Chemistry of ClearVue and other glass cleaners
Written: Jul 15 '02 (Updated Jun 19 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Performance, cost.
Cons: Drool from the nozzle. Contains 90-95% water.
The Bottom Line: Specialty glass cleaning products (ClearVue) have an advantage over ammonia-based products (Windex). To make an informed purchase, read what's inside each product.
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| snsh's Full Review: Turtle Wax ClearVue Professional Auto Glass Cleane... |
Why you might buy it
Car windows attract soil, especially on the inside. Fingerprints, sneezes, bad breath, smoke, etcetera all leave deposits on the windows. Everything you smell in the air (including that new car smell) is airborne dirt which also deposits goop on your windows.
The problem of dirty windows gets worse at night. The greasy glass surface blurs bright light and makes it hard to see. The greasy surface fogs up unevenly, making it harder to see. The greasy surface is hydrophobic and the fog beads up into round droplets, making it still harder to see.
Obviously, it's important (for safety and aesthetics) to keep your car windows clean. You can do this by using a glass cleaner. You may find dissatisfaction cleaning with Windex, however, in which case you would best turn to a better glass cleaner.
What's in the bottle
As it happens, commercially available window cleaners all contain similar chemical ingredients. It would be great to refer to a Consumer Reports-type side-by-side evaluation of all the glass cleaners on the market, but such a report does not exist. The next best thing would be a comparison of the chemical ingredients. According to MSDS, popular glass cleaners are made of:
ClearVue Professional:
isopropyl alcohol (1-3%) - alcohol
2-butoxyethanol (0.5-1%) - dissolution promoter
propylene glycol methyl ether (3-5%)
acetone (1-3%) - nonpolar solvent
water
Windex blue:
2-butoxyethanol (0-2%) - dissolution promoter
isopropyl alcohol (0-3%) - alcohol
ammonia - emulsifier
water
Windex commercial:
2-butoxyethanol (0.5-1.5%) - dissolution promoter
ethylene glycol hexyl ether (0.5-1.5%) - solvent
isopropyl alcohol (1-5%) - alcohol
ammonia - emulsifier
water
Windex with vinegar:
2-butoxyethanol (5-10%) - dissolution promoter
acetic acid (0-0.25%) - descaler,
ammonia - emulsifier
water
Stoner Invisible Glass:
isopropyl alcohol - alcohol
2-butoxyethanol - dissolution promoter
acetone - nonpolar solvent
water
Armor All Auto Glass Cleaner:
isopropyl alcohol (1-5%) - alcohol
propylene glycol butyl ether (1-5%)
Eagle One 20/20:
isopropyl alcohol - alcohol
glycol ether
Amway/Quixtar LOC Plus:
2-butoxyethanol - dissolution promoter
propoxypropanol
propylene glycol methyl ether
propylene glycol butyl ether
Amway/Quixtar See-Spray:
isopropyl alcohol - alcohol
2-butoxyethanol - dissolution promoter
ammonia - emulsifier
isobutane - propellant
anti-fog agent
Westley's Glass Cleaner:
2-butoxyethanol (5%) - dissolution promoter
isopropyl alcohol (5-20%) - alcohol
sodium alkyl olefin sulfonate (1-5%) - surfactant
other surfactant (1-5%)
3M Glass Cleaner concentrate:
2-butoxyethanol (20-40%) - dissolution promoter
acetone (20-40%) - nonpolar solvent
isopropyl alcohol (20-40%) - alcohol
Eimann Fabrik Clear Vision:
2-butoxyethanol (0.5-1%) - dissolution promoter
methyl alcohol (10-15%) - alcohol
isopropyl alcohol (20-35%) - alcohol
Glass Plus (from US patent 5254284):
silicone glycol (0.01-1%) - anti-fogging agent
xanthan gum (0.01-1%) - anti-fogging agent
Castrol Accuvision (rain repellent):
propylene glycol butyl ether (0-5%)
isopropyl alcohol (0-5%) - alcohol
ethylene glycol (0-2%)
proprietary additives (0-5%)
That explains "how" more expensive glass cleaners like ClearVue can outperform Windex. The mix of alcohol + acetone + PGME has a better chance than ammonia at cleaning random goop. A diverse set of cleaning agents is more effective against a broader spectrum of contaminants than a single cleaning agent.
Another useful method for cleaning glass is a straightedge razor blade. It's especially good at removing adhesive residue, tar, caked-on deposits. You might have a feeling the razor blade scratches the glass, but in reality this is not at all the case. As long as the blade feels unnicked to your finger, it won't nick the glass.
