Glass polishing - How to remove scratches in glass

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Mike Phillips

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Glass polishing - How to remove scratches in glass


In the picture below you will see the pads, products and tools you need to remove scratches from glass.

Glass is very hard and in order to abrade it in a way to remove scratches without at the same time instilling scratches you need a polish specifically made for glass that contain

Cerium Oxide


Cerium_Oxide_Glass_Polishing_Tools.jpg




Step-by-Step How to remove scratches in glass


IMPORTANT
Never start by working on the glass in front of the driver field of view. Just in case something goes wrong you don't want to impair the view of the driver.


Step 1: Wash and dry or wipe glass clean.

Step 2: Tape-off and cover any perimeter window gaskets, wiper arm assemblies, surrounding plastic or trim. Anything you do not want to stain with polish splatter.

Step 3: Apply some CarPro Ceriglass glass polish directly onto the face of a CarPro Rayon glass polishing pad.

Step 4: Place the face of the glass polishing pad against the glass and then using a slow speed setting, turn the polisher on and spread the polish out to small area. When buffing out a car windshield, divide the windshield into quarters and work one quarter at a time.

Step 5: After you have spread the product out at a low speed setting, turn the speed up to a fast speed setting on a dual action polisher like the Porter Cable 7424XP or a low to medium speed setting on a rotary buffer.

Step 6: Make SLOW overlapping passes with firm pressure. Have a spray bottle of water on hand to re-wet the abrasives as the polish will tend to dry out as you work it. You can get more buffing time from the abrasives by re-wetting them with water.


Buff till you have removed the scratches to your expectations then repeat to a new section till the entire window is free from scratches.

Glass polishing can be very messy because the polish will tend to splatter. You can reduce the amount of splatter by using a water sprayer that does a good job of atomizing the water into a fine mist versus an generic spray bottle that squirts water.



Order List


Griots Garage 6 Inch Random Orbital Polisher

5" Dual-Action Hook & Loop Flexible Backing Plate

Griots Garage 3 inch HD Backing Plate

3 Inch Dual Action Flexible Backing Plate



FLEX PE14-2-150 Rotary Polisher

5" Flex-Foam HD Rotary Backing Plate

3" Flex-Foam HD Rotary Backing Plate



5" CarPro Rayon Glass Polishing Pad - 2 Pack

3" CarPro Rayon Glass Polishing Pad - 2 Pack



CarPro Ceriglass Glass Polish - 150 ml

CarPro Ceriglass Glass Polish - 500 ml


My comment....
You can remove scratches out of glass using either a rotary buffer or a dual action polisher like the Porter Cable type. With the dual action polisher it will take a little longer but in my opinion the glass polishing process is easier on you when using a dual action polisher versus using a rotary buffer.


Slow process
Figure on taking 2-3 hours to machine polish and remove the scratches out of the average size windshield. Longer if you're new to this type of polishing.


:)
 
Awesome! Argentina put you in a good mood, but now you should come to Brazil! We are jealous (very!).

For the first time in history Argentina is ahead Brazil in something. (please, for who does not understood, this is some kind of 'south american joke' between countries)!. I hope you had a very good time there.

Some time ago I've read that polishing the glass with those abrasives may cause some kind of visual distortion.

Is it true, partially true, and what's needed to avoid removing scratches but adding distortion?

I really need to add this glass polishing method to my detailing cart, any input will be great.

Thanks for sharing,

Kind Regards.
 
Thank you Mike! Very informative! I am placing an order from your thread. To save an argument on pads I ordered the 3 " as well as the 5". I have backing plates for both. Again, thank you so much for the information. I will keep the products in my arsenal as you never know when you will need it. AGO is great!! Additionally,the products you have said to get are very reasonably priced on AGO!
 
Wow! What timing!! I was working on my DD's windshield last night for the first time using CeriGlass, Carpro's Rayon Glass 5" pad, with my GG DA. What a laborious process!

Glass polishing can be very messy because the polish will tend to splatter. You can reduce the amount of splatter by using a water sprayer that does a good job of atomizing the water into a fine mist versus an generic spray bottle that squirts water.

Mike, can you say more about when to add more CeriGlass vs knowing when the product needs re-wetting? How it should appear/what to look for?

I found the biggest challenge last night was trying to maintain a "slurry" consistency while trying to hold the GG on speed 6 in one hand with the spray bottle filled with water in the other. CeriGlass drys quick!!

Also, what do you think are realistic expectations for CeriGlass to remove scratches? If you can catch the scratch with a finger nail is it too deep?
 
Mike, can you say more about when to add more CeriGlass vs knowing when the product needs re-wetting? How it should appear/what to look for?

I don't have any specific scientific method of knowing, I usually mist the section I'm buffing with water and buff a good while before adding more or fresh product.

Figure on doing 4-5 section passes, mist on some water. Then do 4-5 section passes and mist on some water, then do 4-5 section passes and mist on some water, then do 4-5 section passes and mist on some water and sometime about now you're going to want to add some fresh product.



I found the biggest challenge last night was trying to maintain a "slurry" consistency while trying to hold the GG on speed 6 in one hand with the spray bottle filled with water in the other. Ceriglass drys quick!!


The Buddy System

I teach using the "Buddy System" in my detailing boot camp classes. That is have a buddy or even your better half standing next to you and when they see the glass polish slurry drying they know to mist on some more water.

Here's the Buddy System in action...

Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_010.jpg





Also, what do you think are realistic expectations for Ceriglass to remove scratches? If you can catch the scratch with a finger nail is it too deep?

I've removed some pretty bad scratching, it's just a matter of more time buffing.

