Windshield wiper scratches/Glass polishing: Ceriglass + Pinnacle Black Label Coating Review

[Kira@Autogeek]

Tools and chemicals used:
• FLEX P14 Rotary
• Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay and Pinnacle Clay Lube
• 3” and 5” CarPro Rayon Pads
• Ceriglass Glass Polish
• Pinnacle Crystal Clear Glass Cleaner with Water Repellent
• Pinnacle Black Label Surface Cleansing Polish
• Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Glass Coating

The windshield on my 2002 Le Sabre was looking rough. Windshield wipers, sand, and general wear and tear had scratched the glass pretty bad. They weren’t deep scratches (didn’t really catch my nail when I ran it over it) but the visibility at night was awful! I have never used a polisher, but I did some reading through the forum and looking a bit on AG’s product descriptions till I was confident enough to try it!

Below: Wiper scratches/marring


I started by washing off any dirt and debris with Pinnacle Crystal Clear Glass Cleaner, and worked some glass clay over the windshield. I washed away residue before starting with the Flex.

I loaded up my 5” Rayon pad with Ceriglass. I divided the windshield in to 6 sections. I ran the machine in a crosshatching pattern over the glass, working at Speed 2 and gradually worked to 4. Took a lot of time with a heavy hand, until there was noticeable difference in the scratches.

Below, I have a video to show how much the scratches affected visibility. I move the camera from a corrected section to the untouched section.

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pdMxzjLHFwA"]CarPro CeriGlass- Windshield 50/50 - YouTube[/video]

Once I corrected the glass to my liking, I cleaned and prepped the glass with Pinnacle Black Label Surface Cleansing Polish. Applied with a foam applicator in circular motion, waited for hazing and then buffed off with a microfiber.
Final step! I took the PBL Diamond Glass Coating and used around 3-4 sprays and then evenly distributed it with a LC Coating Applicator. Used a clean microfiber to buff it off after 2 minutes of drying. Here are the results:



The hydrophobic coating makes water bead and roll off. Sometimes, I don’t even need to turn on my wipers! This combination of correcting and coating, really improved the visibility for when its dark, raining or both. Even though working out the scratches in the glass took a lot of time, it was worth it! Thanks for reading!

[Ray@Autogeek]

Great job Kira!

[builthatch]

very nice! the difference in the 50/50 is sensational.

Ceriglass is neat. a lot of pros even still doubt that it works and write off fine glass scratches as out of their realm. with the right combo of products and techniques and TIME it works so well.

agreed on the coating idea. it's awesome. my wife has Opti-Glass Pro on her car and rarely uses the wipers unless it's in the morning and the dew is so thick she can't see enough to move the vehicle. i have it as well but i don't drive my car in the rain :P

[Kira@Autogeek]

Great job Kira!

Thanks Ray!

very nice! the difference in the 50/50 is sensational.

Ceriglass is neat. a lot of pros even still doubt that it works and write off fine glass scratches as out of their realm. with the right combo of products and techniques and TIME it works so well.

agreed on the coating idea. it's awesome. my wife has Opti-Glass Pro on her car and rarely uses the wipers unless it's in the morning and the dew is so thick she can't see enough to move the vehicle. i have it as well but i don't drive my car in the rain :P

Thank you very much! Took some elbow grease and patience!

[jrs1418]

Ceriglass is neat. a lot of pros even still doubt that it works and write off fine glass scratches as out of their realm. with the right combo of products and techniques and TIME it works so well.

In my experience Ceriglass is actually pretty weak in removing waterspots compared to a regular compound or Nuglass, or other dedicated glass waterspot remover.

However, it does work excellent on actual glass correcting. I have removed minor glass scratches with the carpro rayon pads and ceriglass, and also purple foam wool pads and ceriglass.. ALL ON A GG6 w/ 3" backing plate!

Another thing I want to make mention of, is that sometimes "glass scratches" are actually mineral deposits similar to hard water spots, except instead of drying and bonding in the shape of a water droplet, they dry in streaks caused by old wiper blades just spreading the water instead of squeegee'ing off.

I believe in most cases, the glare seen in the above video could be a combination of glass scratches, and waterspot mineral FILM on the glass surface. And a good waterspot remover or compound will remove this film giving the illusion of "Glass scratch correcting"

I bring this up because I have marred glass on my own car, and my wifes old car with the Rayon pads and Ceriglass. And just like paint, The least aggressive method should be used to ensure you are not adding defects into glass or paint by aggression.

Here's a MB SL500 we did.. had some deep gashes in the glass from wiper blades that didn't come fully out. But the glare was mostly caused by waterspot film. We removed all these with a GG6 w/3"BP Purple foam wool pads and Ceriglass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OOQ_NiyN60

[jrs1418]

I want to add that it was with the Old ceriglass, not the new "Ceriglass and Polish".. that stuff sucks IMO

[GSKR]

One car wash it will be back

[AutowerxDetailing]

Awesome results!

[builthatch]

I have removed minor glass scratches with the carpro rayon pads and ceriglass, and also purple foam wool pads and ceriglass.. ALL ON A GG6 w/ 3" backing plate!

yep, same.

[Shark Politur]

Only stupid people don't use rain repellent coating, it's a must.
Anti-Fog is cool too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iJP7DFt6AU