I have a suggestion for you.

Clean the windscreen really well in the normal way. With the screen slightly moist, get some newspaper screwed into a ball and give thge screen a good hard rub all over. If you look carefully, you will see the smears disappearing as you rub harder, changing for a fresh bit of newspaper as required.

Then remove the wiper blades. and give each blade a good wash with neat washing up liquid in the sink.

If this doesn't help significantly I'll be very surprised. You can also use a tiny amount of vinegar on the screen/paper also.

Most of the smears on the windscreen are a mixture of unburned diesel mist from lorries, and silicon wax residue from car polishing etc I think.

I use washing up liquid (it says it leaves glasses gleaming) then i jet wash the screen with a decent pressure (not to high). I then dry the screen with kitchen roll then a buff with news paper. I also wash the blades in washing up liquid then clean water. I wonder if car washes and cleaning the car leaves a residue that causes this smearing. Like you I tried loads of cleaning products and different types of blades before I settled for this method.

Now thats a coincidence. I also use the same wash wax (also a Focus with heated front screen). I don't wipe the screen with the same sponge. I follow the procedure I listed earlier. I know what you mean about it being really frustrating at night.

Like Willow and others I have got the same problem but on a Peugeot 307. I thought it was the wiper rubbers at first but new ones made no difference. I have tried everythging mentioned so far in the other posts plus Isopropyl Alchohol and jewellers rouge made into a paste with meths. Absolutely no improvement.

It seems that for the first few wipes of the blade it is reasonably OK but then it starts to smear and then gets progressively worse. I would have expected an immediate smearing if the screen was contaminated but perhaps it is a chemical reaction with water and whatever is on the screen.

I've been to the local Autoglass depot who couldn't suggest anything else to try. They couldn't think what could be causing the problem. What I do know is that I'm not very happy going out in the rain at night.

In desparation I might try a very small area on the passenger side using either brasso or T-cut and see what happens. It can't get any worse. I'll keep you posted.

I'm pretty sure it can't be the screen weash or the shampoo that I use as I've been using both for some time on previous cars with no problems at all. My only thought was that the previous owner, who is not now contactable, used something on the screen. Another thought is has the whole car been treated with a paintwork preserver that was sprayed on and went on the glass as well. A wild thought but you never know.

Surely there must be a glass expert out there somewhere who can give us the solution, other than a new windscreen.

John M

Hi

I just wanted to write to say I have a Ford Focus 2006 and am having exactly the same problem. No matter what i try to clear this problem nothing works. It will for a very short period of time but if it is raining a lot and am travelling the screen gets worse while driving it. I the same cannot drive the car at night in the rain, I thought it was my eyesight at first but not. I am very close to replacing the windscreen as I get pannicky now if I have a planned journey when it is raining.

It starts off as a lacey effect and eventually by using wipers it blends into one smear as if it is really foggy, and with motorway driving in rain with lorries etc, it is lethal.

I am going to contact a windscreen specialist NOT Autoglass to see what they have to say but unfortunately they cannot see it unless it is raining as otherwise screen looks really clear.

Lauraj

I came across this thread after experiencing smears with the windscreen of my Ford Focus MK2 (2005-).

Essentially, after the wiperblade goes over the front windscreen it leaves a smear / lacey patten on the windscreen which reduces visibilty considerably (by maybe 30-70%).

I find that it is worse in cold weather, when just setting off in the morning. Turning on the heated windscreen helps, but then why should I need to whenever it rains? And it uses more fuel if I keep turning it on.

I suspected that this problem started after I accidently used Turtlewax/Car Shampoo on the windscreen (thought it was just shampoo when I grabbed it from the shelf in the garage), but the problem may have existed before then, I wasn't 100% sure.

So I started by trying to remove the wax from the windscreen. I tried various things; Meths, Vinegar, Holts screenwash (mentioned on this thread) and a green scouer, but none of them made any difference at all.

I also tested if it was due to the screenwash by placing a couple of pebbles on the bonnet to block the squirters, then pooring water on the screen and using the wipers, but the problem still ocurred.

