Longest lasting solution for interior glass fogging?

Jean-Claude

Jean-Claude

Keeper of the beautiful
I am looking for a good solution for keeping interior glass from fogging up. The longer lasting the solution, the better.
 
Ron Ketcham said:
Do you mean, "after the car is detailed"?

Or some other situation/condition?
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Say someone gets into a vehicle in cool weather and are hot and sweaty. The condensation/fog generated is what I am trying to stop.
 
That humidity has to go somewhere.

A zillion years ago when I was in grade school, had to start wearing eye glasses.

I walked to school, and my glasses would fog up due to cold weather and my breath.

My teacher gave me a "tip", to take a small amount of Ivory soap and coat my glasses, polish them dry and clear.

Worked great until they got really wet and, well that would end the Ivory's abilities. Have recoat them.

I thought that perhaps you were having problems when you detailed a vehicle and in a few days the glass would "fog" due to the off gassing of the dressing in hot weather or such.

Dressings do that, heat makes the amino's off gas and that results in that light 'fog" on the glass.
 
Ron Ketcham said:
That humidity has to go somewhere.

A zillion years ago when I was in grade school, had to start wearing eye glasses.

I walked to school, and my glasses would fog up due to cold weather and my breath.

My teacher gave me a "tip", to take a small amount of Ivory soap and coat my glasses, polish them dry and clear.

Worked great until they got really wet and, well that would end the Ivory's abilities. Have recoat them.

I thought that perhaps you were having problems when you detailed a vehicle and in a few days the glass would "fog" due to the off gassing of the dressing in hot weather or such.

Dressings do that, heat makes the amino's off gas and that results in that light 'fog" on the glass.
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I understand that it still goes somewhere. There are antifog sprays for scuba diving and I imagine there is a suitable solution for automobiles.
 
Jean-Claude said:
I see rain x has something but I doubt it has any kind of real longevity.
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I have my doubt's that any one's coating will last very long.

If it were possible, there would be someone who would have brought it to market by now.
 
The rain-x fog-x stuff works ok, years ago when I tried it, I got about two weeks? I also was using a ton of armor all back then too. A less than spotless windshield makes for an easy fog target.
 
The majority of coatings basically work by leaving a surfactant residue which is transparent (or pretty close!). This residual layer, more or less, absorbs/dissolves in moisture. Just as when you spray a surfactant blend on the exterior, the water forms a flat sheet which spreads out as opposed to the likes of wax where the water balls up to give beads. This flat sheet provides limited or no optical distortion and thus you don't get fogging. Were you to apply rain-x (the water repellent kind), fogging would be made much worse. Anyhow, as you can gather, because the layer dissolves in the moisture, it is relatively short lived - the more moist the environment, the shorter the time it will last. This type of product is exemplified by the Car Pro Fogfight - it is silicone surfactants doing the job. As some have experienced, silicone surfactants are rather oil like which means you can often end up with a finish which almost appears to 'bloom' in multicolours when hit by light at certain angles.



This is not the only way to do it but it is the most simple and economical. There are a very few product out there which claim to be long lasting but I cannot claim to have tested. I know of one particular solution and have no reason to doubt the claims but logistical reasons (notably export restrictions) mean that I have not investigated it further. So fogfight is the only product I could name for you which I know to work. Just remember that it is not the easiest product to apply (although supposedly this has improved) and it will not last more than a few weeks if you are in a moist environment.
 
Jean-Claude said:
Say someone gets into a vehicle in cool weather and are hot and sweaty. The condensation/fog generated is what I am trying to stop.
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Running the AC compressor is the only thing that I found that works 100% of the time. It pulls that humidity out of the cabin. If it is cold outside simply adjust the temp of the air to compensate and yes that often means running the compressor with the temp on hot so in effect running the AC and the heater at the same time
 
Condensation is the dampness formed when air laden with water vapour is cooled by contact with a cold surface. If warm moist air is cooled by a cold surface, such as auto glass, it is then no longer able to hold the same amount of water vapour. The air-borne moisture turns into droplets of water and collects on the cold surface.



If there is condensation on the glass, use the vehicles heating and / or air conditioning to remove the moisture. Moist cold air and damp towels will exacerbate the moisture making it pretty much impossible to clean glass surfaces.



For severe out gassing or the removal of stubborn grime; spray the glass surface (otherwise you are diluting the product strength) with 1:10 solution distilled water /Isopropyl alcohol and wipe with a clean cloth and the result is a crystal clear finish.



Carpro Fogfight will work on a clean DRY glass surface but if the film is touched (disturbed) it ceases working. I understand the mfg are revising the formula
 
TOGWT said:
If there is condensation on the glass, use the vehicles heating and / or air conditioning to remove the moisture. Moist cold air and damp towels will exacerbate the moisture making it pretty much impossible to clean glass surfaces.



