How to Clean Car Windows

Your car windows do two things. First, they let you look outside. Second, they make your vehicle look good. If you have dirty windows, then it reflects poorly on your car, so it makes sense to keep them squeaky clean.

You might not notice how dirty your car windows have become, especially if you drive daily. But if you smoke or if there’s a lot of pollen in the air, you’ll find that the windows build up with dirtiness – and once you take the time to clean the glass, you’ll notice a substantial improvement.

In this article, we’re going to go over how to clean car windows. Additionally, we’re going to go over some ways of cleaning your car windows using household items. As an added benefit, we’re also going to go over how to clean car interiors and how to clean windshield wipers.

When you wash your windows, it’s not a bad idea to wash the rest of your vehicle at the same time. Take care of how to clean a car, windows and all, in a few hours rather than spreading it out on different days.

Clean Car Windows with a Cleaning Agent

If you’re cleaning your car windows in the direct sunlight, the water you use to clean is going to evaporate. Before starting, you might consider parking your car in a shaded area, like under a tree or inside a garage.

This is also a great idea when you decide to wash your car. How often should you wash your car and windows? A lot depends on the weather but every couple of weeks or so should be the minimum.

General Cleaning Recipe

How to Clean Car Interior

Select a streak-free window cleaner like Armor-All or Windex, and get a cloth. Spray the cleaning solution directly onto the cloth, because if you spray onto the window itself, only about half of the cleaner ends up on the glass.

The other half floats around the car and ends up on your seats and instruments, which doubles the amount of cleanup you have to do and might damage your interior. You’ll also want to use a washed microfiber cloth instead of a newspaper or paper towels.

Newspapers have ink on them which, when introduced into the cleaning solution, might run and stain your hands and make a mess inside the car. Paper towels tend to tear apart while you’re using them, meaning you’re going to go through a lot of them. Microfiber cloth is soft but durable, and it does a fantastic job of scrubbing away spots and stains.

Wipe in a vertical direction, and then a horizontal direction. Avoid rubbing in circles, as that increases the likelihood of streaking.

As for how to clean car seats: replace the glass cleaner with laundry detergent, and use a chamois cloth instead of a microfiber cloth.

If your seats are fabric, vacuum the seats and then scrub them thoroughly, first with hot water, and then use cold water to clean off remaining dirt. Avoid letting the seats get too wet. For leather, use liquid dishwashing soap and warm water. Again, take care to keep the seats from getting too wet.

How to Clean Car Exterior

Your first step is to wash the rest of your car, either with a garden hose or car wash. Prewashing takes care of a lot of bugs and gunk, saving time (and cleaning cloths).

Plus, if you wait until after you’ve cleaned the windows to clean the rest of your car, you risk getting dirt and grime on the windows you’ve just cleaned, doubling the work for yourself.

Unlike when you’re doing interiors, spraying the cleaner directly on the glass is recommended. Spraying directly on the glass makes it easier to dissolve bugs and grime, which will make the cleaning easier. This cleaner is just one example of the benefits of baking soda for cleaning just about anything.

Acidic Solutions for Windows

• Vinegar solution
• Lemon juice
• Baking soda
• Toothpaste

When you’re doing either of the windshields, stick to working in sections, so your cleaning solution doesn’t evaporate prematurely. Using these products helps remove hard water stains from car windows, as well as sticky substances like tree sap.

If you’re still having problems with evaporation, consider moving your car to a shadier spot, such as under a tree or in a garage. Find more recipes on our homemade window cleaner post.

Use a microfiber cloth, as you did with the interior. Microfiber cloths will do a good job of clearing away bugs and grime, and you’re less likely to cause streaking. If you’re doing the exteriors first, make sure you use a different cloth for the interiors.

Finally, use a vertical-then-horizontal motion as you did with the interior, which will reduce streaking. You might find, however, that you have to wipe with greater vigor to clean up the stuck-on bugs, dirt, and road residue.

How to Clean Hard Water Spots from Car Windows

The leftover mineral deposits after the water have evaporated can cause stains on your window. Since these stains are alkaline in nature, an acidic solution gets rid of them. Use household items to get rid of hard spots on your car window.

How to Use Vinegar Solution to Get Rid of Hard Water Spots on Car Windows

There are a couple of different measurements you’ll want to use while using vinegar, depending on how often you clean your windows and how long it’s been since you last cleaned them.

Vinegar Car Windows Cleaning Recipe

• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 cups distilled water
• 1/2 tsp dish detergent
• Microfiber cloth
• Spray bottle

If you’re using vinegar for the first time, or if it’s been a while since the last time you cleaned your windows, you’ll want to use a stronger solution. Mix water, vinegar, and dishwashing detergent. Mix in a spray bottle, shake well and apply according to the instructions provided above.

On the other hand, if you clean your windows regularly, you can back off on the ingredients a bit. Just mix a cup of vinegar with a cup of water. Additionally, this is a handy solution to have on-hand for general cleaning purposes.

