7 Best Glass Cleaners for Car Detailing (that Actually Work)

There are few times in automotive detailing that the work you do making your car or truck look good can also make it safer. One of those times is glass cleaning.

Properly cleaned class is easier to see through, especially when driving into the sun or at night with oncoming lights and street lights, and it sheds water better leaving less work for your wiper blades.

Admittedly, properly cleaned glass is also incredible to look at from the outside, especially when it’s tinted.

Cleaning glass to a spot and streak free finish does require the right cleaner and the right technique though, and hopefully that’s why you’re here.

Best Glass & Windshield Cleaners – Quick Look

	Product	Price
	Meguiar's Professional Glass Cleaner...	Check Price at Amazon
	Invisible Glass 92194 Premium Glass and...	Check Price at Amazon
	Gyeon Glass Streak Free Automotive Glass...	Check Price at Amazon
	Griot's Garage Window Cleaner, Cleaning...	Check Price at Amazon
	Meguiar's Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner,...	Check Price at Amazon
	Adam's Polishes Glass Cleaner - Steak...	Check Price at Amazon

What Makes a Quality Glass Cleaner for Car Detailing?

You have wondered about it at one time or another. Admit it. We all have. Why are there so many different glass cleaners on the market? They are all just “Windex” wannabes, right?

Well I want my answer and your glass to be clear.

NO! Not all glass cleaners are suitable for cleaning automotive glass.

Automobile glass cleaning is serious business and the right cleaner makes all the difference. I have a Guide to Glass Cleaning and Sealing that details how to properly clean auto glass along with the reasons to buy the right products. But a refresher can never hurt. So some quick highlights on what you should look for in the “right” cleaner:

• Avoid glass cleaning products with ammonia. It can harm your window tinting and dry out plastic, rubber, vinyl, and leather.
• Avoid glass cleaning products with ingredients that leave a residue. Some products contain wax (or similar) to make your windows shine. But these products leave a residue that can create a hazy mess on your windows, or streaks, if the glass is not real clean before using them. (Which defeats the purpose of a glass cleaner!)
• It must clean actual road grime and debris. Car windows present unique glass cleaning problems. Tree sap, bugs, bird droppings, smokers film, and road grime are common. And many of a car’s windows are sloped, not vertical, making it easier for dirt and grime to land on your windows. That is not the case with your house windows (if you have road grime on your house windows, you are living too close to the road!). Your cleaner should be designed to clean the things that soil your car’s glass.
• A cleaner should do no harm. The glass used in your car is different. Your windshield is laminated for better impact resistance, and all other automotive glass is usually tempered for safety reasons. And car windows are often tinted. Add to that, your car’s glass is exposed to harsh environmental conditions (e.g. acid rain, UV, asphalt sealant, etc.). So, yes, glass is “formulated” for automotive use and abuse. Your cleaner should be designed to work on automotive glass, without harming it.

A product designed to clean your car’s glass better, at a minimum, meet all of the above requirements. Armed with this information and a quick read of a few product labels, you will quickly find that some cleaners are better than others for detailing automotive glass.

To make things easier, below is a list of the best products on the market designed to meet the many demands of detailing your car’s glass.

Why You Should Buy a Quality Automotive Glass Cleaner

Before we dive head long into our list, lets review some of the reasons to buy a quality glass cleaner. If you take the time and detail your glass properly, the product used better produce the following results:

• A car with clean glass, that stands out. The cleaned glass should make the light glint in that special way and your windows pop.
• Spotless, streak free windows. Glass that is clean and clear is easier to see through, which means a car that is safer to drive.
• If you used a sealer in conjunction with your cleaner, rain should bead up and roll off with ease. This improves vision in a downpour, not to mention making your wipers work better.
• Windows with improved resistance to fogging. Who doesn’t want improved visibility on those humid days. Residue that is left behind by a cleaner not only leaves streaks and smears, it gives moisture a place to grab onto and fog the windows..

The benefits of really clean glass are real. And using the right glass cleaning product is integral to achieving the desired results.

