I routinely carry a bottle of quick detail (Meguiars) and some MF cloths in my glove box in case a bug decides to suicide splash into my car, or of course the avian 'just washed' brigade that roam around looking for freshly washed cars to dive bomb on.

However - any opinion on removing small grit, pollen, dirt spot that gets onto a freshly washed windshield? I've always just used a dry MF cloth which seems to just lift that spot right off the windshield without needing to spray any glass cleaner.

Possibly lame question - am I ok being lazy and just dry wiping the windshield spot off or do I need to carry around glass cleaner too? Auto windshield glass doesnt scratch does it?

 

Birds use gravel to help digest their food so grit and sand are some of the major components, which can cause scratching. Insect honeydew (sometimes mistaken for tree resin) excreted by aphids or scale insects that infest the leaves and branches is also acidic. Residue should be removed (see below) as soon as possible as it could compromise the clear coat.
Excrement Removal
To remove bird excrement without causing scratches; apply very little surface pressure, dusting with long strokes in one direction only, use a product that contains a surfactant; this will lessen surface scratching as they ‘lift’ dust etc into the media used avoiding surface friction (use a solution of Optimum no-rinse (ONR) diluted 1:20 / distilled water in a fine mist spray bottle) Use a long nap micro fibre towel to ensure the dust lifted from the paint surface will remain in the nap and not on the towel surface thereby causing surface marring. Shake the towel occasionally to ensure any particles picked up will drop out rather than come to the surface while you’re using it. Renew the shine - Optimum QD don’t use on a hot paint surface (soon after driving) as this will cause streaking
Do not scrub hardened/dried excrement residue as it is very abrasive and will scratch the paint surface, once they are softened (re-liquefied) it enables their removal with less likelihood of damage to the paint surface Do not use on a hot paint surface (soon after driving) as this will cause streaking?


An extract from “Automotive Detailing Inside & Out; a Knowledge Base for the Perfectionist” ©– by Jon Miller

 

I understand that for anything on the paint area I need to use the proper cleaning agent and get it right off.

But I'm asking/wondering if the front windshield is ok to just dry wipe off any small stain or bug hit with a MF cloth? I know it works quite well in terms of ease of removal as I've done it before but now being paranoid and asking if somehow over time the windshield can get scratched or dull by this?

I suppose I've never had to worry about this as I usually upgrade my car far sooner than anything like that might happen but I tend to care for all my cars as if I was going to own it for life.

 

does it look clean to you? if so, good to go! if not, you can get a small 4oz spritzer type bottle with some window cleaner in it and leave that in the glove box. do the same with the megs QD (smaller bottle)

i know a few people have a few MF towels, 4oz qd bottle, 4oz window cleaner bottle in their cars as an "emergency kit"

there are always glass polishing kits to use to restore clarity as well, which work better than window cleaners...