Cleaning your windshield? DO NOT use 000 steel wool!

The green pads are pretty abrasive too.

I'd suggest a spray can of automotive glass cleaner. I've been using one called Kleen-Flo Glass Kleen. It sprays on and foams up. leaves the glass pristine and streak free. Works both inside and out. After wiping off I'll use the still-damp cloth on the wiper blades.

There's a first aid caution saying it contains: isobutane, isopropanol (rubbing alchohol) and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether.

 

I don't mean to sound negative.

And sincerely, thanks for the warning.

But why under any normal to semi-normal circumstance would you use anything as potentially abrasive as steel wool of any grade, or even a scotch brite scrubbing sponge?

Glass is glass, a non-porus surface whose clarity is determined in great part by it's smoothness.

Unless I was dealing with paint, glue or sap, or some direct substance that would not remove with the use of common glass cleaners and cloth...I'd avoid going at any glass with any substance that is abrassive.

 

+1. I even cringe when using wet paper on glass and won't use dry paper at all.

 

I'm sorry, I knew there was no way I could comment without sounding like an nice person. But as usual that barely slowed me down. That's fine, and sincerely good warning for those that do use, or have used steel wool in the past.

For me? It just seemed kind of obvious. I've never used steel wool on a window surface and when I read your title my initial reaction was "No Duh".

Of course I'm not racing cars...and I live in Oregon where the rain in of itself keeps the windshield from usually building up with anything too permanent. And I stay ontop of it. Usually bird droppings aside, my windshield is never usually at anytime anything more than lightly dusty....

I suppose if I lived in a dryer climate, or somewhere where there were a lot of bugs...perhaps steel wool might be something I'd consider. But up to reading your title the idea actually never even occured to me.

But no harm, no foul. I really did not mean to sound negative. Perhaps steel wool is a windshield cleaning technique that I was never introduced to....my ego is not such that I imagine I know all things about all things...

Also don't clean out your electric sockets using a bread knife...(just kidding).

 

the SOS pads used in the kitchen work good for tough spots on the windshield. I have used them many times without any problems.

The best that I have found for normal cleaning is windex with newspaper.

 

Stoner's "Invisible Glass" cleans way better than Windex. Use it with B&W newspaper pages, paper towels or better yet microfiber cloths. You can find it at car parts stores.

 

Over the years I've found the best method for any tough cleaning/polishing job is to start with the least abrasive product and progressively work your way up in strength. Sure it takes longer but it provides the best results.

 

In general, glass is a pretty hard substance at somewhere between 6 and 7 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness depending on the manufacturing process. Steel is much softer typically somewhere between 4 and 4.5 with steel wool typically falling pretty close to 4.0. So unless there is some non-glass coating on the outside surface of the windshield, I wouldn't have expected scratches from either the Scotch Brite pad or any grade steel-wool (000, 00, or for that matter even 4). If, on the other hand, you were using a specialty steel wool such as stainless, then you are looking at the addition of chromium to the steel wool. Chromium having a hardness of 8.5, you could almost guarantee that it would scratch the glass. Also, if the steel wool you were using was not new/clean, and had bits of other material from previous use or storage near machine shop tools trapped between the strands (silicon sand, dust from grinding hardened steel, microscopic bits of glass, etc), or had a bit of rust on it (iron oxide coming in at 6 on the hardness scale) then that might also explain the scratches.

 

I learned the same lesson long time ago with steel wool and Scot Brite.
I find the single edge razor blade works, but do it very slowly and keep the blade edge flat on the glass at about 40 degrees. The corner of the blade can scratch the glass if the blade is not perfectly flat on the glass.