How to Polish Glass with Pinnacle GlassWork Water Spot Remover

[Mike Phillips]

How to Polish Glass with Pinnacle GlassWork Water Spot Remover


Project Car
This 1936 Chevy 5-Window Coupe recently had the doors repainted, (both sides), and the entire car had overspray on it including the glass, wheels and tires. The entire exterior looked dull and lifeless, it had no bling whatsoever....

The paint on this streetrod is dull and lifeless and the exterior surface of the glass is also dull and no longer shines...




I originally planned on using this car for an extreme makeover to showcase how to remove swirls by machine but the problem with only machine polishing the paint is the rest of the exterior will still have overspray on it and look dull and lifeless. Any areas where the overspray is not removed will distract from the shine on the rest of the car.

So before tackling the paint I machine polished the all the exterior glass to restore clarity and ensure a complete detailed look to the entire car.

So here's a step-by-step guide on how to polish glass to remove pretty much any kind of contamination including, water spots, overspray, industrial fallout and real common if you drive your car in rainy environments... road film.



Before we get started, let's take a deeper look at why you need to polish your car's glass...


Over time, your car's glass needs to be polished...
No matter what you drive, new car, new truck or new SUV or anything else, if it's being driven then the exterior is getting stained with some time of contaminants. Contaminants build-up slowly over time so you don't see the build-up because there's no dramatic change that happens overnight.


Visual Indicator
Here's an indicator though, if your car's paint is looking dull and needs to be clayed and have swirls, scratches and oxidation removed, then chances are really good all the exterior surfaces on your car needs to be deep-cleaned and polished.


Road Film
If you drive in an area where it rains, then your car's exterior gets stained with an accumulation of road film.


What is road film?
Next time you're in any major parking lot, or even in your own driveway, look on the ground at the area where the engine would be located in a parked car. Check to see if you see any kind of staining caused by fluids dripping from the car, things like,

• Motor Oil
• Power Steering Fluid
• Transmission Fluid
• Radiator Coolant or Antifreeze
• Brake Fluid (Lets hope not but I've seen it)
• Gear Oil from front or rear axles
• Grease

Over time with wear and tear, gaskets stop sealing and fluids drip off your car and onto the ground where you park. If a parked car drips fluids, chances are good the same car is dripping some level of fluids when it's being driven. These drips of all kinds of oily fluids build up on our streets and highways. This isn't a huge problem when it's hot and dry outside.


Rain Splatter = Road Film
Anytime it rains, the fluids that build-up on our roads and highways mixes with the rain water and is splattered onto your car by all the spinning tires on all the cars driving in front of you. The rain acts to transfer this oily, dirty gunk onto the entire exterior of your car and it shows up as road film.


Stained Paint
When it comes to your car's paint, this road film stains the paint usually a grayish, brownish color that really only a trained eye can see on lighter colors during any detailing process that includes compounding or polishing the paint.


Stained Glass
In the same way that road film stains your car's paint it also stains your car's glass but as mentioned above, it happens slowly over time so in most cases you don't notice it. Regardless, if you drive your car in any type of wet, rainy weather, the exterior of your car, including the glass is getting a build-up of road film.


I know first hand... I lived in Oregon...
If you know anything about the state of Oregon you know they have a term called,

Liquid Sunshine

And that's because it rains a LOT in Oregon, I know... I lived most of my life there and also detailed cars for a chunk of my professional detailing career. I found early on as a detailer that I couldn't just clean and shine the paint on my customer's cars I also had to polish the glass due to water spots from rain and road film from road film caused by rain splatter.


What about a spray-on glass cleaner?
Many people think a spray on glass cleaner will clean the glass including removing road film and water spots but that's simply not the case and anyone reading this with an eye for detail knows this is true. Nope, what you need is a mechanical means of abrading the glass to break the bond of road film and any other contaminants to remove this gunk off the glass and do it in a way that won't also scratch the glass at the same time.


