Bilt Hamber Trace Less Glass Cleaner is a glass cleaner with no streaks, made for the inside and outside of your car windows. You mist a fine coat onto cool glass, wipe it off wet with a waffle weave cloth and buff dry with a suede microfibre cloth. According to the manufacturer, the formula evaporates completely, leaves no residue and does not damage quality glass sealants or rain repellents.
Why does Bilt Hamber Trace Less behave differently from an ordinary window spray, even if you are just after a trace-less glass cleaner? The answer is the formula: super-wetting ingredients that spread quickly over the glass and disappear as it dries, with no soap, perfume or dye left behind as a haze. Below you will find the key facts and the routine we follow in the workshop.
Key facts about Trace Less
Item | What you need to know |
|---|---|
Size | 1 litre and 5 litres |
Type | Ready-to-use glass cleaner (spray) |
Suitable for | Exterior and interior glass, windows, mirrors, aluminium and chrome trim |
Safe on glass sealants | Does not damage quality glass sealants or rain repellents (per the manufacturer) |
Abrasive | No |
Recommended cloth | Waffle weave cloth and suede microfibre cloth |
How to use Trace Less for streak-free glass
Shake and pick your moment. Shake the bottle well and work on cool glass out of the sun. Warm glass dries the product too fast and leaves marks. Tip: park in the shade or in the workshop.
Grab clean cloths. Use lint-free cloths that were washed without fabric softener. Softener stays in the fibres and smears over the glass later. Tip: keep dedicated cloths for glass and do not mix them with your paint cloths.
Mist the outside thinly. Spray a fine, even coat on the window and avoid overspray on paint and plastic. Tip: more product does not give a better result, a light mist is enough.
Wipe the window while wet. Wipe with a waffle weave cloth while the glass is still damp and turn the cloth often to a clean side. Then buff dry. Tip: work in set strokes from top to bottom.
Do the inside separately. Spray onto the cloth instead of the window so nothing lands on the dashboard. Wipe the glass and turn the cloth often. Tip: the inside is often dirtier because of plastics outgassing, so start with a fresh cloth.
Finish with suede microfibre. Mist the window once more, very lightly, and wipe with a suede microfibre cloth for a smooth, smear-free finish. Tip: look across the glass against the light to find the last marks.
Which cloths suit Trace Less
The manufacturer recommends a waffle weave cloth and a suede microfibre cloth. A good waffle weave for glass is the Chemical Guys Glass Window Waffle Weave Towel. As a glass-specific 35 x 35 cm cloth, the Shiny Garage Glass Cloth also works well. To see why GSM and colour matter, read our guide to microfibre cloths.
Common mistakes with a streak-free glass cleaner
Working in full sun or on warm glass, so the product dries before you can wipe it.
Using too much product. A light mist is enough and wipes off more easily.
Washing cloths with fabric softener or storing them next to paint care products.
Carrying on with a cloth that is already full of dirt. Turn it over or take a fresh one.
Trying to polish stubborn deposits off the glass with a cleaner alone. For limescale, wiper film or old sealant residue, polish the glass first.
What to combine with Trace Less
If a deposit stays on the window, polish the glass first with Bilt Hamber Re-View Glass Polish. It is an active glass polish for untinted glass, not for tinted glass. Then finish with Trace Less for a clean, clear window. How to deal with wiper marks and haze is covered in our guide to polishing car glass. For limescale, read removing water spots and limescale. More choice for your windows is in the glass cleaners category.
A general routine for all windows is in our guide to cleaning car glass without streaks. If you want a dedicated glass towel set for the second step, look at the Koch Chemie Pro Glass Towel X2: a blue cloth for cleaning and a grey cloth for buffing dry.