How to Properly Clean the Inside of a Car Windshield
Tips to ensure your car's interior glass stays streak free.
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Although the outside of a windshield usually gets the attention when washing your car, the interior glass is also an important consideration. Exposed to off-gassing plastics, accumulated moisture from the breathing of passengers, and of course, seasonal temperature swings and humidity changes, your car cabin's glass can eventually streak up and cause vision challenges for drivers.
A Dirty Car Windshield Is a Safety Issue
Visibility is one of the most critical considerations when driving. A clean car windshield ensures that your view of what is in front of you is unobstructed.
Although the inside of your windshield might seem clean in the shade, sunlight and the glare from lights at night can reveal streaks and grime that obscure the road ahead. Dirty interior glass surfaces can also fog up more quickly in cold or humid weather, further obstructing your forward vision.
Simple Products Can Keep Your Windshield Clean
It may be convenient, but wiping the inside of your car's windshield with a napkin from your last drive-through meal can often make those glass streaks worse. Instead, there are two popular and more efficient methods for cleaning the inside of your windshield.
The first is to use a dry microfiber towel to wipe away surface dirt and oils, moving the cloth with a circular motion. You can also use a shop towel to achieve a similar effect, though it doesn't have the grime-gripping curls found in a microfiber towel.
Leave the paper towels on the shelf, as they can result in paper remnants on the glass. For larger windshields, you can use an extender to clean hard-to-reach areas, such as the bottom or top corners.
In some cases, using a dry towel might be enough to achieve the level of cleanliness you want. If not, you can wipe the area again with a fresh microfiber cloth and a glass-cleaner spray. Any glass-specific cleaner will likely do.
Avoid general cleaners, however, as they can contain ammonia, which can add more streaks. Stubborn streaks might call for a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, which is generally safe to use on glass.
You can also clean the glass with rubbing alcohol. Some professionals even recommend it as an additional degreasing step. Mixing dishwashing liquid, vinegar, and water can also be an effective glass-cleaning solution.
Newsprint can be an effective way to reduce lint and dust, though it doesn't hold up well. You'd likely need an entire section to clean every window in an SUV, for instance. That said, newspapers can be helpful for cleaning windows because they lack the water-repelling agent typically added to paper used in magazines, so they quickly absorb excess fluids. The vegetable-based inks commonly used now may also help reduce streaking.
How Can You Tell If You've Cleaned All the Streaks?
Seeing every streak inside the windshield while cleaning it can be a challenge. Wet glass is much better at revealing streaks than dry glass, so keep an eye out for any leftover marks after you've sprayed on your cleaner. Changing the light you're working under — moving from natural to artificial and back again, for instance — can also help you see streaks you might have missed on the first pass.
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