A Porsche 911 is a famous sports car. Here it’s just the example car the host uses to explain why keeping the windshield spotless matters for seeing clearly.
A foaming aerosol is a spray product that expands into foam on contact. In glass cleaning, too much foam/product can leave residue as it dries, which then shows up as streaks.
The two-towel method means using one towel to spread and wipe the cleaner, then a second dry/clean towel to buff it off. That helps stop streaks from leftover cleaner.
The two towel method is a common detailing workflow where one towel is used to apply or remove cleaner and a second towel is used to buff/dry to prevent residue from being smeared. It’s often used to reduce streaking on glass and mirrors.
Term
heavy buildup
Heavy buildup means there’s a noticeable layer of gunk or film on the glass. If you don’t remove that first, even the best cleaner can still leave streaks.
Term
film on the glass
Film on glass is a thin layer of residue—often from smoke or oils—that sticks to the surface. If you don’t get rid of it first, the glass can still look streaky.
Streaking is when glass ends up with visible lines or smears after cleaning. It can happen if you wipe in a way that spreads residue instead of removing it.
They’re saying a microfiber cloth you can buy at Costco works especially well for cleaning glass without streaks. It’s part of their recommended setup.
This is a product you spray on tires that’s meant to protect them and make them look good longer. “Ceramic” here means the coating is designed to be tougher and more durable than simple shine products.
LIVE
I actually keep getting asked a pretty surprising question and the question is
when are you going to release a glass cleaner and when I tell people that I
have zero plans to release a glass cleaner because I think it's a silly
product to release and my product line I the way I look at it is that every
product needs to be different than what's on the market it needs to be
better than what's on the market or how can I improve what's already on the
market and I think I've already found the best glass cleaner and it's the
cheapest thing you could possibly do it's such a cheap way to do it and yet
it's the most effective across every single situation that I've ever been in
with cleaning glass including cleaning extremely hot glass like that's been
baking out in the sun and so I yes have no plans to release a glass cleaner but
the next follow-up question to that then is well what's your favorite glass
cleaner because I'm struggling to clean glass I can't get a windshield that's
not streaky I can't figure it out I've tried multiple towels I've tried high
end towels I've tried low end towels I've tried the foam cleaners I've tried
diluting my own window cleaner I've tried XYZ brand's window cleaner and I've
never found one that actually works consistently across the board and
honestly it's because you're doing it wrong right my favorite glass cleaner
is very very simple it's a 16 ounce bottle filled with deionized or distilled
water that's it that's it sometimes very rarely because it ends up messing it up
I'll put a drop or two of a waterless wash into that but I'm telling you DI or
deionized or distilled water is by far the best glass cleaner out there it will
hands down beat any of these foaming glass cleaners any of these highly
dilutable glass cleaners it will be anything and in fact I had someone at
my shop buying product a week or two back and we're having this discussion and I
literally show to my bottle this is my glass cleaner right I took an old
toughest shell bottle with a label on it to repurpose it crossed off toughest
shell and wrote glass cleaner that's my personal stash that I pull from and that
is all I use it's deionized water and I have deionized water tanks and I just
when I need it I fill it up right and what's interesting about glass I think
is that it's it really is the person that came to my product was it starting
out his own detailing business is really fresher by glass and I remember when I
first started glass can be one of the most frustrating parts sure you can get
streaks on the paint you can you know get streaky leather sometimes but really
one of the things if you're detailing for money that people will notice the
most is their windows especially if you're doing like I used to do a lot of
fleet washes and car washes at a like office park and so what would have
inevitably happened and how I had to get to this place of figuring glass out
really effectively was that a lot of people would get their cars washed and
then drive home the drive home would be they would be driving directly into the
Sun right when you drive directly into the Sun you see all the imperfections
in the glass right ring ring ring you know Jimbo my car looks great the tires
are shiny love shiny tires but my glass is streaky right I can't even see this
is dangerous right so that's where I had to kind of perfect and hone this skill
because you really can clean the whole car perfectly but if you have streaky
glass the job just feels really unfinished in fact I had a customer who
literally told me because I would ask people like hey what are your like hot
button topics what do you look for what are you before I detail your car like
what are areas of concern what bugs you about your car to the point that you
called me out here to detail your car that is literally almost verbatim the
question that I would ask because I had the thought of like if I asked them what
they're concerned about and then I do all those things that are concerned about
they will be happy it's like one plus one equals two right and so I had a
customer really nice Porsche 911 he daily drove it he was a dentist and he said
Jimbo literally you could leave bugs on the front of the car I wouldn't care my
only thing is that I want that my front windshield has to be spotless spotless
inside and out and as long as you do that you'll have a customer forever and I
ended up washing his cars every week for about 12 years right and so because I
think not only is it a cosmetic thing but too you're driving into the sun or
if it's the temperature changes and starts fogging up inside you need the
foster work perfectly and so that is one little kind of side tip that maybe I'll
revisit later but like if you're trying to clean glass and trying to make sure
that glass is totally streak free the number one thing that you can do is