This vinegar cleaner also works well to clean hardened tree sap off a car and the windows. If you parked under a tree and found sap stuck to your car, use this recipe to remove it. Of course, it’s always easier to remove sap when it first happens rather than waiting but sometimes you just don’t notice it.

Lemon Juice Based Car Window Cleaner

If you want to add an extra kick to your vinegar solution, use lemons. Start by collecting the things you’ll need. You have a choice regarding the lemons. You can use bottled lemon juice from the supermarket, or you can use real lemons.

There’s an additional benefit to the latter option – if you use real lemons, you can keep the peels and stick them in your garbage disposal for extra freshness. New spray bottles are available for purchase at most major retailers, or you can repurpose an old spray bottle. If you choose a used one, try to use a bottle that held glass cleaner previously.

The mixture won’t necessarily increase the potency of your vinegar-and-lemon solution, but if you put it in a container that held a different chemical previously (such as furniture polish), you risk diminishing the power of your solution.

How to Clean Tinted Car Windows

Last Updated: April 13, 2021 References Approved

This article was co-authored by Angel Ricardo. Angel Ricardo is the owner of Ricardo’s Mobile Auto Detail headquartered in Venice, California. With over 10 years of experience in mobile detailing, Angel continues to attend auto detailing trainings to improve his customer service and auto detailing skills.

There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, several readers have written to tell us that this article was helpful to them, earning it our reader-approved status.

This article has been viewed 291,809 times.

Tinted windows can cool the interior of your car, give you more privacy, and make your ride look sleek. But when it comes time to clean your windows, it can be hard to know which products will protect your car and the tint inside. Fortunately, you can use any ammonia-free cleaning product to wipe down your tinted windows quickly and safely. You can make your windows look brand new again in a single afternoon!

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Angel Ricardo
Auto Technician Expert Interview. 1 October 2019.

• While you can work underneath a tree, make sure it’s not dropping sticky leaves or sap that might get on your car and dirty it up again.

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Angel Ricardo
Auto Technician Expert Interview. 1 October 2019. Grab a microfiber cloth and spray your cleaner once or twice on the towel. Use the cloth to wipe down the inside and the outside of your tinted windows, trying not to leave any streaks as you go. [8] X Research source

• If you come across a particularly difficult stain, like bug spatter, you can loosen it by soaking it in your cleaner for a few minutes.
• Try not to saturate the edges of the tinting with your cleaner. If cleaner gets underneath your tinting, it could result in it losing stickiness and peeling away from the window.
• Using a microfiber cloth will ensure that you don’t accidentally scratch or scrape your windows. If you don’t have a microfiber cloth, use a clean cotton rag instead.

How to Clean Car Windows Inside and Out

Having a clean windshield and windows is much more than just the appearance of a clean, well-kept car. It decreases driver fatigue and improves visibility, meaning safer driving. Cleaning your car windows sounds like an easy job but often you’re left with a messy, streaky finish that is more distracting and harder to see through than before. If you use the right products and the right technique, you’ll be left with crystal clear windows.

How to clean the inside glass

Spray the glass cleaner onto the cloth. If you spray your glass cleaner directly onto the glass, only roughly half of it actually hits the window. A portion always settles onto the car’s interior components, making more work to clean up. Not only does it waste glass cleaner, but the chemicals in many glass cleaners can damage or stain plastic parts inside your car. Instead, spray your glass cleaner onto your cloth and wipe the window.

Use a microfiber cloth. Microfiber is soft to the touch but has excellent properties to scrub away any dirt while absorbing the glass cleaner. It is better than newspaper which leaves ink residue all over your hands and car interior, and better than paper towels that shred easily, meaning you use more of them.

Wipe in every direction. The best way to get your glass cleaner than ever is to wipe the glass in an up-and-down motion, then in a side-to-side motion. This method leaves fewer streaks than wiping in circles.

How to clean the outside windows

Wash your car before cleaning the windows. This way, you will remove as much of the bugs and dirt as possible before getting your cleaning cloth very dirty. Whether you wash your car by hand or take it through a car wash, it will make your job of cleaning windows easier.

Spray the windows with glass cleaner. Unlike the interior, spraying the window directly will help dissolve stuck-on bugs and dirt to make your wiping job easy. Ensure an even mist over the surface. If you are cleaning the front or back windshield, do it in sections so the glass cleaner doesn’t dry before you get to it.

Use a microfiber cloth. Microfiber cloths will remove bugs and dirt from the outside of your windows and leave a clean, streak-free finish. Make sure to use a separate microfiber cloth than the one for the inside of your windows.

Wipe in a vertical, then horizontal pattern. To prevent streaks, wipe first in an up-and-down motion, then a side-to-side motion, just like the inside windows. The difference with the outside windows is you may have to use more pressure to scrub away the bugs and dirt that are stuck to the glass.

Always clean your windows in the shade or in cooler temperatures so your cleaner doesn’t dry before you can wipe it off.