midnite_tl

I was at a gas station and went to wipe the bugs off my window with a squeegee, but when I got back in my car, I noticed small hairline scratches on my window, criss-crossing. Any ideas on how to fix this without replacing the whole window?

potmilkz

well this is a lesson learned for you ahhahah...


sorry bud, but its glass, you might be able to polish it out, but i doubt it.

sleepinxlionhart

Wow, I'm surprised you can get scratches on the glass that easily. I've used razor blades on my windows to get the residue from tinting off before, and never left any scratches.

potmilkz

there is sand a other debris thats on the squeegee that he is rubbing against the windshield.. and im sure he was doing it pretty hard assuming he had enough debris on his windshield to use it in the first place..

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Midnite-use a Clay Bar on your winshield. That might either take them out or be a good start to getting them out.

brechbt

I'm aware that clay bars are used to remove surface impurities that are on the paint, such as paint overspray. The impurities become embedded in the clay and pulled off the surface. I've never heard of clay being useful in polishing out small scratches. How could that work?

djtanveer

I agree, I can see the clay bar clean out the scratches but not removing them.

TOGWT

Detailers clay is an abrasive, it doesn't 'pull' contaminants but abrades the top section (above the clear coat). As stated it will not polish out scratches

Glass Polishing

Common sense dictates that if you want to remove a scratch, then you must remove some of the material (paint, glass, etc) to get down to the bottom of the scratch.

Modern automotive windshields hardness is 6/10 on the Moh’s harness scale and contains a thin plastic sheet between two layers of glass (interior and exterior). Glass is very hard and t he polishing process for the correction of scratches requires pressure, which combined with kinetic energy produces heat, if the glass surface becomes too hot the plastic sheeting can warp leading to distortion. When polishing glass use capacious amounts of water and periodically check the surface temperature

Use caution when polishing glass, especially with polishes that contain abrasives like cerium oxide (belonging to the group of elements known as rare earth) use optical grade only on auto glass and observe all necessary safety precautions (see also personal protection equipment (PPE) with regard to the dust produced.

They also have the potential to damage glass by removing layers; compromising its optical clarity, strength and rigidity, necessitating replacement An airbag relies on the glass windshield as it ‘backing plate’ (i.e. it supports the inflated bag and gives it the necessary rigidity, as it is unable to arrest forward motion without some kind of strong support) so don’t do anything that would compromise it.

Once the glass surface has been washed and cleaned (detailers clay) any minor imperfections can be removed with an abrasive glass polish (Autoglym Car Class Polish or Zaino Z-12 Clear-View Glass Polish) Removes "light" scratches, acid water spots, bird and bug stains, including alkaline mineral deposits, and then smoothes out etched glass

If you can catch your fingernail in the scratch 0.4 Mil (10µ) deep, you should consult a professional glass repair / replacement company.

Methodology

• Clean glass to remove dirt, dust or road grime from surfaces
• Use masking tape to protect windscreen rubber sealing
• Apply clay (Magic Clay®) and lubricant solution (WooliteTM / Water 5:1) onto the glass surface (Do not apply to plastic as dulling may occur.)
• Apply a quarter (coin) size amount of Autoglym Car Glass Polish™ or Iz einzette Glas Polish to a damp cutting / polishing foam pad (LC Orange or White) attached to a Porter Cable rotary polisher set at speed 1200 rpm.
• Heat caused by abrasive polishing can soften and damage glass; foam pad and product used must minimize heat build-up. Since glass is a poor heat conductor any friction heat built up from polishing must be kept to a minimum by using sufficient product and regular misting of both the polishing pad and glass surface with water.
• Apply to half of the windshield, polishing first in an up and down motion then in a left-to-right motion and then repeat on the other side, proceed to other glass surfaces.
• Go over the glass several times in each direction, glass will polish virtually residue free.
• Wipe off any residue, and polish with a clean dry 100% cotton Micro fibre cloth.
• Inspect glass for clarity and smoothness. Repeat if necessary.
• If the glass has PPG Industries Optech clear coating a more aggressive polish may be required

Alternative products / methods:

a) Apply Zaino Z-12 with a damp cotton cloth to cool glass, apply to small sections at a time and allow to completely dry, buffing with a clean dry cotton towel. If there is any smearing or residue left just use Stoner’s Invisible Glass or any good quality glass cleaner to remove excess residue.

b) Glass Technology Inc - http://www.gtglass.com/scratchremoval.htm
Alternative pads- these 4-inch ‘Metal Polishing Pads’ are made from 600 grit nylon (Scotchbrite®) and are designed for hard / rough surfaces like aluminium diamond plate, pitted aluminium, chrome, and glass. TOL