How to Clean Car Mirrors
Cleaning your car mirrors is an easy process, but it’s important to use the correct equipment else you may make it worse by creating smears or worse still, scratch the glass.
Cleaning the Interior Mirror
Over time, your car’s internal mirror forms a residue film over it making it cloudy. Also, if more than one person drives the car, you may notice finger print marks on the glass if when adjusting the mirror, they’re not careful to avoid touching the glass.
The cloudy film and finger print smears are more noticeable at night. However, your internal rear view mirror is often easily cleaned. Simply keep a clean microfibre or ‘e-cloth’ in your car to clean the glass. These types of cloth are great at picking up grease and residue and do not leave smears. Unless the glass is heavily stained, wiping with a clean soft cloth and without detergent is usually sufficient.
Cleaning Watermarks off Car Door Mirrors
Water drops that are left to evaporate off of your car’s side mirrors can leave leave watermarks. These stains are the residue remains of hard water – an alkaline deposit that can be difficult to remove.
You need to be careful when cleaning the glass in your car door mirrors as some of them can easily scratch. Best to avoid harsh scrubbing, so instead you can dissolve the watermarks by using white vinegar. White vinegar is an acid base, is non-toxic and dissolves the alkaline watermarks.
How to Remove Ice from Car Mirrors
The glass in some car door mirrors is made from a thin film and can be easily scratched. If your door mirrors are covered in frost, it’s best to avoid scrapping them as it may result in damage.
The environmentally friendly way to melt the frost on your door mirror glass is to poor water over them. Ensure the water is lukewarm and not too hot and as soon as you’ve done melting the ice, use a soft microfibre cloth to dry the mirror to avoid it freezing again.
Alternatively, if you do not have a can of de-icer at hand, make your own. If you have some rubbing alcohol at hand, mix 2 parts alcohol to 1 part water into a spray bottle. You can also use this on your windows and windscreen.