Care of the Galaxy Windows

The windows in our BT's are made of acrylic plastic and are fairly vunerable to scratching and because scratching is hard to repair (not impossible) it's best not to scratch them in the first place. Most damage is caused by poor washing technique over time leading to fine swirl scratches. It becomes most apparent when in sunlight.
The windows probably havent been in the field long enough yet to be severely marked but some might be well on their way.

A few hints for their care...

The worst thing to do is wipe them with a damp chamois ..... driving down a dirt road the windows get covered in grit and wiping them over with a chamois catches this grit between surface and chamois. Because the chamois has a smooth surface the grit has no where to go and is moved across the surface scratching the surface.

Any sort of "dry" wiping will eventually mark the surface. Leave it until you have access to water or best ... a hose.

To clean the windows with no or least amount of marking a lubricant needs to be used to release and remove grit. That lubricant can be water/detergent mix, a good glass cleaner (need too much), plain water is better than nothing.
I always leave the windows on a trip and wash them on return for this reason. This might not be practical for most because of the extended trips BTs' seem to do.

If you have access to hose you can remove 90% of grit with a good blast preferably from above window in a downward direction therefore removing most of the grit even before you rub it. The whole van will benefit removing as much grit as possible before rubbing any painted surface when washing.

To wash them on a trip I'd use a bucket and nappy (because of the loop pile it doesnt trap the grit at suface so rubs less grit across surface as you wipe. Use a good quality neutral Ph carwash liquid in the water. Dont apply to much pressure when wiping just enough to remove grit and clean surface. Rinse off well if possible.

Now that window is free of grit you can wipe over to remove water marks and minerals from water on surface.
I use a clean dry nappy and a product called Meguiars No Smear Glass Cleaner. It has no ammonia in it, does not leave streaks and is tint safe. I use it on the car windows ... works very well. Even though the cleaner is tint safe be very careful of the material used to wipe a window with tinting.

If after time your windows look quite marked they can be fixed by buffing with specialist products Meguiars carry. It is used on Aircraft windows which are "Plastic" (Lexan). Dont attempt to do this without contacting Meguiars for specialist advice about removing scratches from plastic. It's best left to someone experienced with plastic buffing.

Anthony