Logically, this just left the wipers as the only option... I inspected them and they looked fine, even so I cleaned them with vinager, but it made no difference. I was putting off replacing the wipers because of the cost, but in the end I had no option.

I purchased a pair of Bosch wipers from Kwik Fit and tested them straightaway, and it seemed to completely solve the problem, no more smears! I actually took the wipers back within 5 minutes of testing them because one was 1" too short, leaving a small triangle of the screen.

TIP: If purchasing Bosch wipers for your Focus II, get the twin aero pack designed for the Ford Focus, they are the correct lengths and are designed just like the original Ford wipers (the ones Kwik Fit fitted didn't look quite right). Code: A978S.

This was only half the story, as although things were a lot better with the new Bosch wipers, I noticed that on setting off in the morning, I had mist/fog on the exterior of the windscreen (!). It would apppear when the wiper blade goes across and disappear quickly (even in warm weather). The problem was that if you had the wiper blades on fast setting, the fog would still be there between wiper-blade cycles. This resulted in a reduced visibility of around 20-30%, so there was obviously still a problem.

This time I went back to the possibiliy of there being a problem with the surface of the windscreen that none of the methods used had resolved. My theory was that a layer of wax (or other contaminent) existed that altered the property of the glass, changing the way water vapour condensated on the window (and after the wiper blade passes), causing smaller droplets to form. Another idea I had was that water was getting trapped in the very fine scratches that have built-up over the years, then evaporating very quickly after the wiper passes.

I was going to just accept it and assume that eventually the layer of wax would come off with time.

But I was walking through LIDL the other day looking through the hardware section and came across an electric machine polisher, designed for cars/boats/caravans etc. Just £15, what a bargain! I bought it.

I also bought some triplewax glass Polish from Halfords, I chose this as it claims to contain a mild abrasive (and that it can remove light scratches, a dubious claim!).

As a test, I polished the drivers side of the screen using this polisher/polish for 30 minutes. It didn't remove any scratches, but I wasn't really expecting it to, just to remove the wax/residue from the surface of the screen.

Anyway.. on testing the results were impressive. I drove out and turned on the AC to cool down the screen to enourage condensation on the outside (as would happen on a cold morning).

The side that I had polished had virtually no condensation build-up (or if it was there it appeard as a thin transparent layer of water). But on the unplolished side small droplets of water quickly started to appear in a kind of smeared way, reducing visibility by around 80% (very dangerious!). Using the wipers cleared it brielfy, but it reappeared on the unpolished side.

I took photos where you can see the difference, but there doesn't appear to be anyway to attach them to this post. Once I work out a way I will put them up here.

In summary, the two causes of the smears in my case turned out to be:

1. The wipers were wornout.
2. A layer of wax (or other contaminent) existed on the surface on the windscreen (which was very hard to remove).

The only other possibility was that the wiper fluid became contaminated e.g. with, to be sure I have replaced this with fresh premixed washer fluid, just in case.

1. LIDL Polishing machine £15
2. Polish £5
3. Wipers £40
4. Windscreen wash (5L): £4
5. TOTAL £64

Well worth the money, especially as it is a safety issue and winter is approaching.

I hope that my (somewhat detailed LOL) summary of how I solved the problem may be useful to other people reading this thread...

Thanks,

Bruce.

Edited by Redbruce on 28/10/2012 at 19:04

I suffered for years with smearing windscreens. I used every glass cleaner under the sun but nothing would stop the smear until....I decided that perhaps it was a build up of limescale. I live in a very hard-water area and limescale builds up on everything to do with water.

So I soaked a towel in vinager and left it on the windscreen for an hour or so. Then I gave the screen a vigourous rubbing and hey presto, I now have a crystal-clear windscreen and NO MORE smear.

