Glass coating fill capability?

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AZpolisher15

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I've not used anything on my windshield other than rainX and Aquapel.

I recently met a gravel truck heading the opposite direction on a two lane at 65mph. Usually, I'll slow way down and pull over a bit when I see them coming. But I totally missed this one and just got pummeled. Minuscule little chips all over my formerly pristine windshield. I've read countless glass polishing threads and it sounds like I'm probably just going to "live with it" owing to the amount of work involved in correction (and the potential for making it worse).

Question: These pits are tiny. Really tiny. Do any of the glass coatings have any kind of "fill" properties that might lessen the appearance of these pits?

2nd question: Without aiming for 100% correction, would something like the Wolfgang Glass polish lessen the appearance of the chips?

Thanks for any input.
 
Sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but you need to replace your windshield. Do you have insurance that might cover road damage?
 
Rsurfer said:
Sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but you need to replace your windshield. Do you have insurance that might cover road damage?
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Thanks. That's pretty much what I gathered in reading other posts. Yeah, full coverage. It's not bad enough to warrant new glass. I can live with it and it's not a safety hazard or anything. It's just annoying, because, you know... We tend to be kinda detail oriented around here. And it's almost new. I also really hate to break that factory windshield seal.
 
Not really any "chips" to be repaired. Looks more like dust. I thought maybe the ceri-glass would knock the edges off (at the near-microscopic level) to lessen the appearance, but it sounds like I'd see minimal improvement. I did see some forum threads with some nice results, but I'm not up for a 9-hour polishing session...
 
Sounds like you're talking about what is commonly referred to as "sandblasting" by my insurance company. Thousands of tiny, minuscule, little flecks.. right?
 
I was asking the same question here, but got the same response. With my windshield it virtually impossible to replace with perfection, I have all possible and impossible sensors attached to it. Since car is only 7k miles and the WS looks not acceptable for my standards I came up to this solution, you will be surprised. Try non abrasive toothpaste applied by hand with white polishing pad. For bigger pits use a black sharpie, it reduces oblique of the pit to nothing makes much more less noticeable. Then coat the WS with a glass sealant so for a while sharpie would not wash out. Let me know how it went.
 
I know this doesn't help you now, but Optimum Opti-Glass (the pro version, at least) was supposed to reduce the incidence of windshield pitting (apparently it was tested on a rental car fleet). I actually haven't heard anything about that in a while, so I'm not sure if they backed off on that claim or never really made an official claim, perhaps it was just anecdotal from one of the Optimum reps.

There is a 3M glass sanding method out there that is more aggressive that I'd like to try some day, but since I'm all equipped for regular glass polishing I haven't tried it.
 
SirTanon said:
Sounds like you're talking about what is commonly referred to as "sandblasting" by my insurance company. Thousands of tiny, minuscule, little flecks.. right?
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Yep, that's it exactly. Can't even see any chips with the naked eye. It's just little visible specks all over when the light is just right.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I know this doesn't help you now, but Optimum Opti-Glass (the pro version, at least) was supposed to reduce the incidence of windshield pitting (apparently it was tested on a rental car fleet). I actually haven't heard anything about that in a while, so I'm not sure if they backed off on that claim or never really made an official claim, perhaps it was just anecdotal from one of the Optimum reps.

There is a 3M glass sanding method out there that is more aggressive that I'd like to try some day, but since I'm all equipped for regular glass polishing I haven't tried it.
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I'm going to try a coating. Not yet sure which one. Maybe the Opti-glass.
 
VeloNYC said:
I was asking the same question here, but got the same response. With my windshield it virtually impossible to replace with perfection, I have all possible and impossible sensors attached to it. Since car is only 7k miles and the WS looks not acceptable for my standards I came up to this solution, you will be surprised. Try non abrasive toothpaste applied by hand with white polishing pad. For bigger pits use a black sharpie, it reduces oblique of the pit to nothing makes much more less noticeable. Then coat the WS with a glass sealant so for a while sharpie would not wash out. Let me know how it went.
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Regarding the toothpaste... The purpose is to fill the pits to affect refraction, correct? Or are you actually polishing with it?
 
