Crystal - Glass Cleaner

Both the Glass Waffle and Superior Waffle have been specifically developed for use on vehicle glass when cleaning, polishing and restoring windows and other glass surfaces in and around your car. Both these premium detailing and valeting cloths also have a specially engineered waffle weave for increased absorption and to trap contaminants and polish residues away from surfaces, making them ideal for use with Vision Glass Polish, Crystal Glass Cleaner and Caramics Glass Cleaner. The difference between these two towels is in the microfibre used and how it makes contact with glass surfaces. The Superior Waffle is slightly softer and more absorbent, making it the perfect product for soaking up spray-on cleaners, while the Glass Waffle has a little more of a scrubbing texture, making it great for tasks where a little more bite is required, such buffing away polish (meaning it particularly ideal for use with Vision) and cleaning away more intense stains. For more on these, see our full guide – Glass: How to Clean, Protect and Get a Sparkling Smear-Free Finish.

All-purpose microfibre cloths – such as our 400x400mm, 300GSM, Microfibre Work Cloths and Work Cloth Trio – are great all-rounders, suitable for a multitude of cleaning and finishing tasks in and around your vehicle. These super-soft items can be used to great effect with the vast majority of detailing and valeting products, and this includes Crystal Glass Cleaner and Vision Glass Polish. The difference with our Glass Waffle and Superior Waffle though, is that they’re specifically designed to be the ultimate premium towels for cleaning and polishing glass. The special waffle wave pattern not only significantly increases the useable microfibre surface area, helping to increase the absorption, making them ideal for use with spray-on ‘wet’ products. But it also creates pockets between the weave which help to safely trap more grime, debris and polish residues, locking them deep within the cloth and, most importantly keeping them away from the surface. In this way our waffle cloths are ideal for safe grime removal using Crystal Glass Cleaner and for deep-cleaning and more intensive polishing tasks with Vision Glass Polish, making it quicker and easier to get a smear and streak-free finish every time you clean, deep-clean or restore your vehicle glass. For more information on all types of microfibre cloths, and what they’re best used for, see our full guide – Microfibre Car Cloths - Getting The Right Towel For The Job. 

Yes, Crystal Glass Cleaner is safe and effective on glass with a previously-applied ceramic coating, including the 12-month-durable coating in our Caramics Glass Protection Kit. Silica (Si02) based ceramic coatings chemically bond to surfaces on a molecular level to provide a durable layer of protection that can only be fully removed through abrasion. Crystal is a non-abrasive formula made up of a finely balanced blend of distilled solvents and, as such, it removes residues by dissolving them and allowing them to be easily wiped away without abrading surfaces or protection layers. While Crystal will not degrade your ceramic coating though, it will not strengthen it either. For this reason, whenever there’s a ceramic coating present, for the best results we recommend utilising Caramics Glass Cleaner which has been specifically developed to boost coatings, prolonging their life and their performance. Learn more about how to clean and protect your glass in our guide – Protect Your Glass For Winter.

Technically yes, both our Crystal Glass Cleaner and Caramics Glass Cleaner can be used on tinted windows. The mild distilled solvents in these products will not harm window tinting films in any way. Unlike some harsh cleaning solutions and glass polishes, which can soften films and interfere with their adhesion, these non-abrasive, alcohol-based formulas will clean away sticky marks such as fingerprints, along with light dust and grime, and will not abrade any sensitive surface. This is because the solvents are specially selected to melt away oily residues, chemically dissolving them into the solution to create a solute. Once dissolved these contaminants can be safely wiped away with a Microfibre Work Cloth or Superior Waffle (which is designed specifically for cleaning vehicle windows) without fear of scratching the surface underneath - whether that’s glass, tinting films, or even Lexan, Perspex and Polycarbonate motorsport windows. For tinting films in particular though, it’s worth noting that most commonly these are applied to the inside of the car windows, and will not require ceramic protection. So, while you can use Caramics Glass Cleaner from time to time because it will do no harm to the tinting film, the vast majority of the time it’s more suitable for use on the exterior (where there is no film) and utilised to add protection or top up another Si02 ceramic layer, just like the 12-month durable coating you’ll find in our Caramics Glass Protection Kit. Crystal Glass Cleaner however can be used at any time, inside or out, on glass, tinted or plastic windows.        

We don’t usually recommend using any ceramic product on interior glass, but this does depend solely on the frequency of use. Although Caramics Glass Cleaner is primarily designed to clean exterior glass - and contains an infusion of Si02 to prolong the life and performance of previously-applied ceramic coatings (such as our Glass Protection Kit) - it can be used inside, now and again, as a quick and powerful glass-cleaner. This can be extremely useful, say at a car show or on the go where you only have this product in your kitbag. However, one of the key attributes of this product  is that it will leave behind a ceramic layer which is not designed for vehicle interiors. And, although there will be no coating already on the interior to top up, regular use of Caramics Glass Cleaner will build up and strengthen a coating itself… and quite simply, water beading and heavy grime protection is best left for the outside. This is why we always recommend that, for the most part, Caramics Glass Cleaner only be used for exterior glass where the Si02 layer is needed for protection. Crystal Glass Cleaner however can be used, inside and out, for all cleaning purposes, but bear in mind that, while it won’t degrade any ceramic coatings, it will not strengthen them either. For more on our glass cleaning, polishing and protection products, and how they can be used to get the most from your detail, see our guide – Glass: How To Clean, Protect and Get a Sparkling, Smear-Free Finish.   

Vision Glass Polish will certainly remove fine scratches and - in a way - so will Crystal Glass Cleaner. Scratch removal requires an abrasive polish to ‘level down’ the surface to the bottom of the deepest defect, until that defect disappears. In the same way as correcting swirl marks and other blemishes in paintwork, these defects aren’t removed directly, the entire area around them is taken away until the defect vanishes. Crystal isn’t an abrasive product, so it will not level down any surface in this way, in fact, it’s specifically developed not to, making it safe for regular use on sensitive surfaces such as polycarbonate motorsport windows and tinting films. But, while Crystal doesn’t physically remove scratches through abrasion, it can fill light scratches, obscuring them to the eye, essentially removing them from your vision. For the physical removal of fine scratches though, and removing the most stubborn stains, we recommend using Vision Glass Polish which contains light abrasives specifically for this task.