Are there any products or services to recondition a windshield with abrasive scuffing? Scuffs are not felt by touch, but are bad news driving into a rising or setting sun. Or is it best just to install new glass?
Scuffed Windshields
- Thread starter Rick20
- Start date
- Status
What you propose would involve polishing out the scuffs with jeweler's rouge. The downside is that area would forever have its optical characteristics altered. Unless you feel you could live with an area of distortion, I'd say install new glass.
[ October 02, 2003, 03:03 PM: Message edited by: Ray H ]
[ October 02, 2003, 03:03 PM: Message edited by: Ray H ]
I have no idea how bad the problem you describe is, but you could try to DIY with an automotive glass polish, such as the ones sold by Autoglym, Zaino, and Durgloss (I think). They're not going to do much for really bad scratching though. I think it'd be worth a shot if you think you just have a lot of VERY fine scratches everywhere.
funny you should ask. I put many scratches in the windshield when scrubbing it with a scotchbrite pad that had a piece of rust in it. What you want is cerium oxide. It can be gotten through JCwhitney in a kit, with the powder and the polish wheel that goes on the end of a low speed drill, for $30. It's available through other channels but for more $$ though. I will be using it this weekend to fix my screwup, I'll let you know how it goes.
Glass polishes like zaino (which i have) or other off the shelf stuff don't work at taking scratches out. The glass is too hard and the polish too soft to cut, especially when using by hand.
The only catch with cerium oxide is the scratch cannot be deep. If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail at all, then it's too deep. You can only polish out fine scratches that can be seen but not felt, otherwise you will distort the glass by polishing (cutting) into it too much. And the other thing is to polish at a slow speed so you don't build up heat and burn the glass.
Glass polishes like zaino (which i have) or other off the shelf stuff don't work at taking scratches out. The glass is too hard and the polish too soft to cut, especially when using by hand.
The only catch with cerium oxide is the scratch cannot be deep. If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail at all, then it's too deep. You can only polish out fine scratches that can be seen but not felt, otherwise you will distort the glass by polishing (cutting) into it too much. And the other thing is to polish at a slow speed so you don't build up heat and burn the glass.
Thanks for the input guys. I've got nothing to lose trying anything. I will try the auto glass polish first. All of the scratches are in the wiper areas, especially where their coarse of travel intersect. The sctaches are not deep but very plentiful. Do auto parts chain stores sell these polishes?
Let me know how the cerium oxide works out. My problem was that this was a construction truck. All the markings are in the wiper travel. I can see a mark in the windshield where someone had tried to do some buffing. It shows up looking from the outside when dew is on it in the morning.
The scratches are numerous, especially at the wiper overlap, but you really can't feel them. But driving into the rising sun is no picnic.
Let me know how it works. Thanks
The scratches are numerous, especially at the wiper overlap, but you really can't feel them. But driving into the rising sun is no picnic.
Let me know how it works. Thanks
While talking about windshields, any one know other than replacing the complete windshield a way to get rid of the tiny microscopic nicks that come from road grime that gets kicked up. No scratches just looks like your looking through a thick star field at night with on coming bright head lights.
As a truck driver, we put lotsa miles on the truck every year, and when the windshield gets about 300,000 miles on it, it's time to replace it. Have asked this question to a couple of glass repair people, and they both said the same thing. Starts looking like it has been sandblasted. This is a safety issue and your auto ins. may pay for the replacement. If it is a company truck, ask your boss for a new windshield. I'm sure he would rather pay for a new windshield than a new truck.
A whitening toothpaste will often work wonders on glass..
hey, I tried using the cerium oxide and it didn't work. It does polish the glass, but the scratches I have, come to find out afterwards, are too deep. I can ever so slightly feel them with my fingernail. So I guess they are too deep.
For stained glass I think the cerium oxide would work great. But if you say wiper travel marks, that makes me think of a nice deep scratch, which case the cerium oxide polish won't be effective.
For stained glass I think the cerium oxide would work great. But if you say wiper travel marks, that makes me think of a nice deep scratch, which case the cerium oxide polish won't be effective.
- Status
Similar threads
