017 at 22:35

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Wed 27 Sep 2017 13:52

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - gordonbennet

^^^ ye Gods, someone hold me back, i can't wait to click on that link, my lovely wife has always wanted to pressure wash the living and bed rooms...

This site desperately needs a face palm smiley.

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Wed 27 Sep 2017 14:52

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - focussed

Calm down GB it's only a link to a review site of PW detergents!

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Wed 27 Sep 2017 17:31

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - argybargy

I think the clue is in the wording of the post. Possibly someone who Google translates from another language into English, who knows the President of Nigeria and can give me his email address so that he can transfer that thousand million Nigerian dollars into my account, at last (bank details to follow, Your Worship).

If genuine, many apologies.

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Thu 28 Sep 2017 12:55

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Bilboman

Judging from the replies sent so far, I assume the old school method involving a cut potato has finally been consigned to the dustbin of history!

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Thu 28 Sep 2017 18:27

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - hillman

I used a cut potato years ago when my windsceen wiper motor burned out. It worked like a charm until I got a new motor.

Just a thought : Do any of you use a car wash that shampoos the car ? That is a sure cause of smeary windscreen, and very difficult to shift.

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Thu 28 Sep 2017 18:45

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Ian_SW

Agreed. I think lot of the problem is down to using 'wash and wax' type shampoo to wash the car. Because the stuff is soluble in water, even if you get it off the windscreen after washing the car, the next time it rains some more washes off the roof down the windscreen.

The Autoglym car shampoo seems to avoid this, and makes no 'and wax' claim, so I presume that's why.

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Fri 29 Sep 2017 10:32

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - FoxyJukebox

On a dry day-generously apply neat screenwash to the entire area with a clean cloth. Then -using a large handful of paper towels, wipe until dry. For a week or two-Top up windscreen bottle with a strong minimallly diluted mix of screenwash.

While you are at it

1) Use the same clean cloth to wipe down the other windows and wipe dry with paper towels.

2) Slightly damp( so you do not soak the dash etc) a fistful of paper towels and do the inside of the front screen ,side and back windows ---polishing dry afterwards with more paper towels. Avoid dusters when "polishing" windows inside or out

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Fri 29 Sep 2017 14:04

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Cyd

Try this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru0eyjGcI9c

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Fri 29 Sep 2017 18:00

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - FoxyJukebox

The You Tube clip which suggests using wire wool (0000) is clever--but I sort of have this nightmare sense that some folk might inadvertently use a higher graded wire wool with truly appaling results. User beware?

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Fri 29 Sep 2017 23:12

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Chris Hannis

This is easy. Clean the windscreen with a clay bar, I use the Bilt Hamber Regular and you just use water as its lubricant. I clay mine no more than twice a year. Really easy and quick.

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Fri 6 Oct 2017 00:25

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - Bilboman

Most disappointing not to find at least one veteran driver recommending the "it saw us all through the Blitz" half potato solution!

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Fri 6 Oct 2017 12:44

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - John F

Although poor water quaIity has been mentioned, I'm surprised that in the last six years no-one has mentioned rainwater from a drainpipe butt for the windscreen wash bottle and the very occasional (once or twice in 13yrs for our Focus) coolant top-up. It is the purest natural source of water there is. I also use it for washing the car. It doesn't smear so no need to wipe clean and dry which inevitably dulls paintwork after a few years. It's also free!

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Fri 6 Oct 2017 13:06

Any - Smeary Windscreens - Lets Make Em History - RT

Although poor water quaIity has been mentioned, I'm surprised that in the last six years no-one has mentioned rainwater from a drainpipe butt for the windscreen wash bottle and the very occasional (once or twice in 13yrs for our Focus) coolant top-up. It is the purest natural source of water there is. I also use it for washing the car. It doesn't smear so no need to wipe clean and dry which inevitably dulls paintwork after a few years. It's also free!

Rain water quality does vary according to where you live - the clouds dispense consistent quality but the rain will wash pollutants out of the air so if you're in the prevailing wind shadow of a large town/city or a major industrial centre then the rain water quality won't be as good.

I live to the NE of Birmingham so in it's wind/rain shadow due to prevailing SW winds and while it's not nearly as bad as it was 40-50 years ago I still wouldn't drink the rainwater here.

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