on the recommendation of many folks, i tried pledge on my face shield and windscreen (a different bike). everything was in good shape and well taken care of. within months the protective coating on the windshield has been stripped and the softer, core plastic exposed. it became scratched and unusable shortly afterwards. never again.
i leaned my lesson. why cut corners on something as inexpensive as a cleaning product? use products on the things for which they were designed. pledge on your furniture and plastic cleaners on plastics. i've found that Meguiar's cleaner for clear plastic is great stuff. i use the honda spray cleaner too, but the M stuff it much better for the face and wind shields.
Over the years this product has evolved. It first came in a 2 part cleaner and polisher. Then an all-in-one cleaner/polisher. Then a "detailer". It looks like they've added another iteration:
https://tinyurl.com/qlz8n
I still prefer the #18 (mirror glaze):
https://tinyurl.com/md4dc
Been using it for years on all sorts of shield plastics and it's never attacked the plastic and has always created a great result.
Full care of a plastic shield means no squeegies or paper towels (which is just woven wood). Even if you don't use a Tulsa windshield their care page is good information.
https://tinyurl.com/q8qx4 (I don't use the Sumner product)
Some of this may not have affected people who think nothing of swapping face shields every year or whose total miles might be lower. But I'm still using the original face shield on my N100 that I used during the 2003 Iron Butt Rally. I've have similar longevity results on other face and wind shields. Go soft on them with the products you use and the chemicals chosen and you can really extend their useful life.
