glass polish

[RobThom]

Hey Mike,

My question is about glass polishing. In your bucket list ’68 Shelby Buff you showed a close-up picture of the windshield with light wiper marks. There you used Griots Light Glass polish. You didn’t show a close-up after polish shot. I also noticed in your RAGTOP how to you polished the glass. So here are my questions. Did the Griots remove the marks from the Shelby? Do you always use a glass polish or just the polish you are planning on using on the paint?

I am currently using the McKee’s 37 Krystal Vision glass kit and haven’t been able to remove what I would consider light wiper marks/scratches. But I am still fine tuning the process. Is there any chance I could make the windshield worse?

Thanks
Rob

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

Not Mike so wait for him to chime in but check out ceriglass from car pros. I've bought it but not used it but says will remove heavy water scales and light to medium scratches.

You can get from Autogeek

It's made with cerium oxide. I believe it's a derivative of unubtanium from Avatar.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hey Mike,

My question is about glass polishing. In your bucket list ’68 Shelby Buff you showed a close-up picture of the windshield with light wiper marks. There you used Griots Light Glass polish.

You didn’t show a close-up after polish shot.

I coined 2 types of glass polishing.

1: Topical

2: Subsurface


The type of glass polishing I did "initially" to the 1968 Shelby GT350 was TOPICAL. Topical glass polishing is to remove any FILM that a normal glass cleaner either cannot remove or in some cases, like the Shelby, a physical abrasive being rubbed over the glass will be faster and more effective to simply get everything off the glass.

From this thread,

Bucket List Buff - 1968 Shelby Mustang GT350 - Detailed by Mike Phillips

And as for sheer clarity to the glass - the TOPICAL cleaning removed everything off the surface and left the glass, (the scratched glass), totally clear.

I never stated what I was doing was to remove SUBSURFACE scratches. Never once. There "were" TONS of swirls and scratches on the outside of the windshield. More than I may have ever seen in my life. But this was not the time or schedule to do subsurface glass polishing.


I did do subsurface glass polishing 2 weeks later. Stay tuned for that little tidbit of info.

I also noticed in your RAGTOP how to you polished the glass.

You mean this how-to article,

The correct way to apply RaggTopp Fabric Protectant to a canvas convertible top


And this post and picture,


Glass polishing
Besides machine polishing the paint I also machine polished the glass to remove road film. I normally do this when I wash the car but simply forgot this time. You can see how the green painter's tape would protect the black canvas in case I moved the buffing pad too close or if any excess compound were to sling off the pad. Take my experienced word for it - you don't want to get compound or polish splatter impacted into the weave of a black canvas top.

Again - this is topical glass polishing. It remove ROAD FILM plus other junk.


See this article.

Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film


And for everyone reading this into the future,

I teach both of these methods of glass polishing in all my car detailing classes.

So here are my questions. Did the Griots remove the marks from the Shelby?

No not at all and I didn't try or plan to remove swirls and scratches out of the glass using this product. The Griot's Glass Polish is only for TOPICAL glass cleaning.

Do you always use a glass polish or just the polish you are planning on using on the paint?

I typically do what I teach in my classes for EVERTHING I do. What I teach and practice is,

Whatever my FIRST STEP PRODUCT is for machine polishing the paint, I also use it on the glass to do TOPICAL GLASS POLISHING. This could be a compound, a polish or a cleaner/wax. Glass is not picky. It doesn't really care what you use on it to remove road film and any other surface staining that builds-up on the glass surface.

Keep in mind, I started my car detailing career in Oregon. (think about it)

I am currently using the McKee’s 37 Krystal Vision glass kit and haven’t been able to remove what I would consider light wiper marks/scratches. But I am still fine tuning the process. Is there any chance I could make the windshield worse?

Thanks
Rob

That product will never work to remove subsurface defects.

