Help with fine scratches on windshield

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2011Equus

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I own a 2011 Hyundai Equus with about 5000 miles on the odometer. In an attempt to remove a few water spots I used Glass Science Glass Scrub cream cleanser and a dish washing sponge that is a little abrasive on one side (typically used when cleaning teflon pans). I washed the front windshield, applied the compound and used the slightly abrasive side to attempt to remove the water spots. After rinsing and towel drying, I noticed very fine scratches throughout the windshield. These marks are noticeable primarily when driving directly into the sun, they are otherwise undetectable. I am, needlessly to say, very irritated with these glass marks. I would appreciate any advice as to how to remove these very fine shallow scratches without the risk of optical distortion using rotary polishers?
 
Do you have a polisher at all? It will be very hard to remove scratches without a rotary polisher. But if they are extremely light you might be able to with a DA polisher and some patience. I would use CarPro Ceriglass Kit, glass polish, water spot remover with some of these Glass Polishing Pads, glass leveling discs, abraded discs, auto glass polish Next time you have any water spots you can use the hand applicators that come in the Ceriglass kit to remove them :) You won't really be able to remove any below surface defects by hand but it'll work wonders on water spots. Hope that helps!
 
I made that same mistake on my old car.

I was removing shoe polish someone used to write on my windows. I couldnt figure out how to remove it, so I used one of those sponges with the abrasive green side. It took it off, but left scratches everywhere.
 
Thank you for your helpful response. I do not have a rotary polisher. My reluctance to purchasing one is the fear of optical distortion. I do believe the scratches are very fine and agree with you that a rotary polisher may be the solution. Given the outcome of certain past projects (mainly due to impatience), my wife won’t let me handle a rotary system on an expensive car. I will, however, take your advice and try the polish kit with the glass leveling discs. Thanks again.
 
2011Equus said:
Thank you for your helpful response. I do not have a rotary polisher. My reluctance to purchasing one is the fear of optical distortion. I do believe the scratches are very fine and agree with you that a rotary polisher may be the solution. Given the outcome of certain past projects (mainly due to impatience), my wife won’t let me handle a rotary system on an expensive car. I will, however, take your advice and try the polish kit with the glass leveling discs. Thanks again.
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I believe the poster recommended the leveling discs if you had a DA polisher. I'm not sure how those would do by hand. Just wanted to make sure you understood.

Drew
 
Drew,

Thank you for pointing that out. I did misread the previous post.
 
2011Equus said:
Drew,

Thank you for pointing that out. I did misread the previous post.
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No problem. I know Ceriglass has a kit do do it by hand but I'm not sure if it would get out your scratches or not. I used Ceriglass with a DA to remove waterspots on windows.

Drew
 
I will purchase a polisher. Ideally, I would like a single system for both the glass and the paint. I am leaning towards a DA polisher.
 
A DA is great for beginners. Porter Cable, Griots, and Meguiars all make great DA polishers. Ceriglass is a polish that is specifically geared towards glass though. It has an ingredient that cuts glass. Most people have better luck on glass with rotaries but I think I heard that with enough patience you can correct glass with a DA. There are many different polishes for paint. I have used paint polishes on my glass to get off water spots as well (Not sure if a paint polish would take out scratches out of glass though, probably not). There is a lot of info around here so definitely read up before you purchase.
 
Thanks Drew. There goes the weekend. I will research some more.
 
The same thing happened to me on my wife's Kia!!! The entire windshield is now filled with thousands of scratches over the whole thing. I had no idea that product was so abrasive. WORST glass cleaner I have ever used.
 
Autowerx said:
The same thing happened to me on my wife's Kia!!! The entire windshield is now filled with thousands of scratches over the whole thing. I had no idea that product was so abrasive. WORST glass cleaner I have ever used.
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Glass scrub did that to your windows? I use glass scrub applied by hand with a sock every time I wash and it just leaves my windows spotless and clean, no scratches? Or do you mean the pad?
 
WRXINXS said:
Glass scrub did that to your windows? I use glass scrub applied by hand with a sock every time I wash and it just leaves my windows spotless and clean, no scratches? Or do you mean the pad?
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Glass Scrub applied with a car wash sponge with a "bug remover" mesh back. Maybe I was scrubbing too hard or something. I don't know. We had just got back from a 5 hour drive and the windshield was completely covered in bugs, dirt, and water spots (it had been a while since the previous wash). I still have the almost full bottle of Glass Scrub because I am too afraid to use it again.
 
