The Genuine T-BAR Water Blade

tom p.

tom p.

Active member
Bill D. and I have been discussing the challenges of cleaning interior glass. I've been having some issues maintaining the interior glass on my car, I've been experiencing serious hazing (I suspect off-gassing, car is fairly new) and the rear window is next to impossible to reach due to a low rear ceiling and three head rests across. Bill said he's been squeegee-ing interior glass and trying to perfect the technique.



I purchased one of these water blades from Walmart (~$8.90, automotive section) earlier this summer for my father and got to use it a couple times while I was visiting. The blade on it appears to be a very high quality silicone and it is far more flexible than my old CWB*. The overall size is very compact - - I like it. It is able to conform far better than the CWB...I think it will work well on the interior glass that has more curvature.



I picked up a gallon of Meg's D120 this week, so I'm armed and ready for my car now :)



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*California Water Blade
 
Yeah. Cleaning glass, especially the interior, makes even a diehard Autopian ready to :wall :hairpull



My logic for using the squeegee everywhere I can after I agitate the glass with the cleaner and a sponge, MF, cotton cloth, a pad, etc. is that it can eliminate the amount of streaking and residue in throughout the area you glide it over ,leaving behind a small, manageable amount of left over to clean up and successfully remove with whichever application works in the particular situation: a MF, a cotton cloth, a Griot's wipe for example. I've found humidity plays a big role in what's going to work best in removing the residue.



Tom, thanks for posting pics of that blade. It's a baby CWB! It may even reduce the follow up procedure more, especially on any sloped glass as you and I were talking about.



Oh yeah, one last thing, I don't ever use the blade on paint. I think most of us don't, but just wanted to emphasize that.
 
I don't think so :nixweiss. At least never more than when I QD but the amount does vary a bit from case to case.
 
I'm not dousing the glass with cleaner, that's just more work; but in my situation, I've noticed since late Spring, I've been using enough to make squeegeeing possible and between the amount of cleaner and the agitating action before that, it's helping more than other techniques I've been trying which haven't been giving me the results I've wanted.
 
Accumulator said:
Hmmm...you guys must be using a lot more window cleaner than I do :think:
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I agree. I use just enough to make the rag slide around ok. I also really like the Invisible glass MF wand for back windows.
 
Dan said:
I also really like the Invisible glass MF wand for back windows.
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It's a good tool. I have the old Glass Wizard which I'm having to use especially on the rear interior glass of the Accord. The weather here has turned cooler now and once the dryness comes back more and more I'm going to see if I get the results I want with just the regular, old way. Tom and I were commenting how regardless of using the squeegee, it's helpful to have all kinds of material to wipe the glass. Occasionally if it looks like I need something more than the Griot's wipes, good ol' cotton has been working for me too. But I'll still also reach for MF, and my huck towels seem to be okay for blotting, but not always straight wiping.



The more and more I use it, the D120 continues to take the cake in glass cleaners for me.
 
I use like two spritz on a MF side, then just wipe to clean, wipe to dry streak free. Lately the less damp the towel, the quicker the cleaning has been - though im not sure why. Love D120 as well, I wish we sold more of it, I think TEN gallons of usable solution scares the snot out of people TBH.
 
For an enthusiast like me, it could be a supply that lasts me years, 10? more?. So far its looking like it may be a rare situation of being the last product for a certain task I'll ever need. :)
 
autoaesthetica said:
LOL seriously I hear that. I have it in the house too, the lady likes to use 425 and D120 on like everything.
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I've convinced my wife to use APC+ and D120 around the house. D120 is cheaper than Windex and about 1,368 times better. She's been pleased with it.
 
mikenap said:
I've convinced my wife to use APC+ and D120 around the house. D120 is cheaper than Windex and about 1,368 times better. She's been pleased with it.
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Funny, I know this feeling and smell of seeing Windex used on evvvvvvvvverything...



Agreed as well.
 
Bill D said:
Yeah. Cleaning glass, especially the interior, makes even a diehard Autopian ready to :wall :hairpull



My logic for using the squeegee everywhere I can after I agitate the glass with the cleaner and a sponge, MF, cotton cloth, a pad, etc. is that it can eliminate the amount of streaking and residue in throughout the area you glide it over ,leaving behind a small, manageable amount of left over to clean up and successfully remove with whichever application works in the particular situation: a MF, a cotton cloth, a Griot's wipe for example. I've found humidity plays a big role in what's going to work best in removing the residue.