In order to remove subsurface paint defects you need to physically ABRADE the glass and LEVEL it. For this you need a glass polish that uses Cerium Oxide OR there are other minerals that can do the job. But the majority of product on the market by any company to polish glass are ONLY doing topical glass polishing.


And just to note - I have more articles on glass polishing than anyone on Planet Earth. Because of this I hear a LOT of feedback over the decades. Here's what I'll tell you and this is straight-up.


Most people, and this would be primary guys, are to wimpy to polish scratches out of glass. I know, I read and listen to the stories. It takes HOURS of pushing hard on a polisher, not on a horizontal surface, NOT on a vertical surface but on a slanted or angled surface. It's HARD WORK and most guys can't do and won't do it.

IF and that's a big IF - if they buy the right product to do the job, they wimp out. It's just to much physical work and it's also time consuming. After trying most will give up and simply have the glass replaced.


Not trying to scare you away from tackling this type of project but know what you're getting into.

 

[PaulMys]

Just to piggy-back a little here......

Are there huge advantages in using a marketed, dedicated "Glass polish"?

The reason I ask is this: I have always just used whatever polish I happened to be using on my paint to also do the glass.

And I have always been happy with the results.

 

[RobThom]

Coatingsarecrack, Thanks for the recommendation.

Mike, Thanks for the very detailed response. Your words carry a lot of weight. I am going to read a few more of your articles and see what products and equipment I will need. And then make my decision from there.

Thanks again
Rob

 

[TTQ B4U]

Just to piggy-back a little here......

Are there huge advantages in using a marketed, dedicated "Glass polish"?

The reason I ask is this: I have always just used whatever polish I happened to be using on my paint to also do the glass.

And I have always been happy with the results.

I use the Adams lineup including the fine glass polish shown in this thread as it's super easy to wipe off.

 

[PaulMys]

I use the Adams lineup including the fine glass polish shown in this thread as it's super easy to wipe off.

I'm sure it is.

I was just wondering if the "dedicated" glass products were worth a try.

 

[Mgavin1985]

I am trying to scare you away with this experience. I used ceriglass and straight cerium oxide with added water. The cerium oxide worked ever so slightly but I was using a makita rotary with felt pads then I finished with Like normal process on trashed paint with DA. I was working the glass hard flinging the polish everywhere it was slightly working withhard pressure on 1000-2000 rpms. When I finished with rotary after at least 1.5 hour I though the DA will make it more clear to see through. It was no half butt attempt I was very confident and had high expectations. The problem occurred when I was switching the felt pad from rotary to DA I must of had dirt on my hand or something. I did not notice the issue until I was done polishing. I was polishing on the DA for 1 hour. It also took me 1 hour to clean the mess. When I went to look at the finished windshield from inside the car that’s when I saw the Damage I caused onthe orbital da. I increase the swirls by at least double prob more. Even if the new swirls where not on the windshield I would still advise not to waste your time the results are not spectacular.i will never polish glass ever again.

 

[TTQ B4U]

I'm sure it is.

I was just wondering if the "dedicated" glass products were worth a try.

Ceriglass......Mike describes it best and I'm one of the ones that did it once and will never do it again. Honestly, my wife's windshield ended up being replaced due to a "rock" accident. Problem solved and Zero deductibles appreciated.

 

[SWETM]

