Yahoo Autos Autocar product test: What is the best glass cleaner?
Being able to see out of your car’s windows is, unsurprisingly, quite important. Yes, your vehicle has windscreen wipers and screenwash, but despite that, you’ll often find the glass gets dirty over time, whether it’s pollen coating your car in spring, or road salt obscuring your view in winter.
No one wants to buy a product only to discover it leaves residue and streaky marks all over your car’s glass, so we’re doing the hard work for you in this product test to find the best glass cleaners out there.
Following each company’s recommended instructions and processes, we applied the products to a car’s windscreen and windows, which had a few weeks’ worth of dirt on them. We looked at how streak-free the clean was (the last thing anyone wants is a streaky window), how clean the glass was, and how long the product lasted for.
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BEST BUY – GTechniq G6 Perfect Glass
Price £12.38
What’s included 500ml
Buy from Amazon
There’s no smearing or streaking with this fantastic product. Arm yourself with two cloths, spray the product directly onto the first cloth and wipe the glass. Remove the residue with the second glass cloth or microfibre for a glistening finish. It’s fragrance and colour free, because these ingredients can cause smearing. It’s not the cheapest product, but it performs impressively well, evaporating quickly and leaving nothing behind.
Autocar says 5 stars
RECOMMENDED – Dodo Juice Clearly Menthol Professional Glass Cleaner
Price £12.99
What’s included 500ml
Buy from Amazon
This solvent-based glass cleaner is abrasive free and safe for use with tinted and plastic windows. Dodo Juice also suggests using it to clean mirrors and windows in your house as well as your car. Use a waffle-weave glass cloth (Dodo Juice makes a Mint Merkin for that very job), which has more absorbency than piled microfibre, and make sure your glass is dry before using. It did an excellent job, tackling tough dirt with ease and keeping our glass clean for a decent amount of time.
Autocar says 5 stars
Meguiar’s Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner
Price £13.00
What’s included 473ml
Buy from Amazon
This is another product you can use on both interior and exterior glass. Meguiar’s suggests to move the towel up and down when making your final wipe on the exterior glass. On the interior, move the towel left to right. This will enable you to see which side of the glass may need a re-wipe. Note that this product is not recommended for use on clear plastics, painted surfaces or LCD display screens. It effortlessly removed some really tough dirt and left us with a spotless streak-free finish.
Autocar says 5 stars
TurtleWax Hybrid Solutions Streak-free Mist Glass Cleaner Inside & Out
Price £14.00
What’s included 591ml
Buy from Amazon
The TurtleWax glass cleaner comes with a Flairosol (aka fine mist sprayer with a great name), which helps the product spread evenly on all glass surfaces and can be used to give a short or long burst of product. We found it worked very well on removing dust, fingerprints, bugs, bird droppings and water spots, both inside the car and on the windscreen (some of those were fortunately only on the outside).
Autocar says 4 stars
Auto Glym Car Glass Polish
Price £7.00
What’s included 325ml
Buy from Amazon
To increase visibility through your windscreen both inside and out, Auto Glym’s Car Glass Polish is an ideal product. Most glass cleaners tend to be a clear spray, but this is a thick cream. Apply a small amount to a microfibre cloth or polish applicator and work it over your windscreen in a circular motion, inside and out, ensuring the glass is completely covered with a thin film. For any pesky marks, you’ll need to add a bit of elbow grease. Give the cream time to dry, then buff with a clean microfibre cloth. The anti-misting properties were very effective, but you can’t use this product on Perspex, acrylic or plastic windows.
