Glass polishing - How to remove scratches in glass

[Mike Phillips]

Anyone have idea, how much could it be the cost for a customer removing scratches from glass in a sedan windshield? (scratches like the honda windshield in this post pics)

I think the fastest I've ever buffed out just a windshield is roughly 2 hours using a Flex PE14 Rotary buffer. (faster than using a dual action polisher).


So figure 2-3 hours and either charge by the hour, (best), or by the job.

[Mike Phillips]

Just to note, I shipped all the products you see in the first post of this thread, these ones,





I shipped these products to Argentina and then used the step-by-step directions shared in this thread to teach the guys in the class how to remove wiper scratches from a classic Mustang windshield.

Autogeek's Detailing Class in South America!


On Saturday April 5th and Sunday, April 6th, we held our two-day detailing boot camp class at my good friend Christian Thompson's detailing shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In my detailing boot camp classes I teach the order to do each step when detailing cars. The pictures below are taken from the different steps after first going over the products and procedures in a power point presentation. After each step is presented in the power point the topic ends with a slide that reads,

Break for hands-on





These classes are fast paced with a little classroom time to get the head knowledge needed to do a specific task or procedure the right way followed with plenty of shop time using the products and tools to back up what was learned in the class.


Removing Scratches out of Glass
One of the demo cars was a restored Mustang in dire need of both wetsanding to remove surface texture as well as glass polishing to remove decades of wiper scratches in the windshield.

For this we used the Porter Cable 7424XP plus Ceriglass from CarPro which uses Cerium Oxide for an abrasive to actually abrade the glass and level it thus removing the scratches.


The first thing I teach guys is to never start on the driver's side where if something were to go wrong you could impair the driver's vision. Instead, I teach to start on side glass, back glass or in this case, the passenger side of the windshield.




Classic cars have what are called fresh air grills where vents inside the car can draw fresh air. In most cases you cannot get to the sheetmetal below the grill to clean and remove any splatter from the glass polishing process, (or the paint polishing process), so it's important to tape-off and cover up the openings on fresh air grills on classic cars.




Here were inspecting the sheetmetal below the grill as there is already compound splatter from the other people that have at one time or another buffed out this car.

We're not going to add to it at this class...




After covering the fresh air grill with some masking tape I start by demonstrating the correct technique for using a Porter Cable to remove scratches out of the glass.






After inspecting the results from the first few passes to show the scratches are being removed and optical clarity is being restored, it's time for one of the students get some hands-on training and experience.








Perfect technique his first time machine polishing glass....




When machine polishing glass it helps to have a buddy to mist a little water while you're buffing because glass polishes tend to dry up quickly. This works best with a water sprayer that really does a good job of atomizing the water into a fine spray as this dramatically reduces any splatter mess.







They also learned how to machine sand as we used this classic Mustang as our demo car for wetsanding and how to use rotary buffers.






So the glass polishing techniques shared in this article work just be sure that any time you're machine polishing scratches out of glass start like we did and that's by testing as well as starting on the passenger side not the driver's side.

[Mike Phillips]

Is Rupes Bigfoot Polisher good to use instead of the Porter Cable DA that is used in this thread?

My guess would be "yes".

Next time I have a glass polishing project I'll test out the Rupes tools for glass polishing.

[swanicyouth]

I thing a Rupes will work well. But, I still think the best DA for glass is the GG6.

[harrell51]

Thanks for the advise and tips

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using AG Online

[harrell51]

Is this your best solution for water spots as well?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using AG Online

[swanicyouth]

If the water spots aren't too bad, I just use an AIO or a cleaner wax by hand. If they are bad, you will need to try a polish or a compound via machine.

I haven't ran into glass I'd consider "etched" by water spots yet - although I'm sure its possible.

In that case, you will need the DA, CarPro Glass Pads, and Cerri Glass likely.

[Rick72]

Fantastic info. Does anyone think this is a good way to learn to use a DA?
I have some light screatches that I would like to knock out and I am wondering if this is a good thing for a beginner to try.

[Guessless]

Fantastic info. Does anyone think this is a good way to learn to use a DA?
I have some light screatches that I would like to knock out and I am wondering if this is a good thing for a beginner to try.

I'd say so,You'd get a feel for how your DA works.
Don't forget to constantly mist the glass with water, tape the moldings & put towels on or tape large plastic sheets to your car's body beforehand.

[mdrees]

Unless the car is an all original classic car with original glass I find it's always less expensive and easier to just replace the scratched glass. You can spend hours polishing glass to achieve a small improvement vs. just having it replaced with brand new glass. Just spent 8+ hours trying to restore glass in my 1970 Chevelle SS using the products shown with disappointing results. Was able to purchase a full set of new glass for $700.