Let's face it. We all love a beautifully detailed car, from flawless & swirl-free paint to steak-free, crystal-clear glass. In many cases, achieving streak-free glass is as difficult, if not more difficult, than burnishing a show-car-quality finish onto your paint.
Not to mention, after a long day of detailing, the last thing any of us wants to do is struggle with 20 square feet of glass....
Enter Autopia's newest glass care product:
Wolfstein's Zap Cloth.
Wolfstein's Zap Cloth is made from a cheesecloth-like fiber known as Zezo-Fiber, which is unlike any other towel I have ever used in automotive detailing. Being over 200 times thinner then human hair, the Wolfstein's Zap Cloth claims to be able to clean your windows steak-free, using
just water.
Being that my Mazdaspeed3 has had to serve daily driver duty for the last month, and the windows were trashed with highway mileage and frequent rainstorms, I wanted to put this towel to the test.
Note: The first time you use the Zap Cloth, make sure to rinse it thoroughly under running water. There is a chemical leftover from manufacturing that may cause streaking on the first use if it is not rinsed away completely.
The description for the Zap Cloth claims streak-free glass quickly & easily. It doesn't specify how dirty of glass it will clean so I wanted to put it to the test.
"Simply wipe the glass with a damp towel"... No way could it be that easy, or could it?!
As I mentioned above (the pictures demonstrate), the glass was trashed. I found that the towel did an outstanding job at quickly removing road oil, dirt and even bug splatter (from the windshield).... However, because the glass was so dirty it would leave a light dirt streak...
The solution was to quickly re-wipe the area using the clean, still damp side.
IF the towel is too wet, you get very light little water spots... However, I did not touch them, and to my amazement, they dried COMPLETELY CLEAR!!!
I quickly did my whole car (by this time the towel was soiled) and took a picture of the side glass to show how streak free it was!!!
General Observations:
- Product works as described.
- Make sure to rinse thoroughly before first use.
- Make sure your final wipe is done with a "just damp" towel that leaves a streak pattern no greater than the above streaky picture.
- While I didn't experience it, I would imagine a "too wet" towel could leave streaks.
- This was the fastest & easiest way I have ever cleaned glass.
- Works perfect on interior glass, although you may want to dedicate a wetter first wipe, wring out extremely well, and do a barely damp second wipe.
Personal Observation/Analysis:
The Wolfstein's Zap Cloth will immediately be added to my detailing arsenal, but it will NOT replace a traditional glass cleaner? Why? I'm glad I asked...
Because, using the Zap Cloth on my dirty windows quickly soiled it. It can be washed and reused in the same manner microfiber towels can, but once soiled to this level, it quickly loses effectiveness.
Instead, I will use it as a "final wipe" to ensure streak free glass, after removing any soiling and heavy oil build up with a traditional glass cleaner. You will save time in the cleaning step by trying to buff the glass to a crystal clear finish. Simply clean well, get it relatively streak-free, then quickly wipe with the Zap Cloth for a perfect, easy-to-achieve finish every time!
Of course, you would use this towel after washing the car (and thus removing all the soiling) to get streak-free windows every time, adding just moments to your regular wash routine.