Glass Cloths

The weave does most of the work. A glass cloth uses a tighter, flatter weave than a plush cloth, which creates more surface tension against the glass so it lifts residue cleanly instead of pushing it around. That's the whole difference, and it's why a cloth that's brilliant on paint can be frustrating on a windscreen.

What to look for:

• A tight, consistent weave. Even across the whole cloth, so every pass lifts the same amount.
• Low lint fibres. Glass shows lint more than any other surface on a car, especially at night under headlights.
• Less fibre splitting. Split fibres grab and hold product, which is what you want in a drying towel. On glass it works against you, so glass cloths are split less and stay flatter.
• A properly finished edge. Edgeless or a soft bound edge rather than a stitched hem, so nothing catches on trims or tint.

A regular microfibre cloth will clean glass. It just fights you a bit.

Plush cloths are built to absorb and hold product, which is exactly right for drying or buffing off a wax. On glass that works against you. The thick pile holds cleaner rather than lifting it, and once it's carrying a bit of product it starts pushing residue around instead of collecting it, which is where the streaks come from.

If a plush cloth is what you've got, use it damp rather than dry, fold to a clean section often, and finish with the driest part of the cloth. It'll get you there. A glass specific cloth just does it in fewer passes and with less fiddling.

Nearly always too much product rather than a bad cloth. Glass needs very little glass cleaner, and anything the cloth can't pick up gets pushed around instead. The usual causes:

• Too much cleaner. Two or three sprays per window, not a soaking. Spray onto the cloth rather than the glass if you're heavy handed.
• Working in the sun. A hot windscreen flashes the cleaner off before you've wiped it, and what's left dries as streaks. Do the glass in shade, or early.
• A saturated cloth. Once it's carrying product it stops collecting and starts spreading. Fold to a dry section every window or so.
• Residue in the fibres. A cloth washed with softener, or one that's had wax or a quick detailer in it, will smear no matter how good it is.
• Old product on the glass. Years of dressings, waxes and cheap cleaners leave a film that a glass cleaner alone won't shift. If it streaks every single time, the glass needs polishing first.

The easiest fix if it's still happening is one cloth to clean and a dry one to finish. That second pass takes off whatever the first one left.

The same as any microfibre, with one extra rule: keep glass cloths in their own pile.

• Wash them separately from cotton, towels and anything lint heavy.
• Warm water, 30 to 40 degrees.
• A mild liquid detergent, or a microfibre wash like CARPRO MFX.
• No fabric softener or bleach. Softener coats the fibres and a coated glass cloth smears every time.
• Air dry, or tumble on low.

The extra rule matters because glass is unforgiving. A glass cloth washed alongside a buffing cloth that's full of wax picks up that residue and transfers it straight onto the windscreen, and no amount of rewashing gets it out. Keep them separate, in a different colour if you can, and a good glass cloth lasts years rather than months.