For severe out gassing or the removal of stubborn grime; spray the glass surface (otherwise you are diluting the product strength) with 1:10 solution distilled water /Isopropyl alcohol and wipe with a clean cloth and the result is a crystal clear finish.

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I'm clearly going to have to get products over to your side of the ocean - half the year we have very moist air and cold surfaces! Logically, the condensation is in fact the cleanest kind of water you can get (it is chemically the same as distilled water). The only thing it should do it dilute the product you use, so dry the surface roughly and then clean. With the moist air and potential for more condensation, it is all the more important that you have a decent glass cleaner which will dry without streaks - it has become a sad norm that surfaces need polished and buffed to ensure there are no streaks, something which is not necessary with the right product.



IPA/water blends are not really all that good for cleaning. I know a lot of people use them but the most critical part with such a use is the cloth - more often than not, the cloth is doing the job. It is more or less essential to have a small surfactant component in a glass cleaner. IPA can help to dissolve some oils and greases but it has nothing in the way of lubrication, no dirt suspension capacity, will not stop redeposition and combined with the lack of emulsification power, tends to just move dirt from one place to another. As I said, the right cloth can tend to negate this but so can the right product. A well formulated glass cleaner will cut through dirt better than your IPA blend and will give a great finish whether you use a high quality microfibre or a paper towel from the public restrooms. If it doesn't, I am afraid that the glass cleaner isn't doing its job properly.
 
[IPA/water blends are not really all that good for cleaning]



Most glass cleaners contain IPA and a large percentage of water



Water contact angle measurements (hydrophilic => 0 Degrees, hydrophobic > 90 degrees) are used to evaluate hydrophilic coatings. There are also super hydrophilic molecules, which have special applications. An example is titanium dioxide; water dropped onto titanium dioxide has almost no contact angle. Super hydrophilic materials act as excellent glass defoggers and enable oil spots to be washed away with water. These substances are being used today in car door mirrors, window coatings, and building coatings.



There are a few decent class cleaning towels avalable-



a) Optimum Glass Towel- that is also lint free and cleans glass without chemicals, making glass cleaner chemicals virtually obsolete, slightly dampen the towel with distilled water and the results will be crystal clear



b) Ultra-51 Glass Towel- It has no nap, making it very similar to a Blue Huck Surgical Towels but with the added benefit o micro fibre technology – Towels by Dr Joe



c) Norwex Glass Cleaning micro fibre towel - this 18” x 18” glass cleaning cloth has a super tight knit, lint free, cross-weave construction traps and collects water and is so effective (use damp) at cleaning glass that often a glass cleaning chemical (Stoner’s Invisible Glass) isn't even necessary. It features a very low-pile cut in a zigzag pattern, which literally attracts and removes off gassing, residue, smudges and oily fingerprints. Its efficient cleaning action is truly a time saver – Norwex Cleaning Supplies



Amongst others
 
TOGWT said:
Most glass cleaners contain IPA and a large percentage of water
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Chimps are 99% identical to humans in terms of their DNA - it is that 1% which make a difference. I know well what is in glass cleaners but I can guarantee you that the additional small % makes the difference between a poor glass cleaner and a market leader.



TOGWT said:
Water contact angle measurements (hydrophilic => 0 Degrees, hydrophobic > 90 degrees) are used to evaluate hydrophilic coatings. There are also super hydrophilic molecules, which have special applications. An example is titanium dioxide; water dropped onto titanium dioxide has almost no contact angle. Super hydrophilic materials act as excellent glass defoggers and enable oil spots to be washed away with water. These substances are being used today in car door mirrors, window coatings, and building coatings.
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Yes, you are right that titania is used in some of these things but predominantly at fabrication stage. Aftermarket products, which are really the only ones of consequence on a forum such as this, typically use alternative techniques and in fact titania can be used for entirely different reasons. Theory needs treated with care otherwise it can mislead.



Also keep note that the accepted demarkation for hydrophillicity is not 0 degrees, such a surface would be an ideal super hydrophillic surface.
 
Obviously, we wouldn't use it, but supposedly, there is something in potato juice that stops glass from fogging.

I read that in some Ferrari magazine (Cavallino?) in the mid-'90's, in an article on racing in the 60's.
 
Concourswanna b said:
Obviously, we wouldn't use it, but supposedly, there is something in potato juice that stops glass from fogging.

I read that in some Ferrari magazine (Cavallino?) in the mid-'90's, in an article on racing in the 60's.
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You might be surprised about the source of some of the ingredients in your products!
 
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