How to clean oily film off windshield?

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Apr 13, 2013
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Hey guys, I've got this oily film on my windshield that's really apparent when running the wipers in the rain. I cleaned the glass with Stoner's glass cleaner and while this helped considerably, there's still some haze left. I'm thinking about trying an alcohol wipe down next to hopefully cut through whatever gunk this is.

What do you guys recommend? Driving in the rain today was not fun.
 
Clean your wiper blades too. The Stoners should’ve worked.


Is this normal buildup or did someone play a prank?
 
I have had that problem a few times before. Clean the windshield with Barkeepers Friend or Bon Ami or Soft Scrub plain WITHOUT bleach. Works great. Rinse well. They use calcium carbonate which is softer than glass and will not scratch. Mr. Clean magic eraser can also be used which uses a calcium carbonate base.
 
I always add a few ounces of 409 cleaner from the white spray bottle with the blue print. It cuts oil and grease if a vehicle in coming in the opposite direction splashes a puddle that has some oil to it onto your windshield. I remove some of the blue windshield fluid from a new bottle and add enough 409 so that when I put the lid back on and shake it white foam appears on the top of the fluid. You can spray 409 directly on the windshield, but some in the washer-fluid is almost always enough to cut the oil-film.
 
The only one I would use for glass is Bon Ami 1886, it works great.

 
Clean your wiper blades too. The Stoners should’ve worked.


Us this normal buildup or did someone play a prank?
Yup, I did clean the blades.

We were visiting friends in the city and their building had offsite parking near a construction site. Whatever gunk was flying around in the air that week must've coated the glass.
 
Use invisible glass glass scrub. Its a thick liquid that rmoves oily grime, dirt. Chemicals and build-up on windshields.
 
I use blue Dawn with a dish scrub pad, the soft sponge type.
Soap down the glass and the part of the blade that touches the glass.
Rinse with clean water.
Repeat 2X.
 
There are a lot of good suggestions already but I'll pass along something I learned in my childhood. I'm 72 so that was a looong time ago! My Father and Uncle who ran a service station always said if you are out on the road you can use a bottle of Coca-Cola to clean a windshield with greasy road grime on it. Of course you'd then want to rinse the sticky mess off. There are a lot better options these days but the OP's question made me think of this old time solution.
 
I'd imagine its the weak acid in soda that does the cleaning in that case. If you were up against the wall that hard, use diet, it would be less sticky! 😁
 
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