reposition the car so you have the Sun coming directly through the front windshield
because that is the harshest Sun you're ever gonna get and that will show
everything so if you just reposition the car to be able to get a clear view
unintended maybe clear view of the car or the windshield rather than you will be
able to see where you have streaks where you don't have streaks and if you have
it pretty much dialed in right and so I really think there's a lot of people and
a lot of different things out there and kind of gimmicks that people tried to
to do to make glass cleaning easier I know there's like diamond weave towels
that work but but the truth is that it's just such a very simple we've over
complicated so many things in detailing and I think glass cleaning is one of
those things that we over complicate when it's actually the answer is usually
the simplest thing and it really doesn't get any simpler than just deionized
or distilled water and you use so little of it it's crazy the problem I know a lot
of people have success with like spray away or like these foaming cleaners but
the problem with those is that a lot and it's kind of the same problem with a lot
of glass cleaners is that there's too much product in the formula and then
especially with a foaming aerosol you apply like way too much product onto the
window and so the streaks are coming from the residue of the product right so
and good luck trying that on hot glass right because then the foam is drying up
too quick and then you're really getting streaks and then and then your towels
building up with material and once your towel becomes too saturated you get even
more streaks and that's where people develop like this to towel method for
glass and so I think you know when it comes to the question of like why don't
I make a product like this I guess technically I could I could sell 60
ounces of deionized water or a gallon of deionized water and call it a glass
cleaner guess I could do that it seems a little inauthentic to me but again if
just deionized water or distilled water does a better job why would I tell you
to buy something else because that is what my whole product brand stands for I
think I'm building the best products possible I think that my products
actually serve multiple purposes per product right I'm trying to make
detailing simplified simplified detailing so that you can understand it so that you
feel like you can do it right that is my goal make detailing attainable right I
don't want you to be scared to wash your car and foam it I don't want you to be
scared to dry your car I don't want you to be worried about you know is the
ceramic coating not going to work right or I'm afraid to scratch my car I'm
afraid to apply the ceramic coating all my products are pro grade because I want
to use them and I'm a pro so that's what I'm used to right but can we make them
very very simple and easy to understand apply if we could do that
then you can get pro level results kind of in your driveway right and so what I
have found out because I've done private labeling and I've worked for global
brands and I've done all these things and I have you know living in Southern
California is extremely underrated for what we have access to I don't know if
it's like this in any other part of the world but we have because of my proximity
to LA downtown LA the surrounding suburbs of LA I literally have access to so
much stuff right and what I found is that through the access of these raw
materials that are very local to me that we can make better products because we
have access to better raw materials right so it's not this pie in the sky idea
it's actually something that I can do and so that's what I've chosen to do but
then again I choose to focus products you know make products that serve
multiple purposes and do multiple things and so again I just don't think a
glass cleaner is right unless I put literally deionized water in a bottle
and sold that so I think you know the problem is with a lot of these other
glass cleaners is not the cleaner itself it's that you end up putting too much of
the cleaner on the surface and then you're fighting the product on the
surface of the car right so I think the best glass cleaner is something that
leaves nothing behind so let's start with almost nothing in the beginning
right so for me my basic setup is literally like I just said it's a 16
ounce bottle of deionized water and that's it I usually don't use a two towel
method my first option for a towel when it comes to that is a brand new Costco
microfiber towel right so for whatever reason a brand new Costco microfiber towel
mixed with deionized water is the best glass cleaning method I've ever found
I've tried the waffle weave I've tried a bunch of different other towels I've
tried the foaming aerosols I've tried all of it I'm telling you a brand new
microfiber from Costco and deionized water is all you need now there is an
option if you have like heavy buildup maybe you're dealing with like a smoker
or something like that where you like there's a film on the glass if there's a
film on the glass you're gonna have to clear off the film first obviously so
deionized water could be a little could could not break that bond between the
film and the glass and so if that's the case I'll take complete cabin cleaner
which is a very great cleaner safe on tint as well and I'll actually clean the
glass first get all the crap off the glass and then just go in with my deionized
water and my brand new Costco microfiber towel right so again every once in a
while I do have a drop or two of either rinse the swash or sometimes even the
super soap or a tub of shell in there but you really don't need any of that you
just want is is little amount of anything on the glass as possible and so I
found that that deionized water just works good and a really really good tip
is to make sure that you don't have too much buildup in your towel your towel
isn't getting too saturated this is another reason why I like using Costco
microfibers for this is because they're very cheap and so it's always easy to
have like a couple laying around then you can kind of dedicate it to you know
into your cleaning or really anything if you're only using deionized water in
your towel become saturated you could literally let that towel dry and nothing
happens to it and it's ready to use for anything else right which is another
added benefit of it but again just having a couple more Costco microfiber
