Autowerx CeriGlass Guide

[AutowerxDetailing]

Autowerx CeriGlass Guide (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/52179-autowerx-ceriglass-guide.html)


I have seen a lot of threads with horror stories of people trying to polish their windshield with different product/pad combinations and decided to make this guide to set the record straight on a few things about polishing glass.

Here are some of the common trends I have noticed:

1. Most FREAK OUT when they use the LC glass polishing pads due to how aggressive they are. Most windshields will not need this aggressive of a pad. Also, it is IMPOSSIBLE to finish out the glass with no defects with just these polishing pads, they simply leave too much marring as you will see in the pictures to follow.

2. People assume they can use a DA and get amazing results. I'm just going to say it: You can't. You can get decent results with a DA but nowhere near what you can achieve with a rotary. You simply need to be able to apply A LOT of pressure AND keep the pad spinning to level deep scratches. With a DA you can't do that (exception: forced rotation Flex 3401 VRG).

On to the tutorial...

Products Used:
- PC 7424XP
- Dewalt 849X
- CeriGlass polish
- H2O
- 4" LC glass cutting pad
- 5.5" LC Hydro Tech cyan pad

This windshield is from my Wife's 2004 Kia Spectra. I have NO idea how it got so messed up. I originally thought that I had scratched it up one time when I was scrubbing some bugs off after a long road trip but the more I look at the scratches they are in so many different directions they had to have built up from years of abuse.

The entire windshield looks like this:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-12_21_37_29.jpg

First let's try what most people try: PC 7424XP + CeriGlass + LC glass cutting pad.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-12_21_25_00.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-12_21_38_54.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-12_21_47_38.jpg

Heck, let's even do a test spot...

Before:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-12_23_00_19.jpg

After (Yikes!!! It's 10x worse now OMG what should I do???):
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-12_23_00_52.jpg

As you can see, the glass cutting pads are VERY aggressive. Their only purpose is to level deep scratches. In my case I probably could have gone without them and still corrected the glass 75% leaving some of the deeper scratches... but, that's not how I roll. So just keep in mind. If you use these pads things will look MUCH WORSE before they start to look better.

After IDK... 50? section passes passes with the PCXP and a cyan HT pad here is what most of the glass still looked like:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_21_48_21.jpg

Some of the shallow scratches are gone but the glass is still nowhere near where I want it to be.

Next, instead of pretending to polish the glass we will learn how to REALLY polish the glass.

Step one: Tape off your working area and cover the paint and anything else you don't want to get polish splatter all over. You will be working the product very wet and it will sling no matter what you do.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_21_48_47.jpg

Step two: Select the appropriate tool for the job. Any forced rotation rotary or DA should work fine. You don't need speed, you need forced rotation (more on that later).
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_21_48_57.jpg

Step three: Dedicate some time for this process. Polishing glass takes much longer than polishing paint and depending on the condition of your glass it might take a while. My glass was particularly jacked up and it took me about 2 hours just to polish half the windshield. I'm assuming for just water spots and light etching from wipers should be able to polish out much faster.

Let's get to it shall we?

Work in small 2x2 sections. You need to do this so the polish does not dry out so fast.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_21_52_38.jpg

Alternate the direction of your polisher with each section pass just like when polishing paint.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_21_58_31.jpg

When the polish starts to dry spray with water to reactivate and continue working the polish. This allows the polish to fully break down and will give you the best results.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_21_52_50.jpg

Inspect your results, always, before proceeding to the next area. You need to know that you are getting out the defects. In this case with the glass cutting pads it almost looks worse; however, you can notice that the direction of the swirls and marring have changed and they are only light marring caused by the pads. This tells me that I have leveled the deep scratches and now only need to buff out the light scratches from this initial polishing step.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_21_59_55.jpg

Repeat your initial "abrasive" polishing step over the entire windshield until it is uniformly, lightly scratched to hell. Next we will polish all this mess out with a finer pad.

