# House Hold Window Cleaner Vs Car Window Cleaner



## MR CHU (Mar 18, 2010)

Is there a major difference between normal househole window cleaner and car window cleaner....obviously the price is a factor.

An average car wc is around £6-£8 and you can get house hold wc for £1.

I did read that car wc would benefit people with tinted windows as it doesnt have amonea which will harm the tints.

I do not have tints myself btw

Thanks guys :thumb:


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Not really.. I use Astonish from the 99p stores, and it works a treat, just as good as say AG Fast Glass, in fact, the best window cleaner I have used to date..


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

Auto cleaner is alcohol based, household is vinigar based. If you find Auto stuff for £6-£8 your getting ripped off. Tescos, Poundstretcher, Poundland B&M, Wilko's all do Auto glass cleaner for £1 or less.


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## MR CHU (Mar 18, 2010)

Blazebro said:


> Auto cleaner is alcohol based, household is vinigar based. If you find Auto stuff for £6-£8 your getting ripped off. Tescos, Poundstretcher, Poundland B&M, Wilko's all do Auto glass cleaner for £1 or less.


http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/interior/cat_10.html

I was looking at these products....i personally use house hold window cleaner as its alot cheaper.
I wasn't sure i people would be paying for the name.

I will give the cheaper auto window cleaner a go though, thanks for the info though i didnt know they wer alcohol based as aposed to vinigar based.


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## Daza (Sep 30, 2009)

I used to use rain-x but thats run out so now im using tesco window cleaner! works ok


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## DGK (Jun 30, 2010)

qstix said:


> Not really.. I use Astonish from the 99p stores, and it works a treat, just as good as say AG Fast Glass, in fact, the best window cleaner I have used to date..


I second this. Will be grabbing a few more bottles next time I'm passing the local poundstretcher


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

Blazebro said:


> Auto cleaner is alcohol based, household is vinigar based.


Only partially correct:
Sainsbury's own cleaner contains vinegar.
Mr Muscle has vinegar too (acetic acid), along with IPA and ethanol.
Windolene Crystal Trigger has vinegar mentioned on the front label, but its SDS states only two types of propanol.

Wizz - isopropanol and ethanol
Astonish - isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol/IPA)
Ecover - "alcohol"

All those are domestic/household window/glass cleaners, so your statement is much too rigid to be helpful.


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

PJS said:


> All those are domestic/household window/glass cleaners, so your statement is much too rigid to be helpful.


The OP seemed to find it helpfull.

Next time I buy a glass cleaner I'll bare it in mind to ask the check out girl it's precise contents.


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

Blazebro said:


> The OP seemed to find it helpfull.
> 
> Next time I buy a glass cleaner I'll bare it in mind to ask the check out girl it's precise contents.


The OP, now has a distorted mindset thanks to your previous "statement"!
I knew reading it, it was wrong, and a 10-15 minute search with Google for the brands I could think of, off the top of my head, revealed the above.

If you're going to offer advise to someone a bit clueless about the subject matter, at least do YOUR research first, before doling it out as hardened facts!

Getting stroppy and saying you'll ask the checkout girl what the contents are, is as useless and as throwaway a statement, as your earlier one.
Pity you have to resort to ad hominem responses, when you've no real answer to give.


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

I'll bare it in mind next time and list every available possiblity.


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## Sharpy (Mar 25, 2007)

bloody hell does it really matter why get so pedantic to actually resort to googling different brands over the matter of a little bit of general advice? its not going to ruin his car or turn his hands black or the sky pink its bloody window cleaner who gives whether its vinegar or alcohol?? 
Window cleaner is window cleaner in my book, some more expensive than others but they all do the same job of cleaning your windows, if we really want to get to basics just use vinegar and a scrap of newspaper 

By the way ive got a gallon of chemical guys, a bottle of megs and a bottle of asdas cheapy stuff and you know what? Theres not a blind bit of difference between them


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

It matters on a point of principle - doling out erroneous advice which the lesser informed will take as the gospel.
Pedanticism is the order of the day on a detailing forum, but even so, I checked my suspicions were correct before posting that I thought they were - just in case I was wrong.
Also, some people don't like the smell of vinegar, so knowing which has it, helps them avoid that brand's.


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

It's hardly erroneous as your 15 minutes actually proved me right, household window cleaners do contain vinigar, well done you.

Now can you spend another 15 minutes of google fail proving that auto window cleaners contain alcohol.


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## The Doctor (Sep 11, 2007)

What about ammonia content?

One very popular sprayable auto glass cleaner contains ammonia.

Some auto glass cleaners state that they do not contain ammonia for a good reason.


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

The Doctor said:


> What about ammonia content?
> 
> One very popular sprayable auto glass cleaner contains ammonia.
> 
> Some auto glass cleaners state that they do not contain ammonia for a good reason.


