Glass polishing - How to remove scratches in glass

Can anyone answer this question for me?


You know, I could swear I typed out an answer for you and hit the [Submit Reply] button?


As to your question, as far as I know and in all my years of detailing cars I've never come across a car with any type of factory applied coating to the glass and specifically the windshield.

"we" as detailers apply glass coatings like we apply paint coatings to paint but these would abrade off easily with a cerium oxide based glass polish to the point that they would not be an issue.


:)
 
@ Mike

CarPro - Ceri-Glass Kit | Glass Polishing Kit - Clean Your Car
This kit comes with 2 x Felt Polishing Pads
My question is can I use LC polishing pad with PC with this product ???


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I wouldn't.


My experience with the Lake Country glass polishing discs with the CarPro Ceriglass Polish is they do not work well together and you risk putting scratches into the glass.

If it were me, at this time I would only use products mated for use together by a single manufacturer. That means use the CarPro Ceriglass glass polish with pads by CarPro.


:)
 
Dear Mike,

Can you please talk a bit about my question as well?

Thank you in advance.

04-10-2014, 11:00 AM

[EDITED]

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

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 wouldn't. That means use the CarPro Ceriglass glass polish with pads by CarPro.

Agree, and did just that. Used the rayon pads from CP. they are like $5 so why risk the glass? The results were astounding. On that first day it was like there was no glass there. Perfectly perfect.
 
I wouldn't.


My experience with the Lake Country glass polishing discs with the CarPro Ceriglass Polish is they do not work well together and you risk putting scratches into the glass.

If it were me, at this time I would only use products mated for use together by a single manufacturer. That means use the CarPro Ceriglass glass polish with pads by CarPro.


:)


Thanks Mike



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You know, I could swear I typed out an answer for you and hit the [Submit Reply] button?


As to your question, as far as I know and in all my years of detailing cars I've never come across a car with any type of factory applied coating to the glass and specifically the windshield.

"we" as detailers apply glass coatings like we apply paint coatings to paint but these would abrade off easily with a cerium oxide based glass polish to the point that they would not be an issue.


:)

Thanks Mike. Just getting ready to polish some glass for the first time, and wanted to make sure I didn't do something stupid. The first time I refinished some headlights I failed to put any kind of coating on them afterwords, and a week later it was like I hadn't even touched them. Obviously that was a learning experience for me.
 
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'd say it's false whatever you heard from whoever?


Glas is VERY Hard. Machine polishing scratches out of glass takes a long time due to this hardness factor.

Abrading the glass enough to cause a visual distortion would take so long and you would have to remove so much glass that I would say the only way it could be done is if someone purposefully TRIED to do it just for the purpose of distorting the glass which would be ridiculous.


I'd say distorting the glass because you're going to remove topical scratches is the least of your worries.


Good question....


:xyxthumbs:
 
Anyone have idea, how much could it be the cost for a customer removing scratches from glass in a sedan windshield? (scratches like the honda windshield in this post pics) Feed back please
 
Is Rupes Bigfoot Polisher good to use instead of the Porter Cable DA that is used in this thread?
 
Anyone have idea, how much could it be the cost for a customer removing scratches from glass in a sedan windshield? (scratches like the honda windshield in this post pics) Feed back please

I'm mostly "retired" from scratch removal biz, partly because I'm too busy doing chip repair, and partly because it's hard on the back and I don't need any more issues there. :buffing:

I haven't done much with damage just like the car in this thread. I'm a looong way from beach sand lol.

Also, my perspective is from doing work for dealers, normally on a service customer/sold vehicle. I normally charged about $60-70/hr "shop rates" with an hour minimum. My advice is often that it's cheaper/better just to replace unless it's a high dollar piece of glass. Many windshields are only $125-150 for dealers here, so they usually prefer to put in a new one if the repair cost is in the same ballpark.

If the windshield is expensive, rare, etc... then it's a different story. I did a full wiper arc scratch on a brand new range rover one time. New glass was $1400 dealer cost, plus install. So I took the 2+ hours needed to make it 100% gone and charged accordingly.

It helps a lot if it's acceptable to polish out most of the damage, without it needing to be perfect. Often it takes more time to polish out the last 10% than it does the first 90%.

To answer your question, I tried to keep the cost in the $75-100 range, and avoid jobs that I didn't think I could do in about an hour. For me, that keeps everyone happy.

Retail work may be different. DIY work is definitely different...
 
