Scratched glass question

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Inverted

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I have 3 white scratches, in close proximity to each other, on my driver’s side window. I hadn’t noticed them until my windows were tinted.

I own a Bauer 6” da and Griot’s 3” da. I am planning to use the Griot’s to try and buff them out. But had the following questions :

- What speed should I use / pad?
- What product(s) should I use? Is it available at most stores ?

Hoping to get this polished out today.

thanks!
 
When we purchased our son's first car, a 2004 Chevy Malibu Classic, the windows were not great. He got home from work one evening and informed me the glare was terrible during the evening and the sand etching was very bad. I purchased CarPro Ceriglass and Pinnacle polish kit. I also purchased a backing pad and 5" pad for my Flex 3401 to do the bulk of the work. You can use the product straight or I misted water on the windows as well which helps keep the product moving. After I was done I treated with Pinnacle Glass Coat.

Glass Repair Kit

It's not going to pull out deep scratches, but for finer scratching and sand etching it worked very well. For something as severe as deep etching, or scratches, it would have to be a full-on wet sand and machine correction which I would have a professional facility that specializes in that do.
 
I dug back in some picture archives and found these two shots of the glass after I was finished with it. It's a slow process because you are polishing glass, but it worked. My friend commented "A hammer and a call to Safelite would have been faster." LMAO

View attachment 69788View attachment 69789
 
Spikey Mike said:
When we purchased our son's first car, a 2004 Chevy Malibu Classic, the windows were not great. He got home from work one evening and informed me the glare was terrible during the evening and the sand etching was very bad. I purchased CarPro Ceriglass and Pinnacle polish kit. I also purchased a backing pad and 5" pad for my Flex 3401 to do the bulk of the work. You can use the product straight or I misted water on the windows as well which helps keep the product moving. After I was done I treated with Pinnacle Glass Coat.


Glass Repair Kit



It's not going to pull out deep scratches, but for finer scratching and sand etching it worked very well. For something as severe as deep etching, or scratches, it would have to be a full-on wet sand and machine correction which I would have a professional facility that specializes in that do.
Click to expand...


Didn't know you could wet sand deep scratches and get them out.
 
Spikey Mike said:
Here's the video I watched of the process/company. YouTube
Click to expand...

I didn't watch the video because in the opening statement it said for minor scratches that you cannot feel with your fingernail. You said deep scratches..big difference.
 
Inverted said:
I have 3 white scratches, in close proximity to each other, on my driver’s side window. I hadn’t noticed them until my windows were tinted.
Click to expand...

Here's your picture so we can all see it easier.


69767d1590925784-scratched-glass-question-761a7db6-44a4-400d-ae16-16fdfddc00d8-jpg




Inverted said:
I own a Bauer 6” da and Griot’s 3” da. I am planning to use the Griot’s to try and buff them out. But had the following questions :

- What speed should I use / pad?
- What product(s) should I use? Is it available at most stores ?
Click to expand...


High speed for that tool.

As far as I know, there are not glass polishes at the retail level that contain cerium oxide. So you must shop online. We carry CarPro Ceriglass here at Autogeek and I've used it MULTIPLE times and when used correctly it works.

CarPro Ceriglass


It is VERY TIME CONSUMING.

In fact, most of the stories I've read and heard from people that have "tried" to remove scratches and pitting from their car's windshield go like this,


It took too long and it was too hard so I gave up



Me? I just muscle through it and have patience.


:)
 
Rsurfer said:
Didn't know you could wet sand deep scratches and get them out.
Click to expand...


I have all the pictures to show how I machine sanded a scratch out the the back glass on an Audi R10 a few months ago.

Took me about 5 hours.

I used the RUPES Nano in rotary mode to start and then worked my way out with 5" discs. It was really hard as in took a lot of muscle and patience. I would say that 99.9% of the population could NEVER do this type of work successfully and would give up before they were done leaving an even bigger mess.


I always tell people this process is MESSY. Here's my latest technique to avoid getting splatter dots al lover the place.

GLASS_SCRATCH_011.JPG




And for years now I've shared what I call

The Buddy System


Practicing what I preach....