I'm sure there's a bit of water in them too :thumb:


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## Car Key (Mar 20, 2007)

Household cleaners have to be kind to wood (not stain), where as auto cleaners don't??? Just a thought.

Found Mr. Muscle to be pretty poor on house windows - always leaving smears. 

Not found a satisfactory 'quick cleaner' for car windows, want to try MarkV, heard it's brill.


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## The Doctor (Sep 11, 2007)

Blazebro said:


> I'm sure there's a bit of water in them too :thumb:


Stop giving out erroneous advice you!!!


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

The Doctor said:


> Stop giving out erroneous advice you!!!


Oops sorry, I forgot myself there 

:lol:


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

Blazebro said:


> It's hardly erroneous as your 15 minutes actually proved me right, household window cleaners do contain vinigar, well done you.





Blazebro said:


> Auto cleaner is alcohol based, household is vinigar based


There's a world of difference in the syntaxes of both your quoted replies there.
Contains does not equal based - and as I proved by simple research, not every one of the household products mentioned in my reply, contained or were even based around vinegar.
Vinegar was low down the the list of ingredients, for the two that I could find the info on.
So, your reply to the OP making the original statement in black and white terms, is erroneous.

In fact, it'd be fair to say I've proven that at least 50% of household glass cleaners don't have vinegar in them, which was the point you fell down on.
I've no idea why you think clarifying that bears any relation to doing something similar in respect of ones designed/sold as automotive glass cleaner.
There was no bone of contention over the use of alcohols in their make-up, so your last remark there just shows how childishly silly you're being, rather than accepting you made a bit of a boob.

Anyway, have fun with your inevitable next comeback, but it'll be falling upon blind eyes - I'm abstaining from this thread here on in.

Apologies to the OP - hope you've managed to glean some usefulness from within this thread.


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

PJS said:


> In fact, it'd be fair to say I've proven that at least 50% of household glass cleaners don't have vinegar in them


So 50% do then, gained nothing from this so far apart from going round in circles :wall:


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## Dodo Factory (Apr 11, 2007)

We have been researching glass cleaners and the fact is there are hundreds of ingredients you can use, some cheap, some expensive, and you can use them in differing concentrations.

Saying a 6 GBP automotive glass cleaner is a 'rip off' is like saying a Ferrari is a rip off because you can take a Yaris to work...

That's not to say cheaper window cleaners don't have their uses. Some of the large producers can make a great product for a fraction of what it costs a smaller company, due to volume production, so if you find a good product that works at the 99p store - BUY IT 

That said, there are a lot of volume products that are pants. I have just been using one such 'household brand' glass cleaner on a coffee table at a friend's house and it is cr4p - 99p wasted probably. It will take another few wipes to remove the smears properly.

So if you find a 99p glass cleaner that works as well - in your eyes - as a more expensive one, then buy some and pass the recommendation on. The automotive ones *may* work better, but it isn't guaranteed - and nor is it guaranteed that the difference between cheap and expensive will be hugely noticeable. Water and vinegar does an OK job if you can stand the smell. However, we'll be chucking a load of solvent in ours to get it to work and in our small volumes it won't be 99p - we can't even fill a bottle with water for that. Not sure what the price is, but for those who want it, we hope they won't find it a rip off as we hope it will offer more performance than a run of the mill glass cleaner.


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2010)

sometimes step back in time and use soapy water and newspaper, but remember, it must be the broadsheets, none of that news of the world crap!:lol:


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## RCZ (Aug 13, 2010)

I just use white vinegar from the poundshops and Permaclear to coat the galss which repels water. The former is JUST acetic acid and water and does a grand job...the Permaclear stuff does have alcohol in it.

Would be interested to know though what a specialist automotive window cleaner offers. Would it be something to do with bug removal or can I just use the AG Insect Remover for that?


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## dominic84 (Jan 27, 2007)

I always find glass cleaners to be much of a muchness personally, for me AG Glass Polish is the best, but I also think that the choice of cloth plays a major part.

Although IIRC some liquid household window cleaners can contain ingredients that aren't good for tinted windows.


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## Dodo Factory (Apr 11, 2007)

With tinted windows the film is on the inside, so there should be no issue if using a cleaner on external glass.

Glass polishes are a bit different to glass cleaner sprays as they tend to contain chalky abrasives to help 'scour' the window clean. The liquid sprays tend to be solvent, detergent or acid based.


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## gordonpuk (Mar 14, 2010)

I've been told that using newspaper to clean glass isn't as effective as it used to be because news print no longer contain solvent (I believe the use of vinegar released it), it's water based ink now.
It's just a thought but makes sense to me!


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## Dodo Factory (Apr 11, 2007)

Paper is harsher than cloth though, so this may help (ie it has more bite on glass, never use it on paint!), but the solvent theory is a plausible one.