Meguiar’s D12001 Glass Cleaner Concentrate ticks all the right boxes. It does what you expect of a professional grade glass cleaner, it cleans car windows while leaving no streaks or residue, including tinted windows. Plus it is ammonia free, so it is safe around other surfaces like vinyl and plastic.

It is packaged as a concentrate in one gallon jugs. You mix it ten to one with water, so the one gallon you buy makes eleven gallons of quality automotive glass cleaner. If you do the math, that comes to just a few dollars per gallon of product. To say it is cost effective is an understatement.

And the one gallon you buy lasts for a long time. Even busy detailing shops will take a while to go through eleven gallons of glass cleaner. But that does mean storing the jug, and that may not be best for the casual home detailer.

The product is scented, and descriptions of the odor range from grape soda to bubble gum. But some did feel the smell was too strong. In my opinion, once it is properly mixed, it smells pretty good.

One last comment, this product does contain alcohol, like a lot of products on this list. The bottle of concentrate should be stored in a cool safe place, away from heat, flame, and sparks. Also, those with sensitive skin may want to wear gloves when handling the concentrate.

If you don’t like mixing a concentrate, then Stoner’s Invisible Glass Cleaner is a good alternative. It comes premixed in trigger spray bottles and aerosol cans, so it is ready to spray and convenient. (The cans spray a “foamier” shot of cleaner intended to cling and not run down windows.) To use the Stoner Invisible Glass Cleaner, simply spray and wipe, and this works best with clean terry or microfiber cloth, as is the case with all glass cleaners.

It is formulated with no ammonia or ingredients that leave a residue. And the manufacturer recommends it for automotive glass (even though car or automotive are not in the name).

For cleaning road grim, bird droppings, pollen, etc., Invisible Glass cleans well. With only the worst spots (yeah things like those dreaded asphalt/sealer spots), some did use it in conjunction with a clay bar. But I would expect to find this to be the case with all glass cleaners.

While cleaning, some did find the smell to be “chemically” but it dissipated quickly after the cleaning was done.

If you are price conscious, you will find this is more expensive to use compared to products sold in concentrate. But if you want convenience, or don’t want to store a gallon of concentrate, then paying a little more might be worth it for you. And compared to other premixed products, this product is a bargain.

This product does contain isopropanol, which is flammable. So you should take care to avoid heat, flame, and sparks and store it properly. Also, it may irritate skin and eyes and should not be ingested.

Gyeon Q2M Glass comes ready to spray and use, no mixing. And it cleans auto glass well, leaving no streaks or residue. Plus it is ammonia free, safe around other surfaces. So it is definitely a good car glass cleaner.

And the price for 17 oz (500 ml) is higher than a 32 oz bottle of a competitor’s premixed glass cleaner. So it is expensive, and compared to buying a concentrate, well it’s a TKO for the concentrate.

But Gyeon manufacturers a line of automotive wares, and is well known for its coating products. Recently, they have established a presence with a new line of cleaning products, intended to be high-end options for professional detailers. So for those who love the Gyeon wares, they do have a glass cleaner for you.

As for smell, it does not have a strong odor and I could find no complaints of a smell lingering after cleaning was completed.

Gyeon is based in South Korea and detailed information was hard to find online. It appears that they sell mostly through distributors, but the Gyeon Q2M Glass is for sale online.

TriNova Premium Glass & Mirror Streak Free Cleaner is another product that meets the requirements for a quality automotive glass cleaner. They also state the intended goal well, “drive with clarity and confidence,” and  “see the world, not your windows.” It cuts through road grime and leaves no residue. Plus it is ammonia free and it is safe to use around other surfaces.

The price I found for an 18 oz bottle was pricey compared to other products on this list. The cost was similar to Gyeon Glass, just reviewed one spot above. So all those previous comments apply to this product as well. In short, it is not the cheapest product on the list.

And the TriNova glass cleaner contains alcohol, like most of professional grade car glass cleaners on this list. So it is flammable, and is an eye and skin irritant. And those with a keen sense of smell may get a whiff of alcohol from the product.

Overall, if you are a loyal TriNova costomer, then they offer a good glass cleaner for you to use.

