Film on the inside of car windows.

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I don't smoke, and no one has ever smoked inside of my truck.

However, I had a film on the inside of my windows, that I couldn't get rid of. I tried 5 or 6 different types of glass cleaner, I used different brands of paper towels, cotton cloths, and micro-fiber towels to wipe off the glass cleaner with... nothing would cut the film. Once the window would dry, it was there.

Until I wiped the glass with a completely dry, clean microfiber towel.

That was what I was missing. Nothing more than that.

Happy to get to the final solution... but wish I would have gotten there a bit quicker.
 
The old-school answer was newspapers. Not with the ink still wet, of course. The texture of the paper scrubbed the windows. I don't know if it would still work.
 
interesting.. my Kia also has some weird film on the windows.. I will try these suggestions.. I suspect its from that stupid fabric protector they put in the car..
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I don't smoke, and no one has ever smoked inside of my truck.

Have you been using any sort of cleaners/conditioners on the interior? Some of them off gas like that.
 
It can be caused by a variety of volatile organic compounds, a lot of times it is from plasticizers in flexible plastics. The downside is that once they are gone (and the film disappears) the plastic starts to degrade.
 
After normal cleaning with a glass cleaner after the glass is dry just crumple up a sheet of newspaper and go over the glass. It will take care of the problem.

I have a 2015 KIA Sorento and after using the newspaper and some elbow grease that did the trick.
 
Originally Posted By: Michael_P
And to think we breathe that stuff in.


I love new car smell.. but it is slightly disturbing to think of what it is.

I usually have some non-glass microfiber towels.

I wipe the inside glass down,

then spray and clean with favorite cleaner 2x or so.
using "glass paper towels"

making sure its in direct sunlight so I can check for streaks.

most of the time the film is caused by interior cleaners/protectants
 
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My contributions to the question:
1) Be very careful when applying a penetrant to your dash as they're a bear to remove from glass. After several unsuccessful attempts at cleaning, the overspray could look like a film.
2) Newspaper is great but use only sections without color pictures. The printing of color pictures involves a layer of white base coat so the colored ink looks better. I find the white stuff dissolves off the paper and smears all over the glass. Use black and white pages only.
3) Cover the dash board and spray with ammonia and water and wipe off. The microfiber towel is a great advance to mankind. Kira
 
Originally Posted By: ronbo
Sprayway is rumored to be the best glass cleaner. I see that Home Depot carries it for about $3.00.


This or vinegar are great with getting rid of it. Doesn't have to be newspaper, Newer newspapers don't use the same ink as the old ones and I have seen instances where it smuges onto the glass. Any lint free cloth should work fine. It is just gases expelled from the plastics in the vehicle. The key to keeping a clean windshield is to use as little product as possible. Overspray is a major cause of streaks in glass.
 
Originally Posted By: Kira
My contributions to the question:
1) Be very careful when applying a penetrant to your dash as they're a bear to remove from glass. After several unsuccessful attempts at cleaning, the overspray could look like a film.
2) Newspaper is great but use only sections without color pictures. The printing of color pictures involves a layer of white base coat so the colored ink looks better. I find the white stuff dissolves off the paper and smears all over the glass. Use black and white pages only.
3) Cover the dash board and spray with ammonia and water and wipe off. The microfiber towel is a great advance to mankind. Kira


You're right about protectant ovespray being a pita to get off glass. I always spray the towell with protectant/conditioner when I'm applying,and never spray directly on the surface.
 
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
Originally Posted By: ronbo
Sprayway is rumored to be the best glass cleaner. I see that Home Depot carries it for about $3.00.


This or vinegar are great with getting rid of it. Doesn't have to be newspaper, Newer newspapers don't use the same ink as the old ones and I have seen instances where it smuges onto the glass. Any lint free cloth should work fine. It is just gases expelled from the plastics in the vehicle. The key to keeping a clean windshield is to use as little product as possible. Overspray is a major cause of streaks in glass.


+1; the best glass cleaner I've ever used is water and a drop of dishwasing detergent and a splash of vinegar.

I've tried using Windex to remove the grime on the inside of my windshield and it makes it worse.

If it gets bad enough, and it does, I use [censored] and Span, let that dry, and go over it again with the vinegar/dishwashing soap solution.

I hate that grime that builds up on the inside of windows. I've noticed it builds up faster if the windows go through repeated fogging/moisture condensation cycles. Any airborn contaminants/dirt/pollen etc. in the water vapor sticks to the windows and gets baked on. Makes it hard to see at night.
 
I'm not wild on the newspaper idea, as the driver and passenger doors have aftermarket tint on them. I'm betting that the tint would not tolerate that.

I've never used any sort of shampoos or cleaner on the seats or carpet. Even at 10 years, it has never needed it.

And I would hope that the plastic in a 10 year old vehicle is done with the "off-gassing" process.

If I had to guess, it is related to the body work that was done on the truck in 2009. It sat inside of a body shop for 5 weeks, and a good amount of that time, it had the windows out of the cab, and the openings were covered with paper.

However, if anything got through the paper, it made it inside of the cab. But that was 5 years ago.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I've never used any sort of shampoos or cleaner on the seats or carpet.

What about a dashboard protectant like ArmorAll or 303?
 
Any off-gassing in my car, I'm usually to blame.
grin.gif
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Coffee filters work really well at cleaning glass too.

+1
I haven't used them on glass yet but I've heard they're good. A buddy of mine owned a bar and used big coffee filters and windex on the big mirrors and swore by it
 
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