How to use cerium oxide correctly?

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View attachment 57853

My DD had some serious hard water stains and wiper trails. I went on a learning path of getting a perfect windshield. I started out with trying distilled white vinegar in various dilutions. Had some improvement, but with a little wetness ( like with dew in the AM )

I could still see the wiper trails.

I didn't have scratches, just trails from the wiper paths. I tried to chemically remove them with The Works bathroom cleaner in various dilutions. It really did a pretty good job, all the hard water stains were gone, but I could still see the trails under just the right lighting/wetness conditions.

I tried claying the glass, with minimal effect.

I then moved up in aggressiveness, with magic erasure, green scotch brite pad, 0000 steel wool. I was getting closer to perfection.

Even though I was checking my work as I went, I got TOO aggressive with the Green Scotch Brite. In one spot on a wiper pathway ( right in front of my line of sight ) and put some micro scratches into the windshield.

I was frantically working on this spot, using hard pressure, staying on it with elbow grease for several minutes. I did check as I went, but it really takes JUST the right lighting and angle to see them. Lesson learned.

So onto ordering Cerium Oxide. I don't have a rotary ( it's on my Master Buy List ), But I have a high speed drill and a 3M headlight restorer kit. It has a 3000 grit polishing pad 3". The backing plate has a foam pad under the hook/loop and the pad has a foam pad under the grit surface.

As you can see in the pic, I marked the problem area with blue painters tape from the inside. made my slurry in the top of a plastic lid, that I could dip the pad into. I knew I was going to have spatter, but planned on washing the car immediately after.

I did a lot of checking in this spot as I went. S

tarted getting some good results as I spent more time with speed and pressure, speed of the drill needing to be fast, keep it moving, not letting the CO dry. I used distilled water in a spray bottle to keep things wet. All in all, got great results, did the whole window, not spending as much time on my non problem areas.

Took about 1.5 hours. It was a learning curve.

BUT, as I removed my tape, I pulled up a jagged 6" piece on paint in just one spot on the top of the window. I've NOW read about Honda paint having a lot of issues. Now onto repainting this spot.....The learning continues.

Just as a side note: I've been detailing my myself/family/friends since 1980. Everything by hand. I've just come out of the stone age. I'm going to start my " new" official detailing business. ( FL licensed/Accountant/DBA with checking acct )

I've just joined this and some other detailing sites. I'm compiling what tools and products I need to get up to speed on paint correction, ceramic coating and keeping a very open mind on some of the new products available on the market to make myself more efficient with better results.

I want to be a professional, while still keeping this new business as a part time endeavor, as I own my own personal training business.



:)
 
Really, it's not hard to remove wiper trail like scratches in glass. Pitts or gouges are not coming out - just like you can't polish similar out of paint... Most detailing marketed glass polishes do not contain cerium oxide. Most are designed to just remove water spots / gunk - not correct glass. In fact, the only common one I know of is Cerri Glass (I'm sure there are others)

People will tell you that you need a rotary to do it - but this simply is not true. I've never polished glass with a rotary, it could make it faster (I'm guessing). However, like polishing paint - it's simply material removal (glass). It's like, you can correct pretty heavy paint defects on a car with a PC or a rotary if you use the correct products / methods. One may be faster - but one carries more risk.

Anyway, I'll make your life easy, cuz it's pretty much universally agreed the 2 best detailing products out there for polishing glass are:

1. Car Pro glass polishing pads

2. Car Pro Cerri Glass (cerium oxide polish)

I can almost guarantee if you use any other detailing glass polishing pad besides these & you are a noob - you will likely make your glass worse.

The trick is:

1. Run the machine (DA) wide open w/ a lot of downward pressure & many passes.

2. Use DI water to keep the polish wet. This will also keep the machine/pad cool (that is key). Don't electrocute yourself.

I can't imagine using a drill or similar to polish glass if you have a DA. The polish from Car Pro is prolly $12 and 1 pad is prolly less. The pads are quite durable (provided you don't cook them). I've used a single pad to polish out many pieces of glass.
 
JJZ4MR said:
View attachment 57849

View attachment 57853

My DD had some serious hard water stains and wiper trails. I went on a learning path of getting a perfect windshield. I started out with trying distilled white vinegar in various dilutions. Had some improvement, but with a little wetness ( like with dew in the AM )

I could still see the wiper trails.

I didn't have scratches, just trails from the wiper paths. I tried to chemically remove them with The Works bathroom cleaner in various dilutions. It really did a pretty good job, all the hard water stains were gone, but I could still see the trails under just the right lighting/wetness conditions.

I tried claying the glass, with minimal effect.

I then moved up in aggressiveness, with magic erasure, green scotch brite pad, 0000 steel wool. I was getting closer to perfection.

Even though I was checking my work as I went, I got TOO aggressive with the Green Scotch Brite. In one spot on a wiper pathway ( right in front of my line of sight ) and put some micro scratches into the windshield.