towels around is it's really good option and then I always work in different
directions so a lot of times what I found is when you're fighting this
streaking it's because you're actually wiping the wrong side of the glass or
wiping the wrong area or you just start chasing yourself and then you get
frustrated and you're just not sure what to do and so what I found is it doesn't
matter what side you pick that goes horizontal or vertical just pick one
side and call it the outside and you're gonna go horizontal only you're only
gonna wipe horizontally on the outside of the glass and then when it comes to the
inside you're only gonna wipe vertically I do it like that because that's
easier for me on cars to when I'm inside to go vertically and so then you can
kind of tell where your streaks are at and then you can see which side you
actually need to address right and so and then sometimes very rarely I'll take
a completely dry new Costco microfiber towel and buff it off but I really if
you use a brand new Costco microfiber deionized water you really only need one
towel and I will say the exception is you know when you're dealing with maybe
like the inside windshield sometimes there's like off-gassing from products
there's smoke residue there's fingerprints there's dust breath film you
know there's like interior dressing over spray there's just a bunch of crap on
the glass and so I will take the complete cabin cleaner spray it directly
into a towel clean off all the residues you're starting with like a like less
less to clean off and then you're just cleaning the residue from the complete
cabin cleaner which is very minimal anyway and so it's very easy to do so I
usually work like half a section at a time half the glass at a time I don't do
the full thing at once I think that's too much surface area I just either sit in
the passenger side or driver side and kind of work that windshield area that
is right in front of me and again again I will kind of move the car around to
adjust and dial in where the Sun is and I'm constantly checking you know I'm
constantly making sure that I'm only going horizontal on one way only vertical
on the other a lot of people are like wax on wax off doing circular motions and
then you have no idea what side the streak is on so the hot glass trick one
thing I found and when I was a mobile detailer always working on hot glass
this is again where most cleaners will fall apart the product flashes too quick
residue bakes into the glass it's just overall really really bad so this is
where the Costco brand new again has to be a brand new Costco microfiber not
washed not used fresh out of the pack I don't know what it is but the DI water
combo with the Costco microfiber is perfect it's literally undefeated so I
know some of these foaming glass cleaners may be good I know some of these towels
may be good they may work but overall across the the vast majority of
different situations that I've come across this combo totally works so you're
not using too much product don't use a dirty towel you can use one towel for
most of it until it comes too saturated you know make sure you're adjusting the
car moving it so you have the reflection of the Sun look at different angles
and what else again just keep it simple keep it really really simple so this
is exactly how I just think about car care in general I just try to simplify
it the goal isn't have more products more bottles the goal is just better
results and fewer steps and sometimes the best product that you need is the
product is one you actually don't need right because you probably already have
it so again if I ever decide to make a glass cleaner it would have to be this
simple method otherwise why bother I'd rather just tell you to use something
that you can get at the store it's relatively easy to do relatively simple
because simple again usually wins every time so with that if you do want I what
I think is the world's best ceramic spray tire dressing wipe on ceramic coating
you want to support my brand this channel you want to see what good products
actually look like which I think is part of the problem is that for so long
we've actually had subpar products that we actually don't even know what good
products look like and so I think if you want to experience that you want to
experience unbelievable customer service you can purchase some of my products and
I'll show you all that so I'll link everything below Jimbo's detailing calm
and yeah thanks guys for watching thanks for listening and I'll catch on the
next one see ya
About this episode
Streak-free windshield glass doesn’t come from buying a dedicated glass cleaner—it comes from using deionized or distilled water and controlling how you wipe and dry. The host keeps it simple: “my favorite glass cleaner is very very simple it's a 16 ounce bottle filled with deionized or distilled water that's it that's it.” He explains streaks are usually residue from using too much product or foam that dries too fast on hot glass. For best results, reposition for sun visibility and use consistent towel technique.
I keep getting asked why I don't offer a dedicated glass cleaner… or what my favorite glass cleaner is.
The truth is simple: most of the time, the best glass cleaner is not a glass cleaner at all.
In this episode, I'm breaking down my simple method for getting streak-free car glass using DI water or distilled water in a spray bottle. No foaming glass cleaner. No overcomplicated system. No heavy residue left behind.
Just the right process, the right towel, and a simple approach that works.
I'll also cover why so many glass cleaners streak, why foaming glass cleaners can make the problem worse, how I handle smoker cars or heavy buildup on interior glass, and the towel trick I use when cleaning hot glass in direct sunlight.
In this video, I cover:
Why I don't currently sell a glass cleaner
Why DI water or distilled water works so well on car glass
Why foaming glass cleaners can cause streaking
How to clean interior windshield haze
What to do on smoker cars or heavy buildup
When I use Complete Cabin Cleaner first
Why the final wipe matters more than the cleaner
My hot-glass towel trick for direct sunlight
How to get simple, streak-free glass without overthinking it
Most people don't have a glass cleaner problem. They have a towel problem, a residue problem, or a process problem.
Keep it simple. Clean the glass. Don't leave anything behind.
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