Grab your HT Cyan and your rotary and let's get to work. This step takes the longest time.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_22_01_08.jpg

Checking my work as I go. As you can see most of the initial swirls from the glass cutting pads is already gone.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_22_13_13.jpg

Working the rotary at about 1000-1200rpm keep about 10-15lbs of pressure over the pad and work with a moderately slow arm speed. Too high of rpms or too slow arm speed will heat the glass up too fast and cause the polish to dry up prematurely. It's hard to explain but you sort of have to play with it to get a feel for the correct rpm/arm speed combo to keep the polish wet for as long as possible. Make about 15-20 section passes with the same polish, re-wetting it as needed and then inspect your work. This should polish out all of the swirls and marring created by the glass cutting pads and most other defects already in the glass.

With the HT pad I widened my working area out a bit and kept the polish wet with sprays of water as it dried (which happens after about every 3 to 4 section passes. I kept the speed at about 1000rpm for this entire phase. More speed and the polish dries to fast and the glass gets too hot. If the glass ever gets too hot to touch you need to IMMEDIATELY STOP and wait for it to cool off. You will notice if the glass is starting to heat up because the polish will clear up in spots where the glass is too hot as you see here near the bottom of the section I was polishing.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_22_19_09.jpg

Here are some 50/50's of the finished results under different lighting:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_23_13_54.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_23_14_17.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_23_15_17.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_23_15_25.jpg

Final:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1487/medium/2012-06-27_23_16_05.jpg

As you can see with the right tools, technique and enough time to complete the process properly you can have amazing results polishing even the most scratch & swirl laden glass. Thanks for looking!

[Mike Phillips]

Also, it is IMPOSSIBLE to finish out the glass with no defects with just these polishing pads, they simply leave too much marring as you will see in the pictures to follow.


Possibly, but I've finished out using only the glass pads using only a rotary buffer with no marring. There's a couple of variables involved so always test first.





2. People assume they can use a DA and get amazing results. I'm just going to say it:

You can't.


I agree, you need a rotary buffer.





You simply need to be able to apply A LOT of pressure AND keep the pad spinning to level deep scratches. With a DA you can't do that (exception: forced rotation Flex 3401 VRG).


I agree and have written the same thing elsewhere on this forum.


[/QUOTE]


And I would strongly agree and recommend to anyone attempting to machine polish glass to completely cover everything else surrounding the glass with some type of cover because machine polishing with a glass polish is very messy. The potential to scratch the paint wiping glass polish splatter dots exists also.


How to remove tiny pinhole pits in glass windows using a rotary buffer (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/diamondite/40436-how-remove-tiny-pinhole-pits-glass-windows-using-rotary-buffer.html)

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/761/MBwithPitsinGlass02.jpg



Great write-up Nicholas!


Just one tip for anyone reading this planning on machine polishing glass,

Test your pads, products, tools and "your technique" anywhere except where the driver looks through the windshield just in case something goes wrong.



:)

[BobbyG]

Nicholas,

An splendid tutorial loaded with a ton of great information and photos. :dblthumb2:

Tutorials like this really help the reader understand that this is an involved process that takes skill, practice, the right equipment, product, and TIME....

Plan ahead, take your time, and do it right the first time.....:props:

[Avi@CarPro]

Nicolas

Thank you for the thorough write up, it explain very well how to polish a glass! ,
good job!:xyxthumbs:

[AutowerxDetailing]

Thanks Mike! I agree with your advice about NOT trying this for the first time on the driver side portion of your windshield!

Thanks for the props Bobby!

Also, I would like to give a special shout out to Cee Dog for his original CeriGlass review which helped me plan my course of action for this tutorial without too much trial and error.

[rider9195]

Thanks for great review and explanation Nicholas! When I polished my glass I used CeriGlass with my PCXP and a LC Glass Polishing Pad, not the cutting pad. It surprisingly cut through the light wiper marks and left a very nice finish. But I do agree that a rotary polisher is the way to go for glass polishing.

