Is there a cure for a windscreen that is no longer clear, even after thorough cleaning? Rahim
Yes. Buy a new windscreen.The blur might be reduced by expert cleaning or an extremely fine rubbing compound like jeweller’s rouge, but it will never be absolutely clear again.
New glass has not been rubbed with anything. It starts life as a liquid as hot as fire, and as it cools its surface “sets” …without being touched. Set glass is extremely hard …harder than almost everything that might touch it because on every journey the windscreen faces a blizzard of tiny dirt particles that would quickly scour a softer material.
Particles that stick can be washed off with copious water, and wiped with a clean, soft cloth or rubber squeegee to restore clarity. But if the glass is not first rinsed (without rubbing), or the wiping cloth is not clean and soft, the dirt acts like very fine sandpaper, causing microscopic scratches on the surface of the glass.
Even though the glass material is still transparent, these scratches refract the light sideways instead of letting it all straight through.
The human eye sees that as a blur, initially too faint to notice but increasing with years of use and/or incorrect cleaning until it overtly impairs forward vision.
The only remedy is a new windscreen, which will be noticeably clearer even if the old one looked generally okay.
