b34tBox:
1) I've never had much Luck with ammoniated window cleaners. Sprayway Glass Cleaner is a "cost-effective" (AKA, cheap(er)) alternative to Stoner's Invisible Glass.
2) If you MUST wash windows in the sun, de-ionized water is the ONLY way to go. Think of it as super-purified water without any minerals or contaminants to leave behind.
A Pro windowwasher said his secrete additive was Dawn to the water, but he would not devulve the dilution ratio. No isopropyl alchohol. No ammonia.
3) Your wiping media will make-or-break how "clean" (IE streak-free) your windows get. Some still swear using newpaper is the only way to go to polish the glass after initially using a cloth or paper toweling to clean if first . That WAS true when the inks were solvent-base, but not any more. Most newpapers are printed with water or soy-based inks that smear on windows. The soy-based inks are better. Some swear that the ONLY newspaper to use these days in the Wall Street Journal. Makes sense IF you consider the amount of printing per page, especially the stock and mutual fund listings. I personally gave up on using newspaper.
The use of Microfiber glass-cleaning specific towels seem to be THE towel. Obviously, like all microfiber towels, quality can vary immensely. I've read that using the Adam's glass-cleaning towels make all the difference. (Their experience, not mine)
But if there is one person to believe about glass cleaning cloths, it's Barry Theal. His suggestion was to use a lintless surgical cotton cloth called a "Huck Cloth". This makes good sense because cotton is very absorbent, and, being lintless (yes, it is designed for use in surgery so it truely is lintless as claimed), it won't leave the fiber dust behind.
4) The last item in getting glass clean is how you wipe the glass. Yes, there is a "technique". It's much easier to see streaks if you wipe side-to side across the glass on the INSIDE and up-and-down (top-to-bottom) on the OUTSIDE. The direction of the streaks left behind makes it easier to determine which side of the glass the streaks are on.
5) Don't forget to roll down the side windows or open the rear side-vent windows on vans and SUVs and wipe the edges that press against the weather seals. There's nothing more embarrassing than to roll down any side window and see the black gunk that you missed. It's a small over-looked detail that seperates good detailers from "hacks". Getting this gunk off the windows may require an adhesive remover (Like 3M's or Automotive Goo-Gone) to remove, which in itself will leave a film behind that may be exasturbate (make it worse) the streaking problem. A dampended towel of diluted APC wiped over the gunk-cleaned edges may help alleviate that film.
Hope this suggestions help.
