How to do Topical Glass Polishing with Diamondite Glass Polish by Mike Phillips

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

How to do Topical Glass Polishing with Diamondite Glass Polish by Mike Phillips


A few months ago, in preparation for my 5 detailing classes at the 2021 Southern Detailer's Conference, I went to Snake Road Salvage Yard to get a windshield to use for a teaching topical glass polishing. Initially I was looking for any old windshield already out of a car. As good luck would have it, my friend and owner Phil offered this 1950s era Ford F100 Pickup windshield they had removed from a truck for a customer who never claimed it. As such, after removing it - they stored it along side the building in a patch of grass where a sprinkler sprayed it regularly with water for about 4 years.

Upon seeing it - I knew this would make for a DRAMATIC before and after teaching class showing others the need for and benefit to machine polishing glass to remove TOPICAL staining.


Here's the windshield...

Before the first day of classes started I did some testing to make sure of the results before doing this LIVE in front of paying customers. (normal protocol)


Because the curved sides would be awkward to "demonstrate" on live in a short amount of time, (I was also teaching SUB-SURFACE glass polishing showing how to remove scratches and wiper-marks IN the glass), I machine polished the outside portions of the windshield.

Here's a couple of pictures I took, (my point of view in a class), right before the demonstration.

Fast forward to last night when Yancy and I did a LIVE Detailing Class on how to do Topical Glass Polishing.

Here you can see the sections I machine polished on the outside of the glass and the middle section I did LIVE in the class.

For the LIVE class on this topic, I'll include the video below. It's in-depth and fully explains why to do topical machine glass polishing and then shows how to do topical machine polishing. For the video I machine polished the right hand side as you look at the picture below.

AFTER the LIVE Class

After the live class I finished the job and took these pictures...

Me doing me...

Spraying on some of the new Diamondite Glass Cleaner Aerosol to help remove all the icky residue...

Wiping.... that's a "The Rag Company" FTW or For the Windows orange microfiber towel - I really like these for working on car paint.

Wiping....

And - BOOM!

Glass goes clear!

Works great for TOPICAL glass polishing.

And the film that was on the glass? It's now on the pad. I'll wash this pad in the washing machine with some other glass polishing pads I have but from here forward, this is a dedicated glass polishing pad. Never to be used on car paint.

Big Picture

There are two types of glass polishing - Topical Glass Polishing and Sub-Surface Glass Polishing.

Topical Glass Polishing

Topical glass polishing is where you hand or machine polish glass to remove various films like road film or water spots or drizzle stains OFF the surface of the glass. Topical glass polishing does not and will not remove scratches IN the glass.



Sub-Surface Glass Polishing

Sub-surface Glass polishing is where you use a specialized glass polish that uses Cerium Oxide as the abrasive technology and usually a rayon buffing pad to slowly and methodically abraded the glass to level it and thus remove swirls, scratches and wiper-marks that are IN the glass or below the surface of the glass.


HUGE DIFFERENCE between these two types of glass polishing and I'm pointing this out in this article and I point it out in the video below BECAUSE there is a LOT of confusion over this topic. Hopefully after reading this article and watching the below two videos everyone will be on the same page when we talk about glass polishing.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

More...


Here's the video we shot last night that covers TOPICAL glass polishing.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

More...


Here's a recent video we made that covers, explains in detail and demonstrates how to do Sub-Surface glass polishing.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

And one more comment....


When I talk to detailers, I'm often surprised that more professional detailers do not do TOPICAL glass polishing to the windows of the cars they detail. It should be standard protocol.

Just like paint gets a dirt stain that is impacted onto the paint, glass gets a dirt stain as well as road film that is impacted onto the glass. It only makes sense if you're going to do paint correction of ANY form, that while you are buffing out the car might as well buff out the glass.

This way the paint is clean and shiny and so is the glass. This is also the best way to prep the glass for any type or form of glass coating or glass sealant.


My practice, recommendation and what I teach in my detailing classes is to machine polish glass BEFORE washing the car. This way any glass polish splatter around the inside of the window frames or on nearby adjacent body panels will be washed off when you wash the car. This saves you a step.

I also teach that if engine detailing and headlight correction are to be performed to a car - do these things before washing the car. The idea being to do all the things that will make a mess on the car BEFORE you wash a car so you are not wasting time by repeating steps.

I get this from my early days of detailing cars in Oregon where it rains a lot. Most all the cars I detailed had water spots on the paint and on the glass. It never made any sense to make the paint look perfect but give a customer back their car with water spots or drizzle stains on the outside glass. So I've always done topical glass polishing for all the cars I detail and you should too.


Hope this helps...


:buffing:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

And here's where you can get some of the things I shared in the article and the video on Autogeek.com


Diamondite Glass Polish <-- TOPICAL glass polishing ONLY


Diamondite Glass Cleaner Aerosol


CarPro Ceriglass Glass Polish 500 ml. <-- Sub-Surface glass polishing and topical glass polishing


CarPro Rayon Glass Polishing Pad – 5 Inch 2 Pack




I LOVE the cordless FLEX Rotary Polisher. For the most part, it's all I ever use when I need a rotary. It has ALL the power you need plus no messing around with a cord. If you've been looking for an excuse to spend $600.00 - this is it.

FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher



In the pictures and the topical glass polishing video I used the below RUPES pad on a 6" flexible backing plate but any foam or fiber cutting pad will work.

7 inch RUPES Coarse Wool Polishing Pad

Flex-Foam HD Rotary Backing Plate, 6 inches




I love these towels. I use them for glass but they also work great for wiping off compounds, polishes and AIOs. And... orange is my favorite color.

