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Smeared Windscreen

I presume you don't actually get lots of "grease" on your windows? 🤔

 
I presume you don't actually get lots of "grease" on your windows? 🤔

Here's the verse:-

"Vinegar is a 5% water solution of a small organic acid, acetic acid. Acetic acid is a polar molecule. Water is also a polar molecule. The acetic acid dissolves completely in the water because both are polar.

Grease is a mixture of non-polar molecules. It won't mix with either water or acetic acid, so no, vinegar won't by itself remove grease, any more than water by itself could.

That's why people use soaps and detergents. Soaps are made from long chain fatty acids that are mostly non-polar because the long chain, called the tail, is non-polar, but they have a polar end, called the head, where the acid group is connected. The grease will dissolve in the non-polar chain and the polar end is water soluble so it dissolves in the water.

This is made possible because the soap molecules, in the water, group together as a sphere with the water soluble “heads" on the outside of the sphere and the insoluble non-polar chains (“tails") on the inside of the sphere. These spheres are called micelles and they permit the molecules of the grease to move into the interior of the micelle and the micelle stay dissolved in the water because the water soluble parts are on the outside of the sphere.

So, to get the grease off, you need either a non-polar solvent, or you need soap and water. Vinegar could replace the water in a pinch, but would leave the stuff washed with it smelling like salad, and it still wouldn't work without the soap."
 
Here's the verse:-

"Vinegar is a 5% water solution of a small organic acid, acetic acid. Acetic acid is a polar molecule. Water is also a polar molecule. The acetic acid dissolves completely in the water because both are polar.

Grease is a mixture of non-polar molecules. It won't mix with either water or acetic acid, so no, vinegar won't by itself remove grease, any more than water by itself could.

That's why people use soaps and detergents. Soaps are made from long chain fatty acids that are mostly non-polar because the long chain, called the tail, is non-polar, but they have a polar end, called the head, where the acid group is connected. The grease will dissolve in the non-polar chain and the polar end is water soluble so it dissolves in the water.

This is made possible because the soap molecules, in the water, group together as a sphere with the water soluble “heads" on the outside of the sphere and the insoluble non-polar chains (“tails") on the inside of the sphere. These spheres are called micelles and they permit the molecules of the grease to move into the interior of the micelle and the micelle stay dissolved in the water because the water soluble parts are on the outside of the sphere.

So, to get the grease off, you need either a non-polar solvent, or you need soap and water. Vinegar could replace the water in a pinch, but would leave the stuff washed with it smelling like salad, and it still wouldn't work without the soap."
Incidentally that explains (to me at least 😁) why white spirit shifted the greasy film on the inside of my ZS windscreen when normal glass cleaner & even neat meths couldn't 👍🏻
 
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I used this to clean mine, it got rid of grease and water marks. It took a couple of application as my screen was really bad.
"Prepare the glass surface by washing it thoroughly with a pH neutral shampoo and drying it with a towel or microfiber"

Seems a bit of a faff? & That's before you even open your £12 worth!
 
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"Prepare the glass surface by washing it thoroughly with a pH neutral shampoo and drying it with a towel or microfiber"

Seems a bit of a faff? & That's before you even open your £12 worth!
I guess the prep is to make sure you don't scratch the glass or embed any grit in the applicator which would scratch the glass. I didn't bother with that, I just did a quick spray over with some glass cleaner and paper towel.
I've spent hours and a lot of elbow grease on past cars trying to get residue off windscreens, without success and this is by far the easiest to use and the only one I've used that actually works with the least effort.
 
I guess the prep is to make sure you don't scratch the glass or embed any grit in the applicator which would scratch the glass. I didn't bother with that, I just did a quick spray over with some glass cleaner and paper towel.
I've spent hours and a lot of elbow grease on past cars trying to get residue off windscreens, without success and this is by far the easiest to use and the only one I've used that actually works with the least effort.
Give white spirit a go 👍
 
Give white spirit a go 👍
I must admit I haven't used white spirit, but I have used methylated spirits, barkeepers friend, Halfords window cleaning paste, neat washer fluid, methanol and many different abrasive and non-abrasive glass cleaners, without success.
 
I must admit I haven't used white spirit, but I have used methylated spirits, barkeepers friend, Halfords window cleaning paste, neat washer fluid, methanol and many different abrasive and non-abrasive glass cleaners, without success.
It's to do with the nature/origin of the fug....
I reckon it's oily fractions exuding from HVAC components & condensing on the screen. Oily deposits susceptable to oily origin solvent (white spirit) 🤷🏻‍♂️👍🏻
 
It's to do with the nature/origin of the fug....
I reckon it's oily fractions exuding from HVAC components & condensing on the screen. Oily deposits susceptable to oily origin solvent (white spirit) 🤷🏻‍♂️👍🏻
The fallout we tend to get is like hard water marks, I even tried concrete remover on a small area of the screen on one car with no success.
 
The fallout we tend to get is like hard water marks, I even tried concrete remover on a small area of the screen on one car with no success.
Hmm hydrochloric acid? Nah. Something from oil required - spirito Blanco ! Simples 😉
 
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