By Hand or Machine
Now that we're all on the same page and we understand that periodically you need to polish your car's exterior glass, let me how you how you can easily do this yourself by hand or machine.



Working by Hand
Pinnacle Glasswork Water Spot Remover can be used by hand to remove water spots, road film and in this example, paint overspray off the exterior glass. I recommend using some type of cloth applicator because the nap of the cloth will provide a little more bite to help you work the glass-safe abrasives over the surface.

Work on a clean, cool surface in the shade
Always work on a clean, cools surface in the shade. I've already wiped the entire car down using a waterless wash, (including the glass and chrome), and this hotrod coupe is on our clean, air-conditioned garage.




In this example I'm using a simple, microfiber applicator pad...



Shake before use
Always shake any liquid that's been standing before use to create a uniform mixture. This is especially true for any liquid that contains abrasives as it's possible over time for settling to occur.




Directions

Step 1: Apply the product using overlapping, circular motions.

Step 2: For larger windows, work smaller sections at a time.

Step 3: Put some passion behind the pad - This means you need to use a little elbow grease. The stronger the bond of the contaminants the more pressure or elbow grease you'll want to use.








After thoroughly working the product over the surface, wipe off any excess residue using a clean microfiber towel.





Working by machine
You can use just about any tool you would normally use to polish paint to machine apply Pinnacle Glassworks Water Spot Remover, in this example I'm using a Porter Cable 7424XP with a 3.5" backing plate and a 4" Lake Country Cyan Hydro-Tech Foam Cutting pad.








Shake product before use and while using
Anytime you're using a liquid you should shake it before use and periodically during the project to ensure a uniform mixture.





Directions

Step 1: Apply some product directly to the face of the pad when using any type of DA Polisher.




Step 2: Spread the product out over the window. For larger windows work a smaller section at a time.




Step 3: After the product is spread out, turn the polisher onto a high setting, in this example I'm using speed 6 on the PC. Begin making overlapping patterns using a crosshatch pattern. Apply firm pressure and use a slow arm speed, allow the pad to work the abrasives against the glass to remove any contaminants.







Continue to work the product till it just starts to dissipate but you can still see a film on the surface.




Build-up on the face of the pad
Here's you can see the contaminants building up on the surface of the pad. It's a good idea to clean the pad after each section you buff so you don't re-introduce the removed contaminants back onto a new section of glass. This acts to make the residue harder to wipe off and also dilutes any fresh product you add.




After working the entire driver's side window I finished the rest of the passenger side by machine. While I don't mind demonstrating hand-techniques my preference is so do as many steps as possible by machine as the machine tends to do a better job and it never gets tired.




Step 4: Remove any excess product off the glass using a clean microfiber towel.







Seal and Protect Glass
Apply Pinnacle GlassCoat Window Sealant with Rain Repellent. After you polish all the glass and restore a crystal clear, squeaky clean surface, not is a good time to apply a glass coating.

A glass coating will,

1. Help keep your glass cleaner longer.

2.Make it easier for your wipers to remove water for clear vision.

3.Repel water, sleet, snow and rain splatter from cars driving in front of you.



Shake before use
Always shake Pinnacle GlassCoat Window Sealant with Rain Repellent before using.


Step 1: Using a clean foam or microfiber applicator pad, apply and work over the surface a thin coating of Pinnacle GlassCoat Window Sealant.








Use an overlapping, circular motion for uniform coverage.




Allow the coating to dry for 10 to 15 minutes and then remove any excess using a clean, dry microfiber towel.


Crystal clear, sealed glass...
After you finish all the exterior glass on your car will look crystal clear and give your car a completed, brand new car look. The glass will be as shiny as it was when it was brand new and road glare will be a thing of the past.









Even the headlights on this Chevy streetrod gleam after machine cleaning...





Final Results
Here's what this streetrod looked like after we polished and sealed the glass, cleaned and dressed the tires and machine polished and machine waxed the paint.




