The best glass cleaner
Written by: Vinnie van Rooij
It is often asked on detailing fora and social media: “what is the best glass cleaner”. Off course there is a difference between certain products and brands, but it is important to know what you are asking. In this guide I will try to explain what the problem is with this question unless it is asked more in-depth.
Contents
The general problem
When somebody asks what the best shampoo is, they are not letting other people know what they mean with “best”. A shampoo is developed with several characteristics in mind. It has to be slick, good soluble in water, good cleaning properties, wax/sealant-safe and several more. These properties can be very different between products and/or brands. In the question “What is the best shampoo”, it is nowhere specified if that person is looking for a shampoo that is very slick, if it just smells nice or if it is the least protection-affecting.
So it is almost impossible to give an answer.
What to keep in mind when you ask the question
Many detailers are searching for a certain product that offers good quality. This could mean that they are looking for a cheap product, one that smells good, etc. Before you ask the question which product is the best it is important to know what you are looking for. Are you looking for a wax that offers mainly gloss? Or is easy to buff off? Or one that offers as much gloss?
It is important to know what you are looking for, and to know that there will be cases in which 2 properties can not be combined. A shampoo that is really awesome at washing away stubborn grease can not be wax safe. Simply because you need a certain harshness to remove the grease, harshness that is more then the wax can handle. Even sealants are likely to be affected by this.
A list of things to consider
Here is a list of properties you might consider including in your question. These can be your own preferences, or just things you find important. This list is simply made to help you find out what you exactly want to ask, so you will get better answers that suit your search.
Glass cleaner
- Easy to use
- Leaves stripes/streaks
- Smells good
- Price
- Size of bottle
- Dilutable
- Removes oil, nicotine etc.
- Alcohol or polymer based
Different related articles
There are a few different kinds of machine polishers on the market, these are designed with different strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what machine suits which job the best can help to make the job easier or achieve better results....-
Rupes is an Italian (Vermezzo) manufacturer of professional machinery, tools and some other electrical equipment. Besides several different machines, they also manufacture machine polishers for the detailing industry. The most famous one is probably the Rupes Bigfoot series....
-
When removing paint defects, like scratches or water spot etching, the Kevin Brown Method uses a Finishing Polish instead of the traditional heavy-cut compound. This is done via a combination with a microfiber polishing pad and a random orbital polisher....
-
A testspot is a small area where you try out different combinations of polish, polishing pads and even machines or techniques, to see what works best with the given situation....
-
Scratch resistant paint is a holy grail in the world of surface finishes. It would suggest a type of surface finish that either is hard enough to withstand surface impacts, or is capable or reforming its damages surface....
-
Jeweling is popular term among those who want to achieve the last and final step of finishing polishing a car. Although it is not certain where the term came from, if done properly it does add depth to the paintwork....
Links to this article
There are no external links to this article. Yet.