Windshield Clarity

Gallowbraid

Gallowbraid

Adventurist
There's plenty of gear out there to research and drool over, but at the end of the day it's nailing down some of the basics that really matter. For example, when adventuring using a vehicle based platform it's pretty important that you be able to see out of the windshield.

In my 2000 mile romp through Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona over the last few days I've built up quite the impressive bug collection on the windshield of my rental Dodge Ram. This led me to start wondering about keeping the windshield clean during trips. The Ram's stock wipers and, I'm assuming, stock wiper fluid have done absolutely nothing to clear away the soup of bug guts and carcasses from my forward view. Makes for some interesting textures come sunset in Arizona.

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I know on my personal vehicle I ditched the factory wipers soon after buying the vehicle and installed a set of Bosch Icon Wiper blades. They provide much better removal of water, mud and any other liquid that hits the windshield. These combined with Prestone Bugwash have worked well for me in the past.

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Prestone claims this product removes 99.99% of bugs. In my experience there are a lot of bugs out there so that .01% that remains is still quite a bit. However this stuff does work pretty well at removing the mountain of moth and firefly guts that inevitably blanket my windshield on summer nights in the south east.

Anyone else out there have other recommendations? Anyone carry cleaner and a squeegee with them? Full on pressurized water system? Some of us get pretty dirty when we're unsupervised...

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I don't have any trade secrets for products other than an application of rain x every so often and changing out wiper blades as they wear out. I certainly don't play in the mud so that's not an issue. Before heading into the wilderness, I always gas up and clean the windshield at the last gas station. I used to carry a small squeegee because gas stations used to do A HORRIBLE job of keeping their squeegee collections from driving off with customers.....

I'm a huge fan of clean windows.... not just from a safety perspective, but a mental wellness perspective.... if the world you see before you; be it through a window, lense or otherwise is filthy and covered in crap that is how your mind perceives reality..... just a personal observation and quirk of mine... ;)
 
I travel with a bottle of windex behind my driver seat. I've been known to reach out of the driver window while at a traffic light and give a quick spray or two. I'm also pretty religious about cleaning my windows while I fuel up. The rest of the jeep can be muddy but those windows and mirrors better been spotless.

Good wipers also help. I'm a fan of the mono-blade style ones. I've had good luck with Bosch Icon's. Just wish they were easier to find in the smaller size for LJ.

Oh, and clean the wipers. Giving them a quick wipe when you wash the windows reduces streaks and smears.
 
I just keep my windows clean and buy cheap wipers whenever the old ones start to streak, once or twice a year.
 
BoldAdventure said:
Pro-tip, and you might think I'm nuts, but it works. Next time you clay your truck, clay the windshield too. And wax it. Same as doing the RainX stuff you buy. Ups the effectiveness of your bug windshield stuff.
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Along the same line as using a clay bar I've seen a recommendation on a RV site to use #0000 steel wool on the windshield of their rigs and tow vehicles. My initial thought was "yeah, right" but then I went to some manufacture's sites. There it was in their tips.

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jbezorg said:
Along the same line as using a clay bar I've seen a recommendation on a RV site to use #0000 steel wool on the windshield of their rigs and tow vehicles. My initial thought was "yeah, right" but then I went to some manufacture's sites. There it was in their tips.

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I shared your initial reaction. I'm going to have to pick some up and try it on a stranger's car in a dark parking lot to see how it works. :D
 
Gallowbraid said:
I shared your initial reaction. I'm going to have to pick some up and try it on a stranger's car in a dark parking lot to see how it works. :D
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I do have some old glass tumbler cups that have been beat to hell. Think I'll test on those.

This is the video. I'm sure my YouTube Certified Mechanic patch is in the mail :D
 
As a truck driver in South TX, I am intimately familiar with bugs on glass. I fuel daily, and clean the glass with a squeegee at the truck stop. Keeping the windshield coated with Rain-x allows me to use my wipers less in the rain, which makes the treatment last longer. I almost never use the wipers to clear the bugs away. Dry wipers for the first few swipes until the fluid starts flowing is very damaging to the blades, as the dry bug guts chew up the blade edge. I will only do it if it starts raining while the windshield is dirty, and let the guts rehydrate a bit before wiping. Same for my Tacoma. I use Silblade wipers, which are silicone. They actually make the Rain x treatment last longer, as the silicon wiping on glass works the same as Rain x. Maybe Rain x is silicone. And they last for 5 years, verified, if they don't get abraided by bugs too much. Highly recommended.
 
Some of the comments to the video actually make sense. I think these would also apply with using clay on the windshield suggested by BoldAdventure. They are (paraphrased):
  1. In the video he said you don't need to wash the windshield. You do need to wash the windshield before you begin. While the steel wool (or clay) won't scratch the windshield the dirt on the windshield can.
  2. In the video he's wetting his rags on the concrete. Never do this because it can pick up debris that can scratch. A dropped rag should be set aside to be washed. Toss clay or steel wool that gets dropped for the same reason.
 
So the steel wool is interesting, as at 0000 it's a micro-abrasive. And works similar, but the clay is more likely to pull particles out rather than smooth them over. The wool should have a polishing effect though to the eye.

jbezorg said:
Some of the comments to the video actually make sense. I think these would also apply with using clay on the windshield suggested by BoldAdventure. They are (paraphrased):
  1. In the video he said you don't need to wash the windshield. You do need to wash the windshield before you begin. While the steel wool (or clay) won't scratch the windshield the dirt on the windshield can.
  2. In the video he's wetting his rags on the concrete. Never do this because it can pick up debris that can scratch. A dropped rag should be set aside to be washed. Toss clay or steel wool that gets dropped for the same reason.
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With a clay bar, you are usually using a lubricant anyways. So you're going to spray the windshield and run the clay over it like you would the paint. And usually, you wash before clay. Then wash again. Dry clay on your windshield will just stick.

I like the two bucket method. I have a chemical brothers foamer I use to foam up the car first. Then one bucket for the wash, and one bucket for rinsing. The rinse bucket is for rinsing my terry mitt after I wash a section, not for rinsing the vehicle. Then the towel or mitt that is free of dirt can go back into the soap bucket.

That being said, I don't clay as often as I wash. More like once every 6 months. Or ZERO when I was on the road. :) lol
 
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