Perfect Clean Glass - Getting Naked and Inta-Mitt

One of the more important things for a safe and pleasant driving experience is having perfectly clean glass, so you can safely see out of your car. This is especially important when driving into early morning or afternoon sun. At Bowden’s Own, we take this pretty seriously, which is why we have put a lot of time and thought into creating products that work together to give you perfectly clear glass, quickly and easily. Usually, the issue of streaky glass is due to either bad technique or using a cleaner that simply doesn't work that well. In this article we can show you how to get great results with the combination of great products and technique.

 

Naked Glass

Our chemists made our glass cleaner some time ago with some great breakthroughs thanks to much trial and error. All of what they learnt is incorporated into Naked Glass. It gives a true streak-free finish when used as we say, as well as helping minimize fogging, is tint safe, environmentally friendly and quite importantly, very simple and easy to use.

Key points are:

• Non streaking formulation. Something that was essential to us after frustratingly using so many of the other “car friendly” cleaners that left half the product on the windscreen, making a nightmare job removing it all.

• Helps stops dust particles attaching to the glass surface. Just a cool little additive we put in the mix, because we wanted it to stay cleaner for longer.

• Effective cleaning agents remove haze, grime and minimise fogging. Enough cannot be said about this aspect of the Naked Glass. As we did our testing and found on dirty screens that most of the glass cleaners took a lot of extra work to get a great finish - not ours! Also, with the windscreen being clean, we have found that it's less susceptible to fogging up; something essential in the older cars that don’t have effective air con or heating in them to help demist the windscreen.

• Fast drying and easy to buff off. Again, this is all about having an easy product to use, giving great results every time. For this reason it's also very good for cleaning mirrors and chrome as it leaves no residue - just a beautiful, shiny finish.

• No harmful ammonia. We didn't want this ingredient in the formula, due to its links to salivary gland cancer. Think about that next time your're spraying a household glass cleaner around the interior of your car, or any other closed off, confined area, whilst breathing in those toxic fumes.  Ammonia is also no good for plastics, rubber or fabric. The over-spray gets on them and works to break them down. By having no ammonia, Naked Glass is safe and compatible with all good quality aftermarket and OEM tinted windows.

Getting epic results

We have literally cleaned thousands of windows, and to get truly epic results you need to use Naked Glass with a quality, plush microfibre cloth. Our new Inta-Mitt cloth, with its dual-sided composition is perfect for using with glass cleaners. The twist pile side for application; and the low drag textured pile side, for a final streak-free wipe down. The Big Softie is still great for cleaning glass, so keep using it if you get good results. We've always wanted something better, and the Inta-Mitt is all about making the job of glass cleaning easier.

All glass cleaners are sensitive to dirty cloths, so don’t use a cloth that was previously used for waxing or polishing, as there’s a very big chance of product leeching out and smearing the glass. Always keep the Inta-Mitt cloth purely dedicated for your glass.

Make sure you're cleaning out of the sun and not in an overly hot cabin. The hotter it is, the more the chance the product will evaporate (called flashing) and will not be able to clean the glass. Then on the other side, using it on a very wet and cold day gives it less of a chance of evaporating, thus a higher potential for leaving streaks. A simple formula we have used is that if it's hot, use more product and if it's cold and wet, use a little less.

Step 1

Easy application

With Naked Glass and the Inta-Mitt in hand, follow these simple steps for the perfect finish. Be careful around wiper arms and any other sharp surfaces, as it can grab and pull out the threads of the green twist pile side of the cloth.

First, wash and dry your hands. This is very important so that you don't get skin oils, dirt etc on the inside face of the Inta-Mitt. This can lead to streaking, or just making more work for yourself! Now put your hand inside the Inta-Mitt, ready to use the green, twist pile side.

Lightly mist 1-2 sprays of Naked Glass into the green twist pile side of the Inta-Mitt cloth (use less product when it's cooler and more when it's warmer), and apply to the glass. DO NOT drench the cloth, a spray or two is always enough. Always keep the purple textured side dry for the final wipe off. Wipe over a section of glass, (1 window or half a windscreen), in a north-south, then east-west direction. 

Be more careful around wiper arms and any other sharp surfaces on the edge of the glass, as it could grab and pull out the threads of the green twist pile side of the cloth. 

We say to spray into the Inta-Mitt and apply so you don't get over spray everywhere, saving you time in cleaning up later. Only if the glass is really, really dirty is it a good idea to spray a little bit extra directly onto the glass. 

Step 2

Fast removal

Spin the Inta-Mitt to the dry purple textured side and gently buff the residue away to a perfect finish. This side is a low drag, unique type of microfibre, that will leave a smear free finish. 

If your Inta-Mitt is feeling wet, or you begin to notice slight streaking, it’s time to turn it inside out and use the opposite side. It's imperative the Inta-Mitt is dry to get the perfect finish.

