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  1. #1
    Super Member swanicyouth's Avatar
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    DA Glass Correction (scratch removal) with CarPro

    A while back I corrected my BADLY scratched windshield using Griots Garage 6" DA polisher, CeriGlass, and CarPro Rayon Pads. The rear window of my SUV also had some fine scratches in the wiper path, so I decided to correct those now. The vehicle in question is my 2001 Nissan Pathfinder. So, the glass is at least 12 years old and original. You can imagine it picked up some wiper scratches in 12 years.

    First thing I did was gather up most of the stuff I was going to use:



    The pads are the 5" Glass Rayon Pads from CarPro. The BP is the 5" Euro-Shine BP from Pak Shak.

    Then I cleaned the glass. After I cleaned it, I decontaminated it (clayed it) with a Chemical Guys Clay Block and ONR. I then placed a tape line on the vehicle in the hopes of getting a 50/50 picture of corrected/uncorrected glass.



    Here is the condition of the glass. The lines you see are scratches in the wiper path, not streaks:













    First off, I found if your planning on doing this, you need some type of good light. The light I'm using is a Coast 1,000 Lumen LED flashlight. I'll also be using a Brinkmann Tuff Max dual LED (about 300 lumens) later. You need to be able to see the defects in the glass your trying to correct. If you can't see them, and identify them, your likely wasting your time, as streaks and smudges can look like fine scratches.

    Secondly, if your going to try this with a DA, I recommend using CarPro products ONLY. As, I did this a long time ago to my windshield using "those other" glass pads (same polish) and they left terrible hazing and scratches. IMO CarPro makes the only glass pads out there that leave perfect glass.

    Maybe it's because I used a DA, Im not sure. All I can tell you is I used "those other" pads a few years ago and I scratched the crap out of my glass. Luckily, it was all 100% fixable with the CarPro products. Those "other pads" also started to fall apart after the first use. Do not use those "other pads".

    To start, you want to prime your pad. I started with a big "X":



    Then you want to work it into the pad with your fingers. After that add working product, just like polishing paint. However, you want to add more CeriGlass than you would add if you where using polish on paint. The polish is going to be diluted with water as you work, so you want to add a liberal amount of polish to the pad:



    The pads are quite thin, it may look like your using too much, your not. They need to be thin to transmit the power of the polisher to the glass. If your using a DA, an interface pad isn't required.

    Then, and this is very important for success, you need to get a spray bottle of DI water and place it somewhere so it's convenient to grab and lay down while polishing:



    Adjust the spray bottle to spray a fine mist:



    Now, to start, I set the DA on slow speed, 1 or 2, just to spread out the polish. The polish may start to dry as soon as at this point, that's OK, you want to spread it out on slow speed. Now before you start, mist the area you will be polishing with your DI water. Mist it to wet it, not so its dripping off the glass.

    Then, you want to polish the glass. I started at speed 5, but moved the machine to full speed (6). I'm using a fairly heavy downward pressure, maybe a little more than you would use to get defects out of paint with a PC. As Im polishing, I'm monitoring the temperature of the pad through the DA's collar around the spindle mechanism by feeling it with my fingers. It will get hot, but not super hot because of the use of water to keep the polish liquid.

    My arm speed is slow, maybe 1.5" a second. I'm working in a criss cross pattern, just like polishing paint, always juggling the water bottle to not let the polish dry. The pads are thin, and they can get hot, again ample water is key - I can't stress that enough.

    There is one thing that is sacred here:

    ******Do not let the polish dry******

    You will be spraying the glass frequently with your DI water bottle. Polish will fling everywhere, make a mess - but that's OK. You may need to add water every 12" of polishing, that's OK. Just don't let the polish dry, or you will end up with some marred up / jacked up looking glass.

    The reason your using a "fine spray" with your sprayer is, you don't want to use a "stream setting" and have all the water and polish run off the glass. You want to "mist" the glass and polish INTO the wet area, never letting the polisher run on a dry area. And, it will dry fast.

    Use more water than less if in doubt. You want to polish and spray at the same time, don't shut the polisher down to wet the glass. It's a bit of a juggling act, the bale handle on the GG6 helps you to hold the polisher with one hand while your spraying water with the other. Setting up a spot to conveniently sit your water bottle before starting to polish is very helpful.

    You will be able to polish for maybe 15 minutes on your initial amount of polish. You don't need to keep adding polish during that 15 minutes, just water. You use a lot of polish to start, but keep working it over maybe 15 to 20 minutes. The buffer need not stop for that 15-20 minutes. You will use little polish overall, because you can polish for a long time on your original amount of polish.

    Most defects will be removed in this 15 to 20 minute polishing session, unless you have heavy scratches - then repeat. I only found it necessary to polish each side of the glass once to remove the defects. The final few passes I lightened up the pressure and speed.

    You can choose to tape up / cover up the edges of the glass, roof, trim, etc... If you hit paint with these pads, you may do some damage, so it's up to you. I choose to just be careful, because I hate tape. Tape never works for me. Invariably the glue from the tape somehow gets on my towel and ends up on the surface I've just polished.

    The car will need a 2BM wash when your done, no matter how careful you are at covering stuff up. When you do that, most off the polish that flung on the paint can be removed with a pressure washer.

