[Sheel]

A lot of us are caught driving at not so favorable time, dusk and dawn for me is the most dangerous time to drive on a highway. There is a big compromise as far as visibility is concerned, both lightning wise as well as the big menace - bug splatter. Bug splatter on your windshield is much more during these times than when it is pitch dark or during broad day light.

How do you clean it?

# Windshield wipe with your car's wiper and wash-wipe..? Just won't work and it will be a mess with all those bugs being further smeared on your windscreen.

# Manually cleaning it? Requires some effort and lots of time and still, it is a task to clean the entire windshield. It just won't be as clean/won't be debugged

I had a 300+ kms drive yesterday which was going to involve late afternoon to dusk time to late evening. Given a choice, I much prefer to park my car and not drive [during dawn/dusk] but sometimes, it is just not possible because we all are almost always short on time.

I found a method to clean my windshield yesterday without much effort and that too the cleaning was satisfactory. You just need one equipment, a spray bottle.

I filled this spray bottle with car wash and water, sprayed it generously over my windshield during tea/bio/diesel break and when it was time to resume our journey, I sprayed the concentrate again. Used car's wash wipe to clean the windshield and it was almost as clean as it should be.

Any other idea/suggestions for a more efficient method? I request guys to use this method and please update the results.

Just don't leave the concentrate sprayed for too long so that it dries up, you will have to use lots of water to clean it off again.

Happy & Safe Driving



This picture is after driving over 100+ kilometers post 21:00 hrs, see how clean it still is. For reference have a look at the glass area outside the wiper cleaning area [extreme left of the picture]

[procrj]

Similar problem with my TUV given the real estate in front. What has worked for me:

1. Spray bottle with ONR mix - spray on, wait 2-3 minutes, wipe off. Most of my car surface also has Optimum opti seal on it, which helps with the easy removal.

2. Over last 6 months, have been using Sonax glass cleaner and it works very well. This has become my go to product for all glass surface cleaning. Again very easy to use - spray on, wait a couple of minutes and wipe off. Usually follow this with a quick water spray and wipe.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Sheel

# Windshield wipe with your car's wiper and wash-wipe..?

If done this way, will ruin the wiper blades and make life even more troublesome due to the insects getting smeared around.

Originally Posted by Sheel

# Manually cleaning it?

Yes. The only and best method for the issue.

I've been using Abro Bug & Tar remover since 3 years. Pretty happy with the outcome. This needs to be sprayed, rest it for 30-45 seconds and wipe it off using microfiber cloth. Link below:

Abro Bug and Tar Remover

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Any other idea/suggestions for a more efficient method? I request guys to use this method and please update the results.

One of the most efficient ways is to use kerosene to get the debris off. It can even remove tar from your windshield.

However, getting kerosene is difficult nowadays.

Also, for simple cleaning of windshield use newspaper. You will see that almost all truck drivers use newspaper to clean after spraying little water. Works quite well.

[rajathv8]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

for simple cleaning of windshield use newspaper. You will see that almost all truck drivers use newspaper

While this may work for trucks, I would advise against it for cars.

The problem is although the newspaper cleans the glass, the dirt has no where to go and ends up creating micro scratches. These scratches accumulate and affect visibility down the line with increase in glare from oncoming traffic.

I have tried the newspaper method and noticed the difference in scratches. Now, a wash bottle and couple of MF cloths permanently resides in the boot of my car. I use car shampoo, that is half as dilute as what I use for a car wash, in the wash bottle. I also wipe off the wiper blade edges before every drive. My windshield is in rather good shape and the year+ old wipers are going strong

[GTO]

For those really bothered by this problem, here's a related thread.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by rajathv8

While this may work for trucks, I would advise against it for cars.

The problem is although the newspaper cleans the glass, the dirt has no where to go and ends up creating micro scratches. These scratches accumulate and affect visibility down the line with increase in glare from oncoming traffic.

Have been using this method for years now and haven't had any scratches to talk about. The dirt is first washed down due to water sprinkling and then rest is absorbed by the newspaper.

May be, if one doesn't sprinkle water before wiping with newspaper then there could be scratches due to friction.

[tazmaan]

I have a bug deflector on my V-cross for this very reason. It works but the big ones still hit the windscreen.

The splatters on the screen can be cleaned but my bigger concern is the one that hit the condenser/radiator and get stuck there. Power wash helps but I can still see some fragments wedged deep inside.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Sheel

There is a big compromise as far as visibility is concerned, both lightning wise as well as the big menace - bug splatter. Bug splatter on your windshield is much more during these times than when it is pitch dark or during broad day light.

Indeed a menace, especially when driving through the nights and certain sections of our roads. I have experienced this maximum between Davanagere-Chitradurga of Pune-Bangalore Highway and on Hyderabad Road. They not only stick right there in front of the car but also intrude and damage the condensor fins.

This was when I once returned from Rajkot:

How do you clean it?

Randomly once while browsing for products online (For car of course), Snapdeal had this Abro Tar & Bug remover listed and I picked this up. This must be some time in 2014 If I recollect and I am still using the same can not just to remove the bugs but also to clean tar stuck on body panels after driving on freshly laid roads. The effort required is minimal as you just spray uniformly over the affected area, let it spread and then using a soft cloth rub these bugs off the areas and wipe the surface clean with another fresh cloth.

# Windshield wipe with your car's wiper and wash-wipe..? Just won't work and it will be a mess with all those bugs being further smeared on your windscreen.

Absolutely! A bad idea to use wipers.

# Manually cleaning it? Requires some effort and lots of time and still, it is a task to clean the entire windshield. It just won't be as clean/won't be debugged

If there is (are) dead bug(s) on the windscreen, I let them be there till I pull over later to clean it with water and cloth. Might sound like a bad idea but I use bare hands to feel these little bugs on the windscreen area after spraying water and remove them off after which I use either cloth or newspaper to spray water again and wipe the surface dry. This ensures the oily content from these bugs don't spread all over the windscreen area.

I found a method to clean my windshield yesterday without much effort and that too the cleaning was satisfactory. You just need one equipment, a spray bottle.

Indeed works as explained above. Spray once, use hands to knock these off, wipe and spray again and wipe with another clean cloth/newspaper.

Any other idea/suggestions for a more efficient method? I request guys to use this method and please update the results.

This is exactly where you need not use the Abro spray as its plain useless to clean the windscreen with it and perhaps not recommended as well. Old school method of spraying and wiping still works like charm and it allows you to stretch your body/muscles giving you a break too.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

I've been using Abro Bug & Tar remover since 6 years. Pretty happy with the outcome.

6 Years? That is really interesting because these products made way into the online market only 3-4 years ago if I remember and Snapdeal had a series of Abro Products on their selling list and Amazon later. Or you got this through someone from abroad or a seller in town or was that some other product?

Originally Posted by a4anurag

I have just bought the following:

1) Abro Bug and Tar remover

I even remember you posting about buying it from Amazon somewhere in 2015 and later asking about whether it was safe to use on glass:

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Guys,

Have just purchased Abro Bug and Tar remover.

The instructions on the back label say that it shouldn't be used on the 'Automotive glass'.

Any specific reasons as to why it shouldn't be?