Autowerx said:
Glass Scrub applied with a car wash sponge with a "bug remover" mesh back. Maybe I was scrubbing too hard or something. I don't know. We had just got back from a 5 hour drive and the windshield was completely covered in bugs, dirt, and water spots (it had been a while since the previous wash). I still have the almost full bottle of Glass Scrub because I am too afraid to use it again.
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I always clean my windows before using glass scrub. Maybe that's the difference? I personally love the stuff.
 
I have previously used glass scrub on my wife's van and my previous car with no problems. This is why I beleive the pad was the culprit; I had never used this type of dishwasher pad before (with one abrasive side). Perhaps it was the type windshield. As before, I made sure windows were washed and thoroughly wet before applying the scrub. I will purchase the PC 7424xp DA polisher and 5" glass cutting pads (as Drew recommended) as a start. I am optimistic this will work.
 
WRXINXS said:
I always clean my windows before using glass scrub. Maybe that's the difference?
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Perhaps that was the case. OR maybe the Glass Scrub worked SO WELL that the windows were finally clean enough to see years worth of layered on scratches! To be honest it did do a great job of removing the water spots...
 
2011Equus said:
I have previously used glass scrub on my wife's van and my previous car with no problems. This is why I beleive the pad was the culprit; I had never used this type of dishwasher pad before (with one abrasive side). Perhaps it was the type windshield. As before, I made sure windows were washed and thoroughly wet before applying the scrub. I will purchase the PC 7424xp DA polisher and 5" glass cutting pads (as Drew recommended) as a start. I am optimistic this will work.
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I don't want to take credit, I think that shoeless made the recommendation. I personally do not know if the DA will remove the scratches or not and have never used those cutting pads so don't know for sure if it will work or not. I just did not want you to by the PC on my account and my limited knowledge. I like having a DA myself. I use it for paint polishing and wax spreading. Good Luck!

Drew
 
You're right again. Shoeless did make the recommendation. I went ahead and ordered the PC, glass cutting pads and a few other things. I want to use the PC primarily for waxing.
 
....I'm in the process now of using the Ceriglass kit with the 5" LC glass pads on a PC 7424 on my windshield. So far, bad luck. I can't give it a good review. I bought the kit to get fine scratches out of my windshield from where the previous owner ran dirty or dry wiper blades. Instead of doing that, it put in fine tick marks/micro marring into the windshield glass. First off, using this polish with a DA polisher makes a complete mess! Imagine mixing 8 ounces of white paint with 8 ounces
of White-Out : thats the consistency of Ceriglass. Secondly, the polish has almost zero work time with a DA. Your lucky if you can make 2 passes before it dries to something that resembles dried White-Out. The very short work time could be causing my micro marring, I'm not sure. As the glass polishing pads are thin as cardboard and hold no product. I even tried a hydro tech pad with no better results. Let me say, the micro marring is very faint, you can only see it when looking close with a Brinkmann Xenon. Looking through the glass, all looks fine and clear, but this micro marring can't be normal. I even tried extending the buffing time with a spray of distilled water, didn't help. I think I heard Car Pro, the people that make CeriGlass, recommend using some type of special wool pad with the product, not the wafer thin glass polishing pads LC makes. I wish I knew that before I started. Maybe I got the wrong pads, but the kit doesn't tell you that and does say you can use a DA (doesn't say anything about rotary). However, all is not lost. I found the glass polishing special hand foam pads that do come with the kit work much better, make less mess, and have a slightly increased work time. The bad is, it's now going to take me FOREVER to repolish my windshield by hand - and; I'm probably going to have to order another kit to finish it. As, towards the end of working with the DA, I was using a ton of product just to try to keep the product somewhat wet. When I was working with the DA, everything stayed cool to the touch, the glass or pads never even got warm. The is a finicky product at best, I can't see how anyone could remove scratches with Ceriglass, a DA, and LC glass polishing pads. Maybe I am too picky, as the micro marring is very slight, but was definitely caused by the Ceriglass and the glass pads. It does remove water spots, but I would only recommend using this product by hand unless you know something I don't. Also, I find most type I water spots are easily removed with a finishing regular paint polish (or an AIO) like Menzerna Final Polish II or Poor Boys polish and sealant. So, today I'll be developing Popeye arms polishing my windshield over by hand. Anyone else use Ceriglass with a DA then closely inspect the glass with a light like a Brinkmann???
***Also, if your going use this with a DA, make sure you have a ton of towels around to clean the polish off the glass after buffing. As, once a towel gets the product on it, it seems to just smear around any additional product, forcing you to keep switching to a new towel. I must have used 20 microfibers just to do my sunroof and windshield. However, when working by hand it's a lot easier to remove the Ceriglass and a lot more manageable. Before using the product, I cleaned and clayed the glass, then wiped it with IPA.
 
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