Depending on how fast or slow these ingredients evaporate and how highly concentrated they are found in the window cleaner, you may have streaking problems. The residue from these ingredients will sometimes dry and evaporate on the glass before your window towel can remove them. Window cleaners need to be properly diluted. More is not better. The higher the concentration level is of your cleaner, the greater possibility for streaking exists.
Once you know you have the correct dilution of window cleaner and you know the cleaner is not the source of streaking, there are still other areas to examine for streaks.
- Type of towel
With so many types of towels available, it is very confusing to figure out which will be the best for window cleaning. You need a towel that is absorbent, lint free, and will actually help clean the glass. Many detailers still use terry cloth towels to clean windows, and unfortunately, these are not the best choice. Once these towels get too wet, they lose absorption and will only spread the dirt and moisture around the glass until it all evaporates on its own, leaving the glass full of streaks. These towels also leave a tremendous amount of lint. I have been searching for the best available window towel for years and still have yet to find the perfect one. However, your best choice will be a micro fiber towel in the form of a waffle weave or a 100% cotton surgical towel. I use these in combination which will be discussed later. - Contamination- another source of streaking can be contamination. You may have contaminated towels from a few sources. If you are using your window towels for any other purpose, they may be contaminated with other products you are using. I have seen detailers use the same towel to wipe excess tire dressing from wheels and use that exact towel to clean windows and wonder why his windows were not coming out so well! Many detailers will have towels dedicated for window cleaning only, but they will wash them along with towels that have been wiping up excess tire dressing or polish and wax. All of this residue may contaminate window towels if they are all washed together. Window towels need to be washed separate from all other towels. It is also a good idea to run them through a second rinse cycle to fully wash away any contamination.
- Not using enough cleaner- Many detailers that I observe cleaning windows simply do not use enough window cleaner. They think that too much liquid will take too long to clean up, or they are afraid to get their window towel too wet, knowing this can be problematic later on. Consequently, their method of window cleaning is to use a small amount of cleaner and let the towel do the rest. This results in the cleaner being wiped up and dried too quickly and dirt just being pushed around the glass and not totally picked up. This will cause streaking.
- Spraying cleaner on the towel- I also see many detailers spray the window cleaner directly on the towel. This is incorrect. By spraying the cleaner on the towel, you are letting the cleaner soak into the towel and not soak into the dirt that is on the glass. This also equates to not enough product being used and will result in streaks.
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