The Rag Company FTW Premium Orange Microfiber Towel


Buy at least 2 dozen - you'll love them. Plus, you need at least a dozen towels to make a dedicated wash load, see my article here,


Buy enough towels to make a DEDICATED small wash load

 

[Me Time]

If it wasn't for you saying it was left outside, I would of thought it was smokers film on the inside.

Nice job on restoring it. Now it looks like a Craigslist item.:laughing:

 

[dgage]

CarPro Ceriglass Glass Polish 500 ml. <-- Sub-Surface glass polishing and topical glass polishing

Mike,

Can you confirm my assumption that the difference between topical and subsurface with Ceriglass is using a wool pad (maybe coarse foam?) for topical and the rayon pad for sub-surface polishing? Great info. Thanks.

David

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Mike,

Can you confirm my assumption that the difference between topical and subsurface with Ceriglass is using a wool pad (maybe coarse foam?) for topical and the rayon pad for sub-surface polishing?

Great info. Thanks.

David

Yes. And when doing topical glass polishing, I do tend to use either foam cutting pads or microfiber pads. Not wool pads on rotary although I don't remember ever having a problem with this type of pad and I've been doing this for a long time.



I actually do not have a lot of experience using CarPro Ceriglass with non-CarPro Rayon Pads.


Usually if I'm polishing glass to remove topical I'm not using CarPro Ceriglass or any other cerium oxide glass polish. My normal procedure is to polish glass to remove water spots and other surface staining is to use whatever my first step product is as I'm buffing out the paint.

Examples,

A: If I'm compounding a car then I use the compound I'm using on the paint on the glass. In most cases this works fine.

B: If I'm using a one-step AIO = then I use this on the glass. And in most cases it works.

C: If I'm using a medium cut or fine cut polish for the paint, (cars in good shape I'm likely coating), then I use these products on the glass.


As long as the defects on the glass are not case-hardened ONTO the glass then pretty much anything clearcoat safe is also glass safe and will remove the spots, road film and/or drizzle stains.


If none of the above work, then I'll get a dedicated glass polish. In the past it's been the BLACKFIRE Water Spot Remover. Because Autogeek re-launched the Diamondite brand and with it a dedicated water spot remover, I used it for my class at SDC and also on a car I detailed this last weekend.

Topical glass polishing is pretty straight-forward. It's Sub-surface glass polishing that is more difficult and time consuming and it is this type of polishing that requires very specific products and pads.


Great question, thank you for asking.

 

[dgage]

Thanks Mike. Great and helpful answer.

 

[Kamakaz1961]

Mike, thank you for this. I watched your video when you did it. I bought the polish and Black Label Glass coating. But I have the Supa Beast. But you did mention it be a soft pad like the Lake Country Red Pad, correct? NOT Polishing pad. If you can clarify would be great.

KEEP ON ROCKING!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I watched your video when you did it.

Which video? Sorry but we've made a lot of glass polishing videos this year including new products and LIVE detailing classes.

I bought the polish and Black Label Glass coating.

Thank you for your trust and your business.

But I have the Supa Beast.

The Supa BEAST can be used for both types of class polishing, Topical and Sub-Surface. In fact, any orbital, be it a free spinning or a gear-driven can be used for both types of glass polishing the thing is, when it comes to Sub-Surface Glass Polishing - the rotary will be the fastest tool for the job. The rotary will also be the most muscle-taxing for the person doing the work.

I'll include an article I wrote years ago where I used the iconic Porter Cable 7224XP to remove wiper marks. Point being, even one an entry-level orbital polisher can get the job done it's just going to take longer than a rotary due to the different types of tool motions.

But you did mention it be a soft pad like the Lake Country Red Pad, correct?

NOT Polishing pad.

For Topical Glass polishing, using the Supa BEAST - what type of pad will work best depends on how old or aged the water spots are on the glass. It seems like the more time goes by the more case-hardened things like water spots, drizzle stain and road film will be impacted onto the glass. Thus a more aggressive pad is needed.

If the the water spotting, drizzle stains or road film you're trying to remove is not to bad then a foam polishing pad will work. Crank your Supa BEAST up to the 6 speed setting and press the pad against the glass while making slow, overlapping passes.

If this doesn't work - then switch to either a foam cutting pad or a short fiber length microfiber or DA wool pad.

If you can clarify would be great.

Let me know if the above answered your questions.


:cheers:

 

[Kamakaz1961]

I watched your Diamondite Glass polishing video live, however, I came in a few minutes late. I did not know what type of pad you used for the Diamondite Glass Polish. My guess was a polishing pad, however, during the video there was a mention of a softer pad. But again I arrived at your live video a couple of minutes late.

I did buy the Diamondite Glass Polish along with the Black Label Glass coating. I am using the Supa Beast.

I hope this clarifies what I was asking. Thank you for all your videos! Going to watch you next video on How to Restore Faded Black Trim tomorrow on Facebook! KEEP ON ROCKING!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I watched your Diamondite Glass polishing video live, however, I came in a few minutes late. I did not know what type of pad you used for the Diamondite Glass Polish.

If you start watching at the 14:30 time mark, I share the pad I'm using.

The pad I was using on the Supa BEAST with the optional FLEX 6" backing plate was this pad,


7 inch RUPES Coarse Wool Polishing Pad


I love these pads for when I'm working on really neglected paint and for TOPICAL glass polishing.


But just to add... when doing topical glass polishing just about any foam or fiber pad will work and any free spinning, gear-driven orbital polisher, by hand or rotary polisher.