The view ahead

That's a whole lot of window cleaning products for such a small windshield!

Besides being the first Mazda I've ever owned and the first 2-seater, my new MX-5 Miata is also my first convertible. I expect I will learn several lessons around convertible ownership over time. For example, one thing I picked up reading some threads is that even if I feel comfortable leaving the top down somewhere while I go eat a meal, do some shopping, etc., there is a threat from outside things getting into the car other than to steal. E.g. birds crapping on my seats!!! So I need to be prepared for stuff like that if I decide to park it with the top down.

During the first week of ownership, one surprising thing I discovered is that the windshield has a tendency to fog up even with the top down. Which for me, is rather annoying as I really like my windshield to be crystal clear as possible. In fact, I probably tend to get a little bit OCD-ish when it comes to the windshield. With my MINI, the windshield was so pitted for so long, I kind of gave up. But now I am back to trying to figure out how to keep things clean so I can see a clear view ahead.

These have been my "tried and true"
products for a few years now.

For years I have used a combination of either Sprayway glass cleaner or Stoner's Invisible Glass. However, I have increasingly been having problems with microfiber clothes leaving little bits behind, which drive me crazy. This has become abundantly apparent in the Miata, which in turn set me off on a mission to find some new products and a protocol for keeping the front windshield as clear as possible.

First up, I decided to try some Meguire's glass cleaner. That had about the same result as the Stoner's and Sprayway - mostly works, but still trapping bits of the microfiber on the glass. And it really doesn't do anything about the glass fogging up.

Ran across this at the store, so decided to give it a try.

My next step was to do some work on prepping the glass to remove any remnants from while it was sitting on the car lot. To start off, I used some Ceriglass product to try to really clean the exterior of the windshield. Ceriglass is a cleaner/treatment I had tried on my MINI to address all the chips. After applying it to the Miata, I could tell a definite improvement as my microfiber was no longer dragging across the glass.

I bought this to try to do some correction of the pitting on my MINI windshield. That did not work (nothing ever did). For the Miata, it did seem to work pretty well as a prep to really clean the glass before applying Rain-X.

Against my better judgment (based on experiences from years ago) I decided my next step would be to give Rain-X a try on both the interior and exterior. On the exterior I wanted to go with the classic Rain-X treatment and for the interior they have an anti-fog product. Both have some specific instructions to follow for application. The problem I always had in the past with Rain-X was it leaving a film. In general it was not noticeable until it started raining and then the wiper blades would push it around.

The Rain-X family of products.

My initial reaction to the Rain-X products this go round was that they generally worked as advertised. Interior fogging is definitely reduced/eliminated and I can tell the exterior was repelling water. Unfortunately, a haze returned after a few days on both the exterior and interior. This means I have been spending lots of time cleaning and re-cleaning the windshield on both the exterior and interior. If there has been any positive, it is that the surfaces are decently well treated so the clean up goes quickly.

Still, this is bothering the heck out of me. When I purchased the Rain-X repellent and anti-fog, I decided to also grab some Rain-X window cleaner for these regular cleanings thinking it might help to stay with the same product family. Because they infuse some of their repellent in the cleaner, this seemed to only introduce an additional film to the exterior of the windshield.

Currently rocking Zep and some Magic Erasers.

At this point, when the windshield is clean, it is definitely clean and it does a good job in the rain of letting water just fly right off. However, I seem to have made no progress with regard to the haze that keeps reappearing. The latest experiment involves some Magic Eraser pads and Zep Glass Cleaner to clean the exterior. I also got some cloth towels (as opposed to microfiber). The results have been mixed. The cloth towels seem to work a little better on the interior when I just wipe the glass down dry. On the exterior with the cleaners, it seems to make a mess and push things around. The magic eraser pad helped with that, but I'm fearful that is stripping off the Rain-X repellent - I'll find out the next time it rains.

Anyway, it is all very frustrating for me.