05/09/2026
Since glass cleaning is a common frustration, yet it's one of my favorite steps, I want to share my process.
Let's get the basics out of the way--you can't clean the inside of your windshield with a single towel. Even if you think you did it, you'll be sorely disappointed once you drive directly into the sun. Multiple towels are always needed because the loosening of the dirt, the picking up of the dirt, and the buffing away the remaining moisture are three different steps requiring multiple towels each. How many towels you need for each step will also vary wildly depending on the quality of your towels, what type of towels they are, and how dirty your windshield has gotten.
For my process, I only use one towel (two if I'm doing the inside of the windshield). I saw Larry at Ammo use what is essentially a Dobie pad and a squeegee years ago, and it changed everything for me. His stuff can be pricey, but his squeegee is only $12-15 and is close to an ideal size, weight, and flexibility of the silicon. I'm not affiliated at all.
Since windshields are typically the most challenging, that's what I used to describe my process here. For exterior glass, some of the steps below will be very obviously irrelevant. Here is my parts list and process:
Sprayway (or your glass cleaner of choice)
Nextzett Cockpit Premium (or your interior cleaner of choice)
Dobie Pad
Ammo Squeegee (or any other, really)
A single low-pile glass microfiber, 16x16
A single general-use interior surface towel, 16x16
I start by moving the passenger seat all the way back so I can sit at the edge of the seat and have some mobility to contort my body (working on the driver side lower corner involves turning my right hand and elbow counter clockwise so it is upside down and can get into the small angle at the base of the windshield).
Cover the windshield with glass cleaner
Scrub thoroughly with the Dobie pad (cross hatching works)
Spritz the top of the dashboard with Cockpit Premium (this step is important because once you squeegee the glass in step 4, you're not only going to get your dashboard wet, but you also absolutely don't want to spray anything else at the dashboard because you'll just get more product back on the glass that you just cleaned)
Once the glass is scrubbed, and the top of the dashboard is saturated, squeegee away.
Once most of the liquid is off the glass, the one single glass towel will barely even be wet after buffing away the remaining bits of product.
Proceed to agitate your dashboard accordingly and mop up with the other towel.
The route I take to drop my kids off at school drives directly into the sun, so I know how effective this method is. There are usually a couple tiny spots I may have missed in the final buff, so I take note of it and give it a final buff when I get home. This gets the glass as clear as possible even with a year+ of grime and offgassing, without the frustration of smearing things around with half a dozen towels only to have the sun show you how horrible it still is.
Hope this helps!