3M Glas Polish Compound is one of the most concentrated glass polishes out there IIRC it's 90% Cerium Oxide abrasives in it. And even this is not marketed to remove deeper defects on the glass. So very shallow defects can be removed and the deeper ones you can only get a little improvement on as it abrades the edges of the scratch to be less visible. Then if you want to able to even do the little defect removal it's able to be doing. A rotary polisher and rayon glass polishing pads is needed to be used. Then it's the long time it's needed to be worked with to get any improvement on leveling down the glass. We are talking many hours for one window to remove the defects and this is on the shallow defects on the glass. Next thing is to get the surroundings covered up and it's not a line of masking tape here. It's like when you are doing a repaint on a panel and cover all of the rest of the vehical with some kind of plastic covers. Cause you spray water while you are polishing the glass as the polish dries rather quickly. And the Cerium Oxide abrasives is not cheap so you ad water sprays to extend the working time. You can just ad more product but as mentioned you will go through a lot of glass polish this way. But at some point you wipe off this slurry mess and reapply new glass polish and start over. Since you want to use a hard backing plate on the rotary polisher to get it effective and also the rayon glass polishing pads is thin. That's why you would want to be covering up the rest of the vehical. As you also want to have a 1000-2000rpm on the rotary polisher. This is makeing it sling every where LOL. And since you polishing for a longer time the use bath towels to cover up the rest of the vehical is not recommended as it will wet it and you can have the slurry mess with the aggressive cerium oxide abrasives to get on the paint and on plastic trim and rubber seals and that's not a fun thing to be cleaning. But this way you are able to remove and to improve the glass if it's not to bad of deep defects.

So have I talked you out of it yet LOL. That said if you want to deep clean and remove very shallow defects and improve the other defects a little. It can be done but lover your expectations drasticly when you do it. The most is to get an improvement and reduce the glare it causes. But say the rubber on the wiper blades has come off and it where used and scratched up the glass. Or if you live on a gravel road and during a longer time gotten the glass hazed with the gravel dust and some bigger particals get stuck between the wiper blades and the glass. I would recommend you to save your time and hard work and also expensive if you don't have a rotary polisher as this you need to be getting a quality one since you are going to be polishing hard and long and the glass polish and pads. And just leave it so they can mount a new windshield or back window for you. You get a lot of rock dents over time on the glass that's the pitting mostly. And these are too deep to even get an improvement on. So a new window is the best possible solution.

If you want to have an improvement even a glass sealant can do this to some defects on the glass. To hide the defects on the glass a little. You want something that goes on thick so it can bond to the defects edges to make them less visible. The more layers can be doing some more filling from them. Start with something like Carpro CeriGlass and do like a normal polishing with a polisher and rayon glass polishing pads. And take the little improvement you get from it and seal it. If it's still to much of defects noticeble then replace the window.

Volvo even has as a service recommendation to replace the windshield at around 50k miles. I was pretty surprised when I got the knowledge about this. But it also makes sense as you want the best visual performance through the windshield. And especially when you drive against when the sun is low and when you meet other vehicals in the dark. So it's a safety issue as well to have a clear windshield. Then it's also about the environment you drive in with the vehicals on how the windshield accumulate defects. And also the quality of it can make a difference. Also how you drive as in if you tailgateing and drives too close to the vehical in front of you.

So if you decide to be doing a glass polishing. Don't put in a lot of time on it as it's not so much of better outcome from it sadly. Just a deep clean and glass protection of some kind. And if it's still bad I would replace it.

/ Tony

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

Well.... you guys have scared the poop out of me. I don’t have any major or even minor scratches in my glass.

My issues are heavy water spots and I’m hoping the ceriglass will take care if these. I have the rayon pads and using a 3” DA. Would any of you recommend a less aggressive polish to remove etched water spots?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TTQ B4U]

Well.... you guys have scared the poop out of me. I don’t have any major or even minor scratches in my glass.

My issues are heavy water spots and I’m hoping the ceriglass will take care if these. I have the rayon pads and using a 3” DA. Would any of you recommend a less aggressive polish to remove etched water spots?

Just use the Ceriglass polish with an old foam pad. It will work fine and not hurt anything just simply using it to remove water spots. Griot's polish has two levels of polish both of which will work depending on how bad the etchings are. The orange colored fine glass polish here in this thread Mike uses is my go-to for customer cars and I've only had one instance where I had to break out far more to get the etchings out.

The advantage to Griot's is it's SUPER easy to remove and with Ceriglass you really need to rinse away any remaining residue after you wipe. Both products are thin and can sling easily so I advise you do this before you wash. Just wipe down the glass and begin. Overall, don't sweat it though.