If you require a quick answer, the best screen wash is the Holts Professional, which is a concentrated formula that’s suitable for all-season use and comes in a large 5-litre bottle. However, if you require a pre-mixed solution, the CarPlan ASW055 is the best option that can be poured straight into the reservoir.
To rate the screen washes within this article, we based our recommendations on testing, the latest research and several factors. The factors we considered included their type, seasonal use, freezing point, effectiveness and value for money.
Best Screen Wash Overview
- Best Overall: Holts Professional
- Best Pre-Mixed: CarPlan ASW055
- Best Quality: Autoglym Quick Clear
- Best Winter: Prestone Extreme Performance
- Most Effective: Sonax Xtreme Clear View
- Best Booster: CarPlan Demon Shot
Below is a list of the best screen washes that leave a streak-free finish and effectively clean dead insects, traffic film, grime and other dirt upon your windshield.
The Best Screen Wash
1. Best Overall: Holts Concentrate Car Screen Wash
By far one of the most popular screen washes in the UK is the Holts Concentrate formula, which is suitable for all-year round usage. The brand state that it’s a professional-grade formula that provides an intense clean and quickly removes stubborn dirt, traffic film and dead bugs.
- Concentrated formula that's easy to pour into the reservoir
- High visibility with no streaks
- During testing, we were impressed by its anti-glare qualities
- Melts ice and suitable for extreme temperatures
- Only comes in a 5 litre bottle which may be difficult to store in the car
To conclude, the Holts Concentrated screen wash is an excellent all-round option that’s affordable and provides great performance all year round. For the best cleaning results whilst using this screen wash, the brand recommends a 50/50 dilution in the winter and a 25/1 dilution in the summer.
2. Best Pre-Mixed: CarPlan All Season Screen Wash
If you don’t want to dilute any solution, the CarPlan screen wash is the best option. It’s a ready-mixed formula that simply pours straight from the bottle into your windscreen washer reservoir and is ready to use straight away.
In terms of its formulation, it’s blended from a high-powered concentrate which the brand states provides superior cleaning power. Unlike many of the cheaper alternatives, it also doesn’t contain harsh detergents or salts.
- Bright streak-free finish
- Quickly removes dirt, grime and insects
- Suitable for all seasons
- -4°C freezing point
- Relatively expensive when compared to the alternatives
Overall, the CarPlan screen wash is one of the best ready-mixed formulas that provides excellent cleaning power and a streak-free finish. Although more expensive than some of the alternative ready-mixed formulas, it provides superior cleaning properties that you will notice straightaway.
3. Best Quality: Autoglym Quick Clear
Autoglym is a highly reputable brand in the detailing industry but they also produce a range of other products such as this screen wash. It’s a concentrated solution with a high dilution rate and comes in a convenient 500 ml bottle.
- High dilution rate
- During testing, we found that it instantly removes dirt
- Inhibits smearing of insect remains
- Suitable for all year use
- Antifreeze to -45°C
- Most expensive per litre within our roundup
Although expensive, the Autoglym Quick Clear is highly effective at tackling bugs and bird droppings on your windshield. The smaller bottle also makes it ideal for storing in the car when you need it.
4. Best Winter: Prestone Extreme Performance
Prestone is a highly reputable brand that produces a wide range of screen washes that are specific to certain scenarios. This Extreme Performance solution is their new and improved formula, which is designed to melt ice down to –18°C, which is ideal for the cold winter months.
- Streak-free finish
- Melts ice down to -18°C
- Instantly removes bugs and dirt
- Easy pour 1 litre bottle
- New and improved formula
- Primarily designed for use during the winter as opposed to the summer
To conclude, the Prestone Extreme Performance is the best winter screen wash that’s able to melt ice down to -18°C. It does come with a premium price tag but the brand state that it does go a long way when diluted correctly.
5. Most Effective: Sonax Xtreme Clear View
Sonax is another brand that produces a wide range of screen washes but the Xtreme Clear View is by far their most popular. Although it’s a small 250 ml bottle, it’s still able to produce up to 25 litres of screen wash.
- Fresh fragrance
- Highly concentrated formula
- Easily removes bug splatter
- Easy to store 250 ml bottle
- Needs to be diluted correctly for the best results
Overall, the Sonax Xtreme Clear View is an excellent all-round screen wash that’s perfect for summer use. The brand also states that it’s ideal for use as a headlight washer too.
6. Best Booster: CarPlan Demon Shot Additive
Another screen wash by CarPlan is the Demon Shot, which is a powerful nanometric formulation with a distinctive cherry fragrance. According to the brand, per 500 ml bottle, it’s able to produce up to 25 litres of screen wash.
Unlike many of the alternatives, you can simply use this formula as a booster to the current solution within your reservoir.
- Refreshes the existing screen wash
- Desirable cherry fragrance
- Boosts the freezing point
- Easy to pour 500 ml bottle
- -65 degrees Celsius freezing point when used neat
- Needs to be diluted correctly for the best results
The Demon Shot by CarPlan is an excellent screen wash that can be used to boost the current solution as and when required. It also has a distinctive and powerful cherry fragrance, which is another great bonus of this formula.
How We Rated
After several years of driving, we have tried and tested a variety of screen washes from multiple reputable brands. During our testing, we judged the screen wash’s ability to clear the screen as well as the scent that it left behind.
To keep up our commitment to reviewing and testing the latest screen washes (for this article), we are continually testing the latest formulas from top brands in the UK. This means that when we notice a brand has released a new and improved screen wash, we will attempt to buy it and put it to the test (where applicable).
Below is a video we posted on our YouTube channel that shows us testing one of the screen washes. As you can see, it takes less than a minute to top up the screen wash and the bottle on this particular screen wash had an “easy-pour” spout that made pouring in the formula far easier and less messy.
As well as testing and our experience of using multiple screen washes, we also based our recommendations on the latest research and a number of factors. Some of the factors that we took into consideration included the formula’s type, seasonal use, freezing point, effectiveness and value for money.
Conclusion
All of our recommendations above are designed to provide a streak-free finish and remove all types of dirt found on the windshield. We highly advise removing any old screen wash in the reservoir before adding the new formula. This is because it avoids the solution from turning into a thick gel, which can be difficult to clear out of the reservoir.
If you require further information with regards to any of our screen wash recommendations, feel free to get in touch and we will try to provide our assistance where possible.