[john b]

nice job,thanks

[AutowerxDetailing]

Nicolas

Thank you for the thorough write up, it explain very well how to polish a glass! ,
good job!:xyxthumbs:

Thanks Avi! You guys make a great product!

[Y2KSVT]

First time with a rotary buffer and already creating tutorials. Impressive! :props:

[AutowerxDetailing]

First time with a rotary buffer and already creating tutorials. Impressive! :props:

LOL! Hey what can I say, I'm a quick learner. And, technically this was my 2nd time using my new rotary. :buffing:

Honestly, I was just so impressed with the results that I wanted to share it with everyone. I hope anyone that has a glass polishing project coming up will find this information helpful.

[Y2KSVT]

LOL! Hey what can I say, I'm a quick learner. And, technically this was my 2nd time using my new rotary. :buffing:

Honestly, I was just so impressed with the results that I wanted to share it with everyone. I hope anyone that has a glass polishing project coming up will find this information helpful.

The windshield and driver's door glass have some serious issues that I'd like to take care of. I just need a rotary, first. It's more likely that I'll trade the car in before I care enough to fix it. Just one of the many things I'd need to do to the car to make me somewhat happy with it.

[AutowerxDetailing]

Having picture perfect glass definitely makes for a better driving experience... especially at night.

The thing that killed me is I dragged my wife out into the garage to show her the half and half of the windshield and her response was "Eh, it looks kinda better I guess." She had always denied that there were any scratches on there in the first place though.

[Mike Phillips]

Honestly, I was just so impressed with the results that I wanted to share it with everyone.



Like the saying,

Each one teach one...


The best part is that your article is well-written, has great pictures and your writing style is positive and helpful.

I know of detailing forum personalities that think they're "all that" yet I've never seen a single professional, helpful article they've authored. Zero. Just read through their posting history on any forum they post to.


One of the rewarding things about writing a good how-to article on an established, credible detailing discussion forum is that it will be around for a l-o-n-g time and help hundreds, if not thousands of people into the future.

IT also brands your name because people will remember the person that helped them, that's why I wrote this article about taking some time to consider what type of name to use on a discussion forum.

Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tricks-tips-techniques/23241-brand-yourself-brand-your-forum-nickname-brand-your-business-name.html)


I'm in this for the long run, that is I've been posting to the Internet since 1994 and I plan on posting to forums until the day I die because I enjoy it and it's a part of who I am. On the flipside of the coin, I've seen a lot of shooting stars come and go. There's room for everyone but if you're going to be in this for the long run and you're of the type that likes to help others and you want to leverage your efforts to their maximum potential then carefully consider the "name" you post under.

My article above really states the ramifications in-depth. I can't tell you how many times I've met leaders in the automotive business world at places like SEMA that come up to me and let me know they've been reading my articles for years.

A good name and a good reputation is built through a person's posting history. Guard it carefully.


:)

[CEE DOG]

Also, I would like to give a special shout out to Cee Dog for his original CeriGlass review which helped me plan my course of action for this tutorial without too much trial and error.

Thank you :props: I appreciate that greatly.

Awesome writeup! Rofl at your wifes denial of their existence.

Excellent step by step and glad to see your verification of many of the same methods I used. That Cyan Foam pad works great! Also, spraying the pad occasionally to reactivate the polish so you break it down completely is an important step imo.

I disagree about not being able to get perfect results via D/A but I have only used the 3401. However based on the power of the Griots there's no way the amount of pressure I was using would have stopped it. I've never used a PC.

Of course since I have a rotary I don't use the 3401 on glass polishing. I did that only for the writeup.

Excellent work and much appreciated by us all :props:

[WRAPT C5Z06]

I've never used a PC.


You're not missing anything. :laughing: