I've tried almost everything - alcohol, Stoner Invisible Glass, Fantastic all-purpose cleaner.... my windshield visibility in rain is horrible. I thought it might be the inside glass, so I cleaned that as well but still no difference. I don't know what to do. It looks like really bad 1/4-inch water stains that run vertical down my windshield. Can it be from all the bad liquid-wax jobs at the car-wash??

A few things I haven't done are changing the wipers (currently Bosch micro-edge), or using a micro-fiber towel. I've used cloth towels, newspaper, and paper towels. I don't think a MF towel would be the difference since I'm using a load of elbow grease.

Any sugggestions? Hot water and detergent? I need some help....

 

Have you thought about claying and polishing the glass?

 

I guess I should try claying the windshield. Will polishing do any good? Is there a polish that you can suggest? And if this can be bought at a local auto-parts store (Pep Boys, Strauss...) or do I need to go to a specialty store?

 

use pure white vinigar and its okay to use on paint

 

Rain-X for rain

 

I second this.... they also make this for the windshield reservoir...

 

Claying and polish could very well work, but from the sounds of it it sounds like the windshield is just dirty and you can't get it clean, thus your problem with rain visibility. It is important to have a good set of windshield wipers and RainX is GREAT for improving visibility by causing the water to bead of the glass, but if it is dirty the RainX will not help here if the things you already tried doing didn't work.

My two best suggestions are taking invisible glass and saturating the windshield with it, and using #0000 steel wool and scrubbing the window down. It's perfectly safe for the glass if you use #0000. You could also try using a razor blade. If there's any stuff caked on there (like a build up of bad car wash wax) the above would take it off (even better with a little hot water and Dawn dishsoap) and it takes stuff like sap, overspray, lettering, dirt and any other stuff that doesn't come off with elbow grease and a towel. Last resort is of course replacing the windshield.

 

not a big fan of rain x

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I went to the Pep-Boys last night and bought Mothers Clay Bar and a microfiber cloth. I floowed the instructions on another thread, and after using a lot of elbow grease, the stains seemed to have come off with the clay bar. It's puring rain here today in Philly, and the difference was night and day! Thanks everybody.

 

you beat me to it

 

If you get a glass polish, check either Autoglym's or Zaino's glass polishes. Some people have used Klasse All In One on glass as well. All of the above can be ordered online.