Harpolith said:
Regarding the toothpaste... The purpose is to fill the pits to affect refraction, correct? Or are you actually polishing with it?
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The toothpaste process is more like smoothing sharpness of the tiny craters make them less visible. Remember everything we see in this world IS reflection of the light. In this process if we look under the microscope the craters have a sharp surface, which makes them very visible when sun hits. Now, when we use a toothpaste or ceriglass we smooth out not the craters but their surface. Make sure you work with toothpaste not an abrasive gel. Test small area before applying on entire windshield, softness varies.

I assume that ceriglass or Duragloss 755 might work better in this case if you have a machine, but since I apply by hand ceriglass and 755 didn't work at all, but a toothpaste did.

The sharpie part is to mute this "the light fiesta" in the crater, of course if you look closer you will see a dot, but it will be the way better and distracting than a white glowing spots. This method for bigger then tiny specks damage.

After you initially asked question I was sandblasted and rocks thrown by stupid truck who started swaying right before I was about to pass. I was in a rush and didn't have time to pull a driver over from highway and call non emergency line. A long story short, now I have dozen rock chips, 4 dents on the panels and micro chipped windshield. The worst part despite I have a dashcam the truck was so dirty I cannot see the plate.
 
Try polishing with essence. It will continue to fill with each application with diminished results after the 3rd time imo. I've seen deeper auto wash scraching almost vanish with repeated buffing.
 
JeffM said:
Try polishing with essence. It will continue to fill with each application with diminished results after the 3rd time imo. I've seen deeper auto wash scraching almost vanish with repeated buffing.
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I will try this. Hopefully there won't be any glare like when I used to wax my windshield. Also, I've tried Ceriglass with a Flex 3401 and Optimum glass pads with zero success against these tiny craters.
 
JeffM said:
Try polishing with essence. It will continue to fill with each application with diminished results after the 3rd time imo. I've seen deeper auto wash scraching almost vanish with repeated buffing.
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Does it matter if you work with machine or hand? Is there an alternative to car pro essence the price is too steep for an experiment if it doesn't work.
 
expdetailing said:
I will try this. Hopefully there won't be any glare like when I used to wax my windshield. Also, I've tried Ceriglass with a Flex 3401 and Optimum glass pads with zero success against these tiny craters.
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I also learned not to traditionally clay bar crated windshield but use the clay alternative. The clay particles can get in the the craters and very hard to get out. They have grey or black clays indeed but an alternative works better and doesn't clog the chips.
 
VeloNYC said:
I also learned not to traditionally clay bar crated windshield but use the clay alternative. The clay particles can get in the the craters and very hard to get out. They have grey or black clays indeed but an alternative works better and doesn't clog the chips.
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Thanks for your responses. I ordered some ceriglass and the DA rayon pads. My hope is that it will do what you suggest-- knock off the sharp edges of the tiny pits to reduce their appearance.

and I agree with you on the clay. As I was claying, it actually occurred to me that it was probably not a good idea due to clay sticking in the pits.
 
expdetailing said:
I will try this. Hopefully there won't be any glare like when I used to wax my windshield. Also, I've tried Ceriglass with a Flex 3401 and Optimum glass pads with zero success against these tiny craters.
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Try the Carpro rayon glass pads available on AG. They're the recommended route. There are a few good threads on the forum illustrating their use/effectiveness with the ceriglass.
 
Harpolith said:
Thanks for your responses. I ordered some ceriglass and the DA rayon pads. My hope is that it will do what you suggest-- knock off the sharp edges of the tiny pits to reduce their appearance.

and I agree with you on the clay. As I was claying, it actually occurred to me that it was probably not a good idea due to clay sticking in the pits.
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To have any chance of removing or lessening the pits, you need a rotary with Ceriglass and a rayon pad. Good Luck.,
 
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