I was frantically working on this spot, using hard pressure, staying on it with elbow grease for several minutes. I did check as I went, but it really takes JUST the right lighting and angle to see them. Lesson learned.

So onto ordering Cerium Oxide. I don't have a rotary ( it's on my Master Buy List ), But I have a high speed drill and a 3M headlight restorer kit. It has a 3000 grit polishing pad 3". The backing plate has a foam pad under the hook/loop and the pad has a foam pad under the grit surface.

As you can see in the pic, I marked the problem area with blue painters tape from the inside. made my slurry in the top of a plastic lid, that I could dip the pad into. I knew I was going to have spatter, but planned on washing the car immediately after.

I did a lot of checking in this spot as I went. S

tarted getting some good results as I spent more time with speed and pressure, speed of the drill needing to be fast, keep it moving, not letting the CO dry. I used distilled water in a spray bottle to keep things wet. All in all, got great results, did the whole window, not spending as much time on my non problem areas.

Took about 1.5 hours. It was a learning curve.

BUT, as I removed my tape, I pulled up a jagged 6" piece on paint in just one spot on the top of the window. I've NOW read about Honda paint having a lot of issues. Now onto repainting this spot.....The learning continues.

Just as a side note: I've been detailing my myself/family/friends since 1980. Everything by hand. I've just come out of the stone age. I'm going to start my " new" official detailing business. ( FL licensed/Accountant/DBA with checking acct )

I've just joined this and some other detailing sites. I'm compiling what tools and products I need to get up to speed on paint correction, ceramic coating and keeping a very open mind on some of the new products available on the market to make myself more efficient with better results.

I want to be a professional, while still keeping this new business as a part time endeavor, as I own my own personal training business.



:)
Click to expand...


Great post.

Not sure why you tagged it onto this thread?

It probably would be better to have created your own dedicated thread to share your story and this project.


I would like to thank you for joining the AGO forum and moving forward, I hope you find the help you get here to be as good or better than any help you receive anywhere else.


:)
 
swanicyouth said:
Really, it's not hard to remove wiper trail like scratches in glass. Pitts or gouges are not coming out - just like you can't polish similar out of paint... Most detailing marketed glass polishes do not contain cerium oxide. Most are designed to just remove water spots / gunk - not correct glass. In fact, the only common one I know of is Cerri Glass (I'm sure there are others)

People will tell you that you need a rotary to do it - but this simply is not true. I've never polished glass with a rotary, it could make it faster (I'm guessing). However, like polishing paint - it's simply material removal (glass). It's like, you can correct pretty heavy paint defects on a car with a PC or a rotary if you use the correct products / methods. One may be faster - but one carries more risk.

Anyway, I'll make your life easy, cuz it's pretty much universally agreed the 2 best detailing products out there for polishing glass are:

1. Car Pro glass polishing pads

2. Car Pro Cerri Glass (cerium oxide polish)

I can almost guarantee if you use any other detailing glass polishing pad besides these & you are a noob - you will likely make your glass worse.

The trick is:

1. Run the machine (DA) wide open w/ a lot of downward pressure & many passes.

2. Use DI water to keep the polish wet. This will also keep the machine/pad cool (that is key). Don't electrocute yourself.

I can't imagine using a drill or similar to polish glass if you have a DA. The polish from Car Pro is prolly $12 and 1 pad is prolly less. The pads are quite durable (provided you don't cook them). I've used a single pad to polish out many pieces of glass.
Click to expand...


Hi. First, the input and knowledge sharing here is amazing and relieving. So thanks to all the pros that help. I just got in the carpro cerium oxide and matching pads. Can I just work on the rear wiper scratches or do I need to go over entire rear glass for uniformity?

thanks

Ryan
 
Goonie75 said:
Hi. First, the input and knowledge sharing here is amazing and relieving. So thanks to all the pros that help.

I just got in the carpro cerium oxide and matching pads.



Can I just work on the rear wiper scratches or do I need to go over entire rear glass for uniformity?


thanks

Ryan
Click to expand...


Hi Ryan,

Some people will say you have to buff the entire windshield so you don't create a visible visual variance in the glass.

I'd say the scratches are likely so shallow and glass is so hard that you won't see a thing if you just buff the wiper marks.

But I would add that after you chase out all the wiper marks, might as well make a few section passes over the rest of the glass just to remove any road film or other surface irregularities for a more perfect surface.

Then clean the glass really well and apply a glass coating.



:)
 
Take a moment to read my article below and look at the pictures....


Glass polishing - How to remove scratches in glass


Here's an excerpt....


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




:)
 
Yes, Mike's picture is no joke. How do you use cerium oxide based products? One word - WET! And wet means sling!!!

Plus the fact cerium oxide is high on the abrasive scale and I don't want to be rubbing off something that aggressive from my painted surfaces or even plastic and trim pieces.
 
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