Works on any vehicle
The products and steps outlined here will work on any vehicle, this means the car in your garage or driveway can look as good as this 1936 Chevy 5-Window Coupe!




On Autogeek.net


Pinnacle GlassWork Water Spot Remover

Pinnacle GlassCoat Window Sealant with Rain Repellent

[john b]

Nice article Mike.

Wonder if a person could use that once in a while to clean gunk of glass that has GTechniq g1 glass coating on? without removing the g1.

[90sedan]

Just bought a bottle of the glasswork water spot remover. Can't wait to try it out!

[Mike Phillips]

Nice article Mike.

Wonder if a person could use that once in a while to clean gunk of glass that has GTechniq g1 glass coating on? without removing the g1.

The answer to that would be "no". The Pinnacle GlassWork Polish has some form of glass-safe abrasive technology to "cut" off the water spots and other gunk from the surface of the glass. This means it would also abrade off any supplemental coating applied to the surface of the glass.

It's a good product for getting down to a "fresh base" as the saying goes.

Just bought a bottle of the GlassWork water spot remover.

Can't wait to try it out!

Works very good by hand or machine...

[Wors]

Mike, it is my understanding that is glass very hard. Do you recommend using a light/heavy pad always with glass polisher?

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, it is my understanding that is glass very hard. Do you recommend using a light/heavy pad always with glass polisher?

Glass is very hard but the abrasive used in Pinnacle GlassWork is safe for glass no matter what the application method. This assumes we're talking about normal application methods.

Some glass polishes use abrasives that can scratch glass especially using the wrong application material.


In this article I used a foam cutting pad to show other people that for most glass contamination problems they too can use a foam cutting pad with any type of DA Polisher and remove the defects.

If I really wanted to buff the glass out FAST I would put a wool cutting pad on a rotary buffer and as Nike says, "Just do it".

I know most people don't own a rotary buffer nor a wool cutting pad so I didn't show this approach.

Note that I also showed applying the product by hand and pointed out two key points,

1. Use something with a nap instead of foam because it will work better and faster

2. When working by hand you have to put a little passion behind the pad and the reason for this is because any type of contaminants that have some type of mechanical bond to the surface of glass are going to need some "convincing" in order to leave their home.

The biggest point I tried to make with this article is that just like your car's finish gets dirty or contaminated with foreign substances, your glass also gets contaminated and "we" as car guys and car gals tend to just focus on the paint.


What I shared in the article about buffing out cars in rainy Oregon was true and accurate. I couldn't buff out the paint for a customer and give them back a car with shiny paint but water spotted glass as it just didn't look right back then and it wouldn't look right today.


And of course, polishing the glass removes a certain level of glare off your windows which I for one really dislike in the mornings and evenings when I'm driving.


Questions for you...

1. What type of tools do you have for machine buffing?

2. What type of pads do you have for machine buffing?

[Wors]

1. What type of tools do you have for machine buffing?

- FLEX 3401 and PC

2. What type of pads do you have for machine buffing?

- Blue LC Hybrid 5", Blue/Orange/Red LC HT 3" & 5.5"

In the Thursday night broadcasts I notice you typically use a blue cutting pad as well.

[Mike Phillips]

1. What type of tools do you have for machine buffing?

- FLEX 3401 and PC

2. What type of pads do you have for machine buffing?

- Blue LC Hybrid 5", Blue/Orange/Red LC HT 3" & 5.5"

In the Thursday night broadcasts I notice you typically use a blue cutting pad as well.

When polishing glass with the Flex 3401 use the Blue 5" Hybrid

When polishing glass with the PC use the blue Hydro-Tech Pads



Don't you just love the 5" Hybrid pads on the Flex 3401?

[Wors]

Don't you just love the 5" Hybrid pads on the Flex 3401?

Yes, the flex is amazing and the hybrid pads work great on it.

[cleanmycorolla]

How similar is this product compared to DP Glass Restorer...which I love and use for many a tough water spot.....Can't wait to try the Pinnacle window sealant thoug!