Product Background
Clear Vue has been around since at least 1950. It was first sold locally in New England by Lawrence Glass. In the 1990's it started being distributed nationally. Today ClearVue is a Turtle Wax brand, sold in some supermarkets and most automotive stores.
How to use it
My bottle of ClearVue was $3 at Pep Boys. To use, I sprayed it on the windshield and wiped with a crumpled newspaper. I prefer newspaper to paper towels. If a windshield is really dirty, I first use newspaper and plain water. ClearVue cleaned just fine inside and out, leaving a crystal-clear surface. I often wipe twice to get rid of all the streaks. Because ClearVue contains acetone, I keep the door open when I spray inside. I can barely whiff the fumes and they do not bother me. I cannot smell any fragrance.
My chief complaints are that the nozzle dribbles down onto my spraying hand, the low-viscosity liquid quickly runs down to the bottom of the window, and the ~90% water content is too dilute.
The methanol in ClearVue can mar the finish on your dashboard, so you might want to consider spraying ClearVue directly onto a towel instead of directly onto the window. Not a big deal.
Post-cleaning glass treatment
Quite a few folks apply "rain repellent" (RainX) or "anti-fog treatment" after cleaning their windows. RainX goes on the outside, and anti-fog goes on the inside. I'll take a minute to comment on them here:
RainX consists of ethanol (1-10%), isopropanol (75-95%), polysiloxanes, and organosilanes. An organosilane molecule has two ends -- the "silane" end electrically bonds to surfaces like glass. Such a bond is not easy break -- organosilane treatments can only be removed mechanically, by polishing with an abrasive and taking off some of the glass with it! (ClearVue will not completely strip RainX from glass, though it will thin down a thick application of RainX.) The "organofunctional" end both links with other siloxane molecules, and serves an application-specific purpose: in this case creating a hydrophoic surface that repels water. The polysiloxanes promote crosslinking (applying a better film).
Together, they make glass repel water. Normally, glass adheres to water; think of the meniscus you can see on the surface of a glass of water. But if glass repels water, water tends to bead up and roll off the glass.
RainX-type agents do seem to work as advertised, though it gradually degrades and must be reapplied. If it's not reapplied, raindrops will ball up on the glass but not roll off, which I find totally distracting. An old RainX coating is worse than no RainX coating.
RainX is really good for side windows, especially on vans, minivans, and SUV's. RainX works well on side windows because the airflow goes right along it. RainX lasts longer on side windows because the coating does not get rubbed by wiper blades.
For this reason, some people will like RainX and some people won't. To be safe, first try RainX on your car's side windows. After a few months, if you decide like the RainX and don't mind maintaining it, go ahead and put the RainX on your windshield.
Another popular rain-repellent product is Castrol Accuvision. It is reportedly easier to apply, but not as long-lasting as RainX. A professionally applied variation of RainX on the market is Aquapel. It's based on a similar silane (chlorosiline) that reacts more thoroughly with glass, making it more durable. Aquapel releases caustic fumes when it reacts, which is why it must be professionally applied. Not be outdone, a company named Nanofilm is coming out with a purer variation of Aquapel named Ultraseal, which will create an even more durable and hydrophobic coating. The purity keeps the silanes from bunching up in the bottle. Ultraseal will be available this year, sometime.
Anti-fogging agents work in an opposite way. Instead of repelling water, they modify surfaces to attract water. Thus, when a window fogs up on the inside, the moisture droplets spread out and merge into a thin film. And a flat film of water is clearer than a layer of bumpy water micro-droplets. The condensation becomes more transparent, so the fog becomes less visible.
My experience has been that anti-fogging agents lose their clarity unless they are cleaned (ClearVue will remove anti-fog agents from glass) and reapplied a lot, at least weekly. Even in dry weather, the anti-fog layer gets hazy. I do not know why, but my best guess is that the anti-fog layer just attracts dirt. Considering their high-maintenance, I do not recommend putting anti-fog agent on your glass. To prevent 90% of the fogging problem, just keep the glass really clean.
Wiper blades
Windshield wiper blades are usually made of natural rubber. 'Premium' wiper blades are often made of silicone rubber. The silicone is supposed to last forever without tearing, and is also supposed to leave silicone residue on the glass. The residue is supposed to repel water, like RainX. I haven't figured out yet if it really works.
Conclusion
Compared to Windex, I think ClearVue is a better choice at $3/bottle based on performance. ClearVue contains a very diverse set of cleaning agents. However, ClearVue is also very dilute. You can improve it by adding 1 part isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) to 10 parts ClearVue. Those preferring a concentrate could also buy 3M glass cleaner.
Recommended:
Yes
Ease of Application: Average; takes some care to apply and shine well
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Epinions.com ID:
snsh
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Location: New England
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 7 members
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