As I drove off today the windscreen was particuarly smeary.

Normally a spray of holts screenies together with the windscreen wash clears all the grime but to no avail this time and as I was in a hurry I had to drive off.

On route to my destination, by luck, a seagull flew over and deposited its business all over my windscreen. Applied the windscreen wash to get rid of it and hey presto all the smears were gone. What is the ingredient that has cut through the grime to clean the windscreen?

I did use the Holts foam spray smear remover stuff but can't seem to get hold of it anymore.

I think there is a budget version sometimes available in Lidl however.

I used to get Holts mixtra as it was now known as screenies from Halfords. They don't seem to stock it anymore although on e-mailing Holts they advise me they do.

I eventually stocked up on a few bottles at Pellings (theres a few branches in the south east - don't know about nationwide) - my nearest branch being about 20 miles away or so - I got their details from Holts too.

try holts e-mail address at [email protected] for information about stockists in your area. I think you can also buy by the case (12) from them if you know anyone else who would be interested in your area:

Holts Screenies

CONTAINER

200ML AEROSOL

PRODUCT CODE

SH8

BAR CODE

5 010218 327986

CASE QUANTITY

12

In relation to the seagull incident, i reckon the bird's secret ingredient was acid - remember the old windolene / ajax / vinegar method of cleaning household windows before the modern trigger packs of wondergoo ?

Maybe there's a lesson there - if detergent doesn't shift the smears on you'screen, try rubbing it with a mild acid like vinegar and wash off with water !

As I drove off today the windscreen was particuarly smeary.

Normally a spray of holts screenies together with the windscreen wash clears all the grime but to no avail this time and as I was in a hurry I had to drive off.

On route to my destination, by luck, a seagull flew over and deposited its business all over my windscreen. Applied the windscreen wash to get rid of it and hey presto all the smears were gone. What is the ingredient that has cut through the grime to clean the windscreen?

Bird muck is apparently acidic and corrosive - if you get on paintwork - get it off fast.

BTW - screenwash -used to get Clearalex in years gone by -apparently Halfrauds are supposed to sell it - but haven't found one yet that does.

Seagull did direct hit to windscreen so didn't get onto paintwork - though mine has a tst 5000 protective covering that makes it easier to keep clean

Yes I used to use Clearalex in my old car but eventually couldn't get it at Halfords either.

With the Octavia though I have to use the skoda stuff as the car has fan jets - don't rate the skoda stuff as much as the clearalex though

Yes I used to use Clearalex in my old car but eventually couldn't get it at Halfords either.

My dad likes that stuff, the packs with powder don't seem to be available anymore. I have seen a concentrated version though.