Griot’s Garage is another manufacturer well known to professional detailers. And they offer a window cleaner that is clear, free of dyes and scents, which is important to some people. Like all of the products on this list, it is also ammonia free and leaves no residue.

The price for a 35 oz bottle was competitive with the other trigger spray bottle, premixed products. But it is more expensive when compared to a concentrate. It is available in other sizes (larger and smaller) and the one gallon jug is cost effective.

I did notice that this product does seem more sensitive to the cloth used when cleaning the glass. If your cloth is not very clean (and never exposed to fabric softeners!), you may find it does leave some streaks.

Also, there were a few more comments about the bottle leaking in shipping than the other products on this list.

Like all the cleaners on this list to this point, it contains alcohol, so you know the drill by now, it is flammable and can irritate eyes and skin.

Meguiar’s Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner is an interesting member of this list. But first, to get some mandatory business out of the way, it is ammonia free. So it is safe for tinted windows and adjacent surfaces. And reviews are good, at the time of writing 86% of 382 reviews are 4 or 5 star.

Now on to some of the more interesting points. Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner can be used in direct sunlight (most glass cleaners recommend working in the shade, out of direct sunlight). That is a big plus for the driveway detailer with no trees around.

And unlike other products, Meguiar’s has attempted to make a product that allows the cleaning cloth to “slide” over the glass by adding a lubricant. Yes, I said lubricant. The word conjures images of an oily, smeared windows, and I did find a number of complaints within the detailing community that there were some streaks and smearing. I would love to know what the lubricant they added to the formula is, but at this point it appears more likely that I will find the Colonel’s recipe for fried chicken.

However, with all that said, the trick I find is to use the product sparingly. When applied heavy, it tended to leave the streaks and smears. Used sparing you get improved results.

We also can’t ignore that Meguiar’s added a dust repellent into the formula to keep your windows cleaner, longer. The concept is sound, but as for increasing the time that the windows stay clean, time will tell. Reviews of the dust “repellency” are mixed, and if you use a water repellent on your glass, then it is a moot point in my opinion.

The smell was reported to be unpleasant by a number of customers, so you might want to use it in a well ventilated area if you have a sensitive nose.

And once again, we have an alcohol based product. So, yes, it is flammable and may irritate eyes and skin.

Adam’s Glass Cleaner is another product that put safety front and center, and they have released this “new and improved formula.” The product not only leaves out the ammonia, it has no alcohol. It is promoted to be safe around kids and pets, and the label did not warn against eyes and skin contact. They did however, have cautions about ingesting it, so do NOT drink it.

Adam’s Glass Cleaner also has optical clarifiers to “keep glass clear.” This is a claim that is hard to confirm, and more time and testing is needed to give the thumbs up or down to this attribute.

The one thing I am a bit leery of are the polymers they claim to use. Polymers can build up over time and create issues, like yellowing and haze. And the label cautions against heavy applications of cleaner, they suggest using a light touch. I am guessing and putting forth the worst case scenario, but I have to since Adam’s Polishes seems to go out of its way to hide the formula and material safety data sheet.

As for the smell, Adam’s Polishes seems to have got it right. There were no complaints of strong or unpleasant odor.

Cutting to the Chase

For an important task like glass cleaning, a good product is a must to successfully complete the job. We detailed eight products for your consideration, plus three additional mentions with links if you would like to explore more.

If you are running a large shop, and watching your pennies, you might want to take a good look at Meguiar’s D12001 Glass Cleaner Concentrate. It does a great job and is the most cost effective product on our list.

However, if you do not want to store a large container or you wish to skip the mixing needed with concentrates, then consider Stoner’s Invisible Glass Cleaner. It has been around for a while, and for a reason, it works well. It comes premixed, ready for use.

Last, if you are willing to experiment, you can try Meguiar’s Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner. Because of unique ingredients, it may keep your windows clean longer with is dust repellent, and you may find the cleaning cloth slides over the glass easier while cleaning. But at this point we have to say “may” because we need to wait and see if the claims hold up with time. And use it sparingly, over wetting your glass may result in streaks and smears.

So there is a product out there for everyone, and it’s time for you to get out there and make those windows sparkle. Happy Detailing!