Tom, thanks for posting pics of that blade. It's a baby CWB! It may even reduce the follow up procedure more, especially on any sloped glass as you and I were talking about.



Oh yeah, one last thing, I don't ever use the blade on paint. I think most of us don't, but just wanted to emphasize that.
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Bill, same here. I'd never use one of these water blades on my cars, at least not on a car that I like. They are strictly glass-only duty.



I believe your cleaning strategy is spot-on. I did have some success yesterday while using your technique. I think it's a good method to be aware of when dealing with more difficult cleaning jobs. I don't see myself needing to be so intense with routine cleaning. However, it does appear to leave the glass very clean and streak-free, as you note. I'm still seeing some ghosting that we spoke about. That may be on the glass forever. We'll see.



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I have poor access to the rear glass in this car with the head rests out - - I simply don't have good clearance when trying to reach the glass extremes. And there is only 1/8" gap where the glass meets the rear deck. It's virtually impossibe to get into the bottom corners, even with the glass wand tool.



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I misted the glass pretty good and then "scubbed" with a couple of rough cotton towels. I did this twice. I then misted the glass a final time and squeegeed everything to the right edge and finished by wiping up residue with an MF glass towel along the right vertical edge. This looks very good, there is no towel residue left on the glass. And I said to myself, "Bill's a genius!" :bow



My buddy stopped by with his new car and we puffed it up and did the glass. Same result there: D120 is a great glass cleaner with superior power. (I will go on record here and say that I do NOT care for the grape odor. It's quite strong, but would not preclude me from using the product.) Another friend stopped by later in the afternoon. Both these guys went home with sample bottles of D120, so I'm working my way thru my 11 gallon stash :party:



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I tried the small water blade on the exterior of my friend's BMW and found it was very "grabby". I'm not sure why, maybe it's the difference between naked glass vs. having Aqualpel/Rainx on the exterior glass. The blade dragged in a bad way.
 
tom p. said:
I don't see myself needing to be so intense with routine cleaning. However, it does appear to leave the glass very clean and streak-free, as you note. I'm still seeing some ghosting that we spoke about. That may be on the glass forever. We'll see.
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Tom! Great write-up! I'm thrilled you've gotten the same results! :woot: Yeah, having to result to intense methods has really been bugging me for a while. It went beyond a clean car thing to a wanting to be able to see clearly through the glass thing. And that's more important.



I misted the glass pretty good and then "scubbed" with a couple of rough cotton towels. I did this twice. I then misted the glass a final time and squeegeed everything to the right edge and finished by wiping up residue with an MF glass towel along the right vertical edge. This looks very good, there is no towel residue left on the glass. And I said to myself, "Bill's a genius!"
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:o I don’t know about that :o But your kind words really made my Sunday morning! :thx



(I will go on record here and say that I do NOT care for the grape odor. It's quite strong, but would not preclude me from using the product.)
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Same here. I’m not a fragrance kind of guy. The grape scent reminds me of the hair spray my grandmom used to use . :chuckle: Sometimes the neighbors wonder why my garage smells like a candy shop.



Let’s keep on monitoring this ghosting in the glass issue. If there’s a way to nuke that, I’ll be :dance
 
tom p.- Glad to hear some good news! Sounds like you're getting a handle on this, but yeah...my Audis also have some "ghosting"/whatever on the glass that's permanent.



Oh, and thanks for mentioning the D120's grape scent, that's something I'd rather know about in advance.
 
Accumulator said:
Oh, and thanks for mentioning the D120's grape scent, that's something I'd rather know about in advance.
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Yeah, I'm sorry to say, but I think Meguiar's could reduce the fragrance content by 75% and it would still be too much.



I'm leaving all doors open for a bit after I use it. That permits more rapid dissipation.
 
Wow, the odor was that strong in your case, huh? After I mixed mine in the spray bottle the odor is definitely there but when I spray it and use it I didn't notice it lasting in the car.
 
Bill D said:
Wow, the odor was that strong in your case, huh? After I mixed mine in the spray bottle the odor is definitely there but when I spray it and use it I didn't notice it lasting in the car.
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Same here. It's a strong smell while using it, but it never lasts long for me.
 
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