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## TomV6 (Feb 16, 2010)

Personally I had been using AG FG for years and was happy with it until a few months back when I tried this out. It's by far the best window cleaner _I've_ ever used- so much so, I've even started using it around the house.

It may not be the cheapest out there, but I'm a great believer of 'Quality comes at a price'.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

TomV6 said:


> It may not be the cheapest out there, but I'm a great believer of 'Quality comes at a price'.


I agree somewhat but also dissapointment with a £1 product is certainly easier to deal with than if you where pissed off with a much more expensive one.
To be frank glass cleaner is not something id consider something to spend alot of cash on,I find a cheap one works just aswell as something like AG fastglass.
Now wheel cleaner Id spend the cash on.Ive found nothing in halfords,Asda,Tesco that works as well as Bilberry.


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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

qstix said:


> Not really.. I use Astonish from the 99p stores, and it works a treat, just as good as say AG Fast Glass, in fact, the best window cleaner I have used to date..


Based on this, I've just tried some Astonish, and absolutely hate it!

I've used/got Fast Glass, Mark V, CG Streak Free, 1z Windscreen Clear, ClearKote QuikShine, Cif Professional, Adams Glass at the moment.

In the full sun with a brand new MF, used Astonish just now, and it's left a smeary mess with rainbows on my glass - maybe you use a different technique, but it doesn't work for me. Lucky it was only 2 quid - it's going in the bin!

The only other glass cleaner I had a problem with was Adams - it has a sealant in there as well, and if you use too much, it leaves rainbows - get it right, and it's beautiful slick glass.

Any of the others leaves the glass squeaky clean (which I top up with a bit of quickshine, adams detail spray or C2 after).

I do think you get what you pay for sometimes... but when you find something that works for you - stick with it, otherwise you end up like me, and 6 different glass cleaners that you "just have to try"! 

(btw, has anyone got any Cartec? - really want to try that next :wall


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## Roswell (Aug 11, 2008)

windowleen and news paper for me.


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## Blofeld (Feb 12, 2013)

Blazebro said:


> I'll bare it in mind next time and list every available possiblity.


_Posted from Detailingworld.co.uk App for Android_


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## Tazz (Aug 23, 2010)

im just using up the last of ag fg, which ive found to be fantastic, but 6.50 for 500ml, (put i do also use it as an interior cleaner on plastics)

next up is megs concentrate glass cleaner, bought in 3 litres, this should last me ages

maybe ill try astonish glass cleaner, i need to evaluate the products i use, in either small sizes for cheap or in bulk buys, this is why theres many brands i wont(cant) touch, so for me meguiars ticks all the boxes


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## piston_warrior (Jul 25, 2012)

Autobrite Crystal, £18 for 5 litres. £1.80 for 500ml. Cleaned my glass hob the other day and it cut through all the grease and grime effortlessly leaving a squeaky finish.


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## willwander (Nov 30, 2012)

3M one is quite good, but I don't see whats wrong with household ones.

Just out of interest here's what's in Windex.


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## valleysmale (Apr 5, 2013)

i buy mine from B&M bargains white vinigar it does a great job and is less than a £1.00


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## Rayner (Aug 16, 2012)

valleysmale said:


> i buy mine from B&M bargains white vinigar it does a great job and is less than a £1.00


That's what I've started using too. Every glass cleaner I've tried has to be buffed anyway so what's the point in buying them. IPA is next to try for me but I don't hold out much hope


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## hibberd (Jul 5, 2006)

I am not too worried if they contain alcohol, vineger, ammonia or what ever, the vital ingredient is not mentioned..ELBOW GREASE...thats the bit that matters and you can google all you like but wont find it mentioned.


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## srod (Dec 31, 2010)

I can seriously recommend TurtleWax Clear Vue, best spray cleaner I have used (and I have tried a few!)


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

I think the key is a decent cloth , Buy a decent cloth and you can use anything


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## year (Feb 8, 2013)

Guys who do window claening daily use a bucket water and a few drops of dishing soap , eyewearstore's like pearl , and copyshops use mostly 'ipa,,, because a lot of household cleaners do more than cleaning alone,to give it shine, maybe,, you don't want that on your windshield....it's also a make up...


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## PWOOD (Apr 30, 2007)

The cloth makes a big difference. I use a Kent microfibre glass cloth which when used with either window cleaner type works far better than most cloths used in the past. FWIW the best class cleaner i have used is Haggen HD Windscreen cleaner around £4.50 in a hardware store.


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## Tazz (Aug 23, 2010)

just out of curiousity, (generally speaking) why do household glass cleaners contain vinegar and car glass cleaners contain alcohol, and what is ammonia?

thanks


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## srod (Dec 31, 2010)

I read somewhere that some household window cleaners contain silicone to enhance the shine and that is of course something you do not want on your windscreen!


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## luke86 (Apr 11, 2013)

interesting read thanks


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