From another article I wrote on this topic, while these wiper scratches are not deep individual scratches like you normally think of a "single scratch", they were very deep and you could easily feel them with your finger, especially on the driver's side. But NOTE where I started and that was on the passenger side.

NEVER START ON THE GLASS IN FRONT OF THE DRIVER
(Just in case something goes wrong)



Here's a little Tape-Line Before and After I did to a Honda windshield that's parked outside all the time.

This windshield is extremely scratched over time from beach sand being dragged across it from the wipers. This is common to cars in coastal areas.

ScratchesINGlass001.jpg


ScratchesINGlass003.jpg





These are deep scratches in a 2004 Honda that has spent it's entire life parked outside in Stuart, Florida.

ScratchesINGlass003c.jpg



Here's the same windshield and the same exact location as above...

ScratchesINGlass009.jpg





:dblthumb2:
 
Mike, do windshields have any sort of protective coating thats going to be removed and should be replaced? I'm thinking of headlights, where most have some sort of UV coating from the factory, and after polishing them you need to seal them to keep them from rapidly deteriorating again. Do windshields also need to be sealed like this?

I know there are various water repelling agents that can be applied (RainX, while a terrible quality product, comes to mind), but I would think of those as sort of optional enhancers, rather than something necessary. I'm about to polish my windshield (some wiper scratches and micro pits to remove) and have been wondering if I need to purchase a sealer.
 
Mike,

I really admire all your hard work and guidance.

Would this also work where someone keyed my passenger window?

Ronan
 
Mike,

I really admire all your hard work and guidance.

Would this also work where someone keyed my passenger window?

Ronan


I always say,

"Sometimes you can't completley remove a scratch but you can often time improve a scratch"


If it's real deep you probably cannot remove it 100%.


Maybe look into getting the glass replaced?


Gotta love "people".


:dunno:
 
Thanks, Mike! I can really see how a small misting bottle vs a 32oz spray bottle is an important detail not to be over looked. As fatigue started setting in last night, I was loosing product running down the glass from over spraying water. Using a bottle only capable of a quick spritz would have helped with slurry control.

A while ago Swanicyouth posted an excellent review on using the CeriGlass/CarPro glass pad combo. One of the points he stressed was using plenty of water during the process. Last night I read and re-read his tips while striving for the perfect water to product balance. Next time I'm using a misting bottle.

Thanks again, Mike (and Swanic)!
 
I tackled this today on my mothers IS250 and it is definitely physically taxing, getting that strong downward pressure all the way in the middle of the windshield can be difficult. Good news though, I got nearly ALL the wiper scratches out along with ALL the waterspots. I started around 6:30 and went until dark around 8. I stopped for the night, I'm going to do the edges of the windshield tomorrow and then apply CarPro FlyBy30-2014 and see how it does.

One tip I will pass along and re-iterate is definitely overuse the polish a bit, and also use more water than you think necessary, often times I would find the polish drying up and this leads to some small marring on the glass when you wipe it off. Had I done this from the outset I probably could have knocked the windshield out in an hour.
 
Great tips Mike. And a +1 for the CarPro Ceriglass.

I've just recently had good results using this product with a purple synthetic wool pad, which for me was a little easier to use on a small quarter window.
 
Thanks, Mike! I can really see how a small misting bottle vs a 32oz spray bottle is an important detail not to be over looked.

Last night I read and re-read his tips while striving for the perfect water to product balance. Next time I'm using a misting bottle.

Thanks again, Mike (and Swanic)!


I obtained the idea of using the misting bottle from Nicholas @ Autowerx in one of his article and wrote this article in which I gave him credit as I don't ever steal other guys work without giving due credit where credit is due. I see my work copied around the web without due credit but that's on those guys heads.

Glass Polishing Water Spray Bottles at Autogeek



Sad to say, sometime after I wrote this article to share the bottles with our forum community the bottles were removed from the store...

I'm sure similar bottles can be found elsewhere if a person looks....



:)
 
Mike, do windshields have any sort of protective coating thats going to be removed and should be replaced? I'm thinking of headlights, where most have some sort of UV coating from the factory, and after polishing them you need to seal them to keep them from rapidly deteriorating again. Do windshields also need to be sealed like this?

I know there are various water repelling agents that can be applied (RainX, while a terrible quality product, comes to mind), but I would think of those as sort of optional enhancers, rather than something necessary. I'm about to polish my windshield (some wiper scratches and micro pits to remove) and have been wondering if I need to purchase a sealer.


Can anyone answer this question for me?
 
I think on most cars - glass is glass. But, if your working on something very expensive, you may want to check it out.
 
Glass Polishing Water Spray Bottles at Autogeek


Sad to say, sometime after I wrote this article to share the bottles with our forum community the bottles were removed from the store...

I'm sure similar bottles can be found elsewhere if a person looks....

:)

I was planning on using the spritz bottle my Detailer's Pro Series Krystal Vision Glass Cleaner sample came in. So not only do I get to try out a great product, but I can reuse the bottle for additional glass cleaning = Win-Win!! :dblthumb2:
 
Can anyone answer this question for me?

I've worked on windshields for 20 years, rock chip repair and some polishing too, and a coated windshield would be news to me. Mike was correct... no coating on windshields. Maybe there is some side/back glass out there with something but I've done plenty of polishing on those too, and never seen any coating on the exterior of the glass.

And I've never seen a coating that lasts forever either....factory/dealer applied or otherwise. So even if there is something that was coated, it's not permanent. Wiper blades will remove anything over time. Btw, I have the optimum glass coating and it's pretty good stuff if you want a coating.
 
Good knowledge.

Obviously this is a source of revenue for detailers, being able to offer this as an upcharge/add on service. Any ideas on what one should charge for this service? And would it be better for the client to just replace the windshield?
 
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