GLASS_SCRATCH_021.JPG




I think after some people try and give up their windshield somehow accidentally get cracked or broken and they call their insurance company.


:)
 
Thank you for the replies. So I just need something confirmed. A local detailer I spoke with said my scratches could not be addressed. He said : “Once you can feel them with your finger, cerium oxide won’t help. You need to replace the glass.” He basically said that cerium oxide and rayan pads aren’t for scuffed glass.

Is this accurate ?

Ps: That R10 is drool worthy
 
Inverted said:
Thank you for the replies. So I just need something confirmed. A local detailer I spoke with said my scratches could not be addressed.

He said :

“Once you can feel them with your finger, cerium oxide won’t help. You need to replace the glass.”


He basically said that cerium oxide and rayon pads aren’t for scuffed glass.

Is this accurate ?
Click to expand...

He's mostly correct.

Your fingernail would have DROPPED into the scratch on the Audi in the picture above. I fixed it. But I would say he's correct. As I stated above, 99.9% of the population could not fix it.

Experience counts for something.


:)
 
D*mmit :)

If you do seminars up north ever , let me know lol
 
I think, of course, it is better to Polish the glass than to change it, it will cost less.
 
That completely depends on your definition of the word "cost"

You are talking about hours and hours of time. How much is your time worth? At $30 an hour (which I think of as VERY LOW) you are going to spend $150 just in the value of your time (assuming 5 hours -- but Mike uses the "Buddy" system to get that done in 5 hours, which is 2 people which means possibly double that cost, or $300). Now add in the cost of the products involved (my estimate is $50 worth of product and specialized pads), and any potential soreness/loss of function in the days after, and you could be talking real cash. You also have to figure that, ESPECIALLY for windshields (but true for all car windows), they are designed to behave a certain way in accidents and when struck. If you polish out a deep scratch, you have removed material from the glass and changed the way it will behave in situations where it was thoroughly tested and engineered.

So you might save a small amount of money, but the wear on your body along with the increased risk means that for me it is simply not a "cost" saving idea. I'd rather go to the zoo with my kids :)
 
Hmm... I recently bought a brand new BMW and paid a very large sum for it. I have a habit of taking my car to the car wash so that nothing gets scratched. But yesterday I picked up my car from cleaning and noticed that they scratched the glass on the door. It's not noticeable from a distance, but when I drive, it's always in front of me. It really annoys me, I can't take it anymore. I thought for a long time how to solve this problem. There was an option to replace the glass, but they asked me for a lot of money. And then I decided to turn to specialists for polishing glass. I found

SPAM Link removed - Mike Phillips


company and these guys did the job very well.
 
BrandonDyer said:
Hmm... I recently bought a brand new BMW and paid a very large sum for it. I have a habit of taking my car to the car wash so that nothing gets scratched. But yesterday I picked up my car from cleaning and noticed that they scratched the glass on the door. It's not noticeable from a distance, but when I drive, it's always in front of me. It really annoys me, I can't take it anymore. I thought for a long time how to solve this problem. There was an option to replace the glass, but they asked me for a lot of money. And then I decided to turn to specialists for polishing glass. I found

SPAM Link removed - Mike Phillips


company and these guys did the job very well.
Click to expand...

What a clown!

"Takes it to the car wash so it won't get scratched..........."

"Scratched the door glass", but it's "Always in front of me............." :laughing::laughing::laughing:
 
And for those that will read this into the future....

Here's a brand new video we made on how to polish glass to remove sub-surface defects.

It's video Number #21

Complete List of Live Broadcast Videos on YouTube - Yancy Martinez & Mike Phillips



In the last few weeks since shooting this video - the I've received MORE comments and feedback - ALL POSITIVE - about the info, tools, products and techniques shared in the video.

If fact - out of all the LIVE Detailing Class videos, this is one of the most viewed and most commented on video - heck it might be THE most viewed and commented video in this series.

An industry expert told me just last week - compared to every other glass polishing video hes' watched - it's hands down the best. Actually said, (paraphrased)



"In your video - you can tell you've done this before and know what you're doing"


We'll take that compliment.


FWIW


:)
 
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