Step 3

After the initial 1-2 sprays of Naked Glass into the Inta-Mitt, only add one more spray for the next window if needed - less is more with glass cleaning. If you notice there's no product going onto the glass from the green side of the cloth as you're cleaning, mist 1 spray only of Naked Glass and keep going, flipping the Inta-Mitt to the purple side and wiping over the window to get a great, streak free finish.

Extra tips

 

Very dirty glass:

For very dirty glass, we find spraying the product nice and evenly over the glass surface, then letting it sit for a few seconds before buffing it all off with the Inta-Mitt cloth, gives the best result. In some cases it might be best to use a separate cloth for the initial wipe down, before finishing off with the Inta-Mitt for that perfect finish.

With using this method in your interior, clean off the inveitable overspray on your dash with our Vinyl Care; this will clean, enhance and protect the dash at the same time.

And that’s it, you can now go for a drive with no fear of the early morning or late afternoon sun as your glass is perfectly CLEAN, CLEAR & NAKED.

 

Cleaning chrome:

For some extra uses, try Naked Glass on hard chrome plated parts (not plastic chrome) and any mirrors. Spray it directly onto the surface (as long as you're not going to get messy over-spray everywhere!) and remove it with a Big Softie, keeping your Inta-Mitt for glass only. You will be pretty happy how well it cleans them up with very little work.

More information

What's the difference between the Inta-Mitt, Big Softie and Green Clean Glass Cloth?

• The Inta-Mitt uses a twist pile loop microfibre on one side and a low drag, textured microfibre on the other side. Perfect for use with glass cleaners, before flipping it around for a streak and haze free finish.

• The Big Softie cloth uses a different type of split ultra microfibre, which the low pile side of it is still good for glass cleaning, but we've found the combination of microfibre on the Inta-Mitt to be much more suited for really effective glass cleaning.

• The Green Clean Glass Cloth uses a short nap, low drag microfibre. This type of microfibre is very good at removing haze from the inside of a windscreen, but they are not suited for use with glass cleaners.

• Does the Inta-Mitt replace the Big Softie cloth for glass cleaning? Well, we designed the Inta-Mitt specifically for glass cleaning, so technically yes, it can. With the combination of twist loop pile + low friction textured microfibre, it makes it the perfect glass cleaning cloth. With a dedicated glass cleaning cloth, it also means you don't need to worry about having a dedicated Big Softie cloth for glass. However, the Big Softie is still a great choice for glass cleaning.

• Does the Inta-Mitt replace the Green Clean Glass Cloth? No, it doesn't. The Green Clean Glass Cloth is a totally different type of short nap microfibre that makes it perfect for cleaning haze off the inside of your windscreen. It's one that you never use any glass cleaning spray on, but rather it's used dry, without product. We recommend to keep one in the car for those times you're driving directly into the sun to remove the annoying haze on the inside of the windscreen.

• Can the Inta-Mitt be washed with my other microfibre cloths? Yes! if you have extremely dirty cloths that need to be washed, then you can machine or even hand wash the Inta-Mitt separately in a bucket with our Microfibre Wash. If it's a normal load of cloths, the Inta-Mitt can be machine washed with the rest of your cloths. It can be air dried inside or put in your dryer on a cool setting. We recommend to wash it after each and every use in order to keep it working its best.

• Can I use the Inta-Mitt to clean exterior glass too? Yes! After you've washed and dried the car, clean the exterior glass the same way you clean the interior glass. If the outside glass is particularly dirty, or you're just looking to clean it between details, you can mist a couple sprays directly onto the glass, before wiping it over with the green side of the Inta-Mitt, then following up with the purple side for a perfect finish. Turn the Inta-Mitt inside out if you notice it start to streak, and continue cleaning with the fresh side, only adding 1-2 more sprays.

• Is the Inta-Mitt made in Australia? Unfortunately no company or individual is making any microfibre of any type here in Australia. This comes from the local textile industry beling killed off in the late 80's thanks to government decisions at the time. Microfibre is all made in China (cheaper) and Korea (better) these days. We still believe the higher quality material comes from Korea, (and it's not a sweatshop situation like you see in China) so that's what we use. One day we'd LOVE to be in a position to be able to use an Australian microfibre, but with the millions of dollars that needs to be invested in machines alone, let alone the small market for specialised cloths here in Australia, it's sadly not something that's going to happen anytime soon. The Inta-Mitt packaging was all done and created here, which is the best we can do for now.

Any questions?

Find the Inta-Mitt at your local Super Cheap Auto. Find your closest one in the link at the bottom of this article. 

If you have any questions or feedback about this article please contact us by email - info@bowdensown.com.au or call our office on 1800 351 308. 

Love your car,

Dan Bowden