Anyone have idea, how much could it be the cost for a customer removing scratches from glass in a sedan windshield? (scratches like the honda windshield in this post pics)


I think the fastest I've ever buffed out just a windshield is roughly 2 hours using a Flex PE14 Rotary buffer. (faster than using a dual action polisher).


So figure 2-3 hours and either charge by the hour, (best), or by the job.


:)
 
Just to note, I shipped all the products you see in the first post of this thread, these ones,

Cerium_Oxide_Glass_Polishing_Tools.jpg




I shipped these products to Argentina and then used the step-by-step directions shared in this thread to teach the guys in the class how to remove wiper scratches from a classic Mustang windshield.

Autogeek's Detailing Class in South America!


On Saturday April 5th and Sunday, April 6th, we held our two-day detailing boot camp class at my good friend Christian Thompson's detailing shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In my detailing boot camp classes I teach the order to do each step when detailing cars. The pictures below are taken from the different steps after first going over the products and procedures in a power point presentation. After each step is presented in the power point the topic ends with a slide that reads,

Break for hands-on


Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_000.jpg



These classes are fast paced with a little classroom time to get the head knowledge needed to do a specific task or procedure the right way followed with plenty of shop time using the products and tools to back up what was learned in the class.


Removing Scratches out of Glass
One of the demo cars was a restored Mustang in dire need of both wetsanding to remove surface texture as well as glass polishing to remove decades of wiper scratches in the windshield.

For this we used the Porter Cable 7424XP plus Ceriglass from CarPro which uses Cerium Oxide for an abrasive to actually abrade the glass and level it thus removing the scratches.


The first thing I teach guys is to never start on the driver's side where if something were to go wrong you could impair the driver's vision. Instead, I teach to start on side glass, back glass or in this case, the passenger side of the windshield.

Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_001.jpg



Classic cars have what are called fresh air grills where vents inside the car can draw fresh air. In most cases you cannot get to the sheetmetal below the grill to clean and remove any splatter from the glass polishing process, (or the paint polishing process), so it's important to tape-off and cover up the openings on fresh air grills on classic cars.

Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_002.jpg



Here were inspecting the sheetmetal below the grill as there is already compound splatter from the other people that have at one time or another buffed out this car.

We're not going to add to it at this class...

Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_003.jpg



After covering the fresh air grill with some masking tape I start by demonstrating the correct technique for using a Porter Cable to remove scratches out of the glass.

Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_004.jpg


Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_005.jpg



After inspecting the results from the first few passes to show the scratches are being removed and optical clarity is being restored, it's time for one of the students get some hands-on training and experience.

Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_006.jpg


Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_007.jpg


Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_008.jpg



Perfect technique his first time machine polishing glass....

Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_009.jpg



When machine polishing glass it helps to have a buddy to mist a little water while you're buffing because glass polishes tend to dry up quickly. This works best with a water sprayer that really does a good job of atomizing the water into a fine spray as this dramatically reduces any splatter mess.

Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_010.jpg


Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_011.jpg




They also learned how to machine sand as we used this classic Mustang as our demo car for wetsanding and how to use rotary buffers.


Detailing_Class_in_Argentina_152.jpg




So the glass polishing techniques shared in this article work just be sure that any time you're machine polishing scratches out of glass start like we did and that's by testing as well as starting on the passenger side not the driver's side.


:dblthumb2:
 
I thing a Rupes will work well. But, I still think the best DA for glass is the GG6.
 
Thanks for the advise and tips

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Is this your best solution for water spots as well?

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If the water spots aren't too bad, I just use an AIO or a cleaner wax by hand. If they are bad, you will need to try a polish or a compound via machine.

I haven't ran into glass I'd consider "etched" by water spots yet - although I'm sure its possible.

In that case, you will need the DA, CarPro Glass Pads, and Cerri Glass likely.
 
Fantastic info. Does anyone think this is a good way to learn to use a DA?
I have some light screatches that I would like to knock out and I am wondering if this is a good thing for a beginner to try.
 
Fantastic info. Does anyone think this is a good way to learn to use a DA?
I have some light screatches that I would like to knock out and I am wondering if this is a good thing for a beginner to try.

I'd say so,You'd get a feel for how your DA works.
Don't forget to constantly mist the glass with water, tape the moldings & put towels on or tape large plastic sheets to your car's body beforehand.
 
Unless the car is an all original classic car with original glass I find it's always less expensive and easier to just replace the scratched glass. You can spend hours polishing glass to achieve a small improvement vs. just having it replaced with brand new glass. Just spent 8+ hours trying to restore glass in my 1970 Chevelle SS using the products shown with disappointing results. Was able to purchase a full set of new glass for $700.
 
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