Edited by johnaerial on 17/12/2013 at 21:08

Hi all. Had same problem on a 2005 Passat. Smearing on widscreen where the nearside wiper stops and changes direction, leaving a band about an inch wide. Tried everything, including T-cut (gently) and MIR Clear Mist Glass Cleaner, nothing would shift it. Then found this thread and tried 'Barkeepers Friend' as advised here. Cleared it straight away - fantastic stuff!

This problem seemed to start when I switched to Michelin Stealth blades from Bosch Aero. Had something of a similar problem once with the Bosch blades but it turned out to be the screenwash that was the problem.

I've been experiencing the same problem with BRAND NEW windscreens (yes, more than one, and more than one supplier/installer as well) recently, and have spent far FAR too much time trying to convince windscreen installers there is a problem, and trying to find a fix. Now, I've just bought a brand new car, and it has the same problem as well, on all exterior glass surfaces except for the side mirrors. (I didn't buy the new car because of the windscreen problems - I'll leave out all the history as it is not important).

As a few others have said, jewellers rouge (cerium oxide) is working well. (thank God!). The stuff I am using comes as a powder, and it is mixed with water to form a paste. I use a thin piece of moistened cloth, and rub VERY firmly, with both hands pushing down on a small area of the cloth. (I sort of scrunch it up a bit to make it easier to hold on to).

I haven't tried "Barkeepers Friend" yet - from the sounds of it that would probably work too.

FWIW, I learnt about cerium oxide from a retired glass polishing professional that I used to fix the problem on one of the replacement windscreens. He said new glass comes with some kind of plastic coating on it. I'm not sure whether he''s correct about this, but with my brand new car, it certainly looked and felt like that could be the case. As I was rubbing on the cerium oxide paste, at first it was very smooth, but when clean, there was some resistance to the rubbing motion. It's as if the coating was very smooth plastic, but the clean glass tended to "grab" a bit.

Here's a video of a half done windscreen. (this is not from my new car - it's from another windscreen) that I took, looking into bright lights, and spraying water on the windscreen:
bit.ly/2lPm9BH
EDIT: The difference perhaps doesn't look quite as dramatic when I move the camera more to the centre - I probably ought to have tried to have the split right in the centre, so that one light was on the "before" half, and one light was on the "after" half.

This is quite a serious safety problem IMHO.

One other thing. One of the windscreen installers tried cerium oxide, but I don't think they used it effectively - I don't think they rubbed it in firmly enough. (I watched them do it). They just gently smeared it over the windscreen.

Edited by GregS2 on 27/02/2017 at 21:31

And...I've b*****ed my windscreen. (yes, on my brand new car) When I went for a drive, I noticed that I still hadn't got *all* the film off, on areas that I had done with the cerium oxide. To make my job easier, I decided to try a small and hard implement, to focus a lot of energy on to a small area. I did half of my windscreen using this "technique", and that half is now covered in very fine scratches, with a few deep ones as well. In no way do I blame the cerium oxide - I blame the ridiculous implement I used. I can't believe I did so much without checking my progress as I went. I should have tested it on a small area of the rear window first.

So don't get over confident like I did. The windscreen is not invincible.

I still maintain that using a thin cloth (I'm using a piece of thin T-shirt), just by hand, with the cerium oxide, does work well.

Try my method here:

https://youtu.be/Ru0eyjGcI9c

Help! for I am slowly going nuts. I can't stop my wipers leaving a smear on my windscreen, a smear which instantly disappears when the wipers are switch off.

I have tried various glass cleaners, even white vinegar - none work. Cleaning the blades, which have just been replaced to try and solve the problem leaves an black mark on kitchen towel, a black mark, that no matter how may times I clean the blade does not diminish. Am I rubbing something away on the blade that I should not?

Any suggestions other than more cleaning products would be gratefully received.

WD40 worked for me the smearing was doing my head in.

Get a good thick sock spray loads of WD40 give it some elbow grease wipe off then clean off with soapy water clean wipers too.

People think WD40 is oil based but it is a Solvent and will remove sap, oil, rubber, diesel tar and many other stubborn ptoblems.

Hope this helped and you can get back to feeling safe driving in the rain at night.