    This is what it will look like when your done polishing:



    Yes, it's a mess:



    More mess:







    All that dripping and splatter is from keeping the polish wet with water. You don't want to work with another car on your side, or it will be splattered as well.

    Now its time to clean off the polish and inspect the glass. This polish is gritty and abrasive. I found the best way to remove it is with LIBERAL amounts of ONR at QD strength (1:16) and a few towels. You want to use decent towels, but not super nice fluffy ones, as your only cleaning WET polish off glass, your not going to inflict scratches. You want to make your ONR mix with DI water, as its will drip all over the paint as well and dry.



    Don't wipe the polish off the paint using a QD or waterless wash. Its abrasive, you want to leave it there until you are done (you used DI water for everything so it won't leave spots) and do a thorough pressure rinsing and careful 2BM wash.

    Cleaning up the mess on side 2 of glass with ONR:



    ONR mixed with polish:



    Use ONR and a powerful sprayer to get as much polish out of the crevices, as it will find its way there:



    Now that you removed all the polish, its time to get the glass surgically clean so you can inspect it. I have only found one towel that will not leave MICRO-lint on glass. I'm talking about lint that so fine you can't see it on paint. That towel is the CarPro Fast Glass Towel (used with DI water)



    After the glass is perfectly cleaned, all the scratches were gone and the glass was optically perfect (these were the scratched areas):



    Yes, I'm am looking into glass, not a mirror!






  2. #2
    Super Member swanicyouth's Avatar
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    Here is my attempt at getting a 50/50 shot. It's hard to do on glass unless it's very badly scratched. Also, it was hard to get a clean line, since polish shot all over the other side and was wet and drippy



    If you look 3/4 of the way through the right side of the light and just below it, you can see where the scratches stop.

    Time to gently clean the pad, remove the tape, and polish the other side:



    This is after I did the other side. I took this pic to show you how the wet polish should look:



    Now its time to clean up, polish saturated the pad and BP:



    They clean up easy with APC or pad cleaner:



    As you can see, pad cleans up well and hold up well. This single pad probably has 2 + hours of polishing on it. I bought several and have only had to use this one pad.

    Pockets approves:



    These pads are quite flexible:



    CeriGlass is very water soluble. When working with these pads, you end up with some fibers on your clean BP:



    If your picky like me you want to get them off. Tape and a stiff brush works.





    Later that night, I went to inspect my work under the most discriminating lights I know, the dreaded Nighttime Gas Station Lights:



    These lights show it all. Every piece of dust. Here is an example of glass I haven't worked on yet. This side glass looks pretty good right (haven't corrected this one yet):



    Looks clean and scratch free? Here is what it really looks like with the aid of a Brinkmann:





    Here are some pics from that night of the rear glass I corrected. These lights show everything. The dots are dust:













    As an aside, this is what I use to dry pads, on high, pads are bone dry in about 25 mins:



    Thanks for looking, and good luck if you try this yourself.

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  4. #3
    Super Member richy's Avatar
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    Bravo!! Great writeup; very clear instructions; VERY well done!


    Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

  5. #4
    Super Member swanicyouth's Avatar
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    Re: DA Glass Correction (scratch removal) with CarPro

    Quote Originally Posted by richy View Post
    Bravo!! Great writeup; very clear instructions; VERY well done!


    Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk
    Thanks, just posted it on L2D as well.

  6. #5
    Super Member zmcgovern45's Avatar
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    Re: DA Glass Correction (scratch removal) with CarPro

    Just bought Ceriglass and a glass pad a couple of weeks ago... have yet to try them, but my wife's car has been plagued with etched water spots for a while now and I need to take care of them... thanks for this great write up/tutorial!

    Retired Professional Detailer

  7. #6
    Super Member swanicyouth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zmcgovern45 View Post
    Just bought Ceriglass and a glass pad a couple of weeks ago... have yet to try them, but my wife's car has been plagued with etched water spots for a while now and I need to take care of them... thanks for this great write up/tutorial!
    Just keep it wet and you will be fine!

  8. #7
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    Re: DA Glass Correction (scratch removal) with CarPro

    Wow! Wonderful results! Thanks for the Walk through!

  9. #8
    Super Member Avi@CarPro's Avatar
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    Re: DA Glass Correction (scratch removal) with CarPro

    Very Good review!, great job !
    i think you are a master of glass polishing now,
    one thing i would suggest you, seal the glass!
    you can try the FlyBy30 glass coat we do. there will be much less water drops on surface with that grade of flat glass surface!

  10. #9
    Super Member swanicyouth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Avi@CarPro View Post
    Very Good review!, great job !
    i think you are a master of glass polishing now,
    one thing i would suggest you, seal the glass!
    you can try the FlyBy30 glass coat we do. there will be much less water drops on surface with that grade of flat glass surface!
    Thanks, I like the Pinnacle And Griots Glass sealants. I'm going to apply one of those today. When I run out of that stuff, I'll give Fly By 30 a try.

  11. #10
    Super Member sproketser's Avatar
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    Re: DA Glass Correction (scratch removal) with CarPro

    Great how to again swany , keep them coming up .

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