I was wondering to help battle winter frost and steamed front windshield, what are some good things to use to clean your front winshield on the inside to avoid them frosting/fogging up during the cold winters.
Tester
I use my defrost setting with A/C on.
If you draw in outside air and set the defroster fan on HIGH you will avoid fogging.
Frost on the outside needs to be scraped off; don’t use hot water or you will crack the windshield.
Years ago in Saudi Arabia there was a freak rainstorm. My driver panicked as the windshield fogged up. I reached over and turned the Buick’s defroster on and the fan on high. The fog disappeared quickly and to this day the driver probably thought I was some kind of miracle worker.
I clean the inside of my front and back windows in two steps. First, I put an Invisible Glass wipe directly on the sponge of the Invisible Glass Reach and Clean Tool and clean the window, repeating this with a second wipe if the glass is unusually dirty. Second, I put on the tool’s softest bonnet, lightly mist it with 70% isopropyl alcohol, and do the window again to remove any streaks. I’ve always gotten good results this way.
I also avoid using Armor All inside the car, as it seems to put a film on the glass over time. 303 Aerospace Protectant applied properly is better in this regard (and also safer for most materials).
As for the frost and fog, make sure you don’t track any more snow onto the floor mats then necessary. Otherwise that can add a lot of moisture inside the car.
Frost and fog form on dust and dirt particles, so getting the inside of the windshield as clean as possible is a must. The shaving foam works quite well as it cleans the windshield and leaves a very slick layer behind that water droplets can’t stick to.
I’ve used Rain-X too and it seems to work, but it is a lot of work to put on the inside of the windshield. I use it on the outside because it really helps scraping the frost and ice off. Frost and ice don’t grip it as well as bare glass, but every time you get frost or ice that has to be scraped off, you need to reapply the rain-X as the frost/ice seems to etch it off. Its like a one time use, but it is great in the south where we only get a few frost/ice days a year. Might not be practical up north.
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These are all great tips. I am lucky enough to get a test vehicle frequently. They are new, and still off-gassing from the interior plastics and the inside of glass always gets coated. I’m a neat-freak when it comes to cars, and I have tried a lot of remedies. My personal choice is Armor All Glass cleaner. It is a non- ammonia formula and it works very well. For wipes I use Bounty, but any high-quality paper towel will do. You are trying to find one that is soft, but that won;t shed a lot of lint. If you are so inclined, I wrote this deeper dive on the subject at BestRide, and I see many of the tips in my story above in the comments. One top tip, get rid of any air fresheners you may be using.
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For anti-fog coating, what I use for the inside of my ski goggles is a very weak sol’n of ivory bar soap and water.