Polished Glass

Swanicyouth

New member
My passenger side rear window had some nasty scratches in it. I think the previous owner must have parked someplace where a branch hit the window.

Looks OK from here, Right?

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Under Brinkmann Tuff Max LED:

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Ouch

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I specifically took those before photos at the gas station at night, as that is how the glass defects show up best.

Defects in the day:

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Ok, so you can see the glass has scratches. The scratches are quite bad, especially because the window has black factory tint. Some of the scratches are so bad, you can catch your fingernail on them slightly. I'm going for 90% correction.

Here is the view taking a step back. I put a tape strip on the inside of the glass, so I know the area to focus on, as the scratches are all above a certain area of the glass:

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Checked the glass for bonded contaminants. None found.

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Assembled the goodies:

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Primed the CarPro glass pad and used this much Cerri Glass:

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Spread out the polish on speed 2

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Total polish time (2 rounds): 16 minutes.

The after mess:

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Cleaned just the glass to see how I did

Left upper glass:

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Right upper glass:

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Here is a photo where it looks like dirty glass under the light. It's actually the dust on the light lens reflecting back through the glass:

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Now its time to detail the truck and clean up the mess. I clean the pads in my homemade "bottomless bucket" pad cleaner/#2 bottomless bucket in 2BM.

Pads can be blasted clean with a hose or pressure washer:

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But, as you can see, all the spent soap and polish just rinses away:

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I did a full detail and 2BM wash using PB's Super Slick Suds in the foam gun and 1Z Exclusiv Gloss in the bucket.

Back at the gas station with the glass:

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I would say I got 95% correction on the glass. Once again, very happy with these CarPro glass products. Polishing was done keeping the polish drippy wet with DI water using heavy pressure until the polish got pretty diluted. Then pressure and speed were lightened until I was just about polishing with water.

All clean:

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Car has no dressing. Tires have Tuff Shine Tire Clear Coat and trim has Dlux with Permanon Car Super Shine on top.

Clean wheels:

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Really clean wheels:

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DLux with Permanon on all trim and running boards. They bead like a MoFo:

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My Reward. Red Top Pepperoni Pizza (local favorite). The sauce is put on last, that's why the pepperoni is hidden. Also, mozzarella cheese fries:

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And... Shaq Soda:

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I loved this post !!!

Thanks for taking us through your glass scratch removal/wash my Ride/eat my favorite pizza/ adventure !!!

I have used CeriGlass in the past and it is really good, as you found out here as well..
You did a great job !

I am also a Tuff Shine ClearCoat fan,
and their TuffShine Scrubbing Sponges are the absolute best ever.

Congrats on making that glass beautiful so it matches the rest of your very glossy Ride !
Dan F
 
I used the same pad on a Flex tool and ended up with crescent scratches all over the windshield. I also used distilled water to help keep things lubed, but not until after I ran into problems with the polish drying up on me too fast. Should I have stuck with the distilled water slurry longer or do I need another polishing compound to take the crescents out. What did I miss ?
 
Which Flex Tool ? Model Nbr Pls..

What pad ? Size ? New ? Clean ?

How big an area were you doing ? What speed ? Pressure? How much ?
Dan F
 
I love the results when glass is polished properly. I'm always amazed at the dramatic clarity it can impart. :bigups
 
I used the same pad on a Flex tool and ended up with crescent scratches all over the windshield. I also used distilled water to help keep things lubed, but not until after I ran into problems with the polish drying up on me too fast. Should I have stuck with the distilled water slurry longer or do I need another polishing compound to take the crescents out. What did I miss ?


I'm assuming you used Cerri Glass polish with the CarPro pads? The polish can not dry. It must stay wet the whole time. If your not sure, error on the side of keeping it "too wet".

Honestly, I can't comment on the 3401. The Griots is the machine I use for glass. Its my opinion you will run into less "issues" using a non-forced rotational machine on glass.

With the technology of the CarPro products, you do not need forced rotation to remove defects from glass. These products are somewhat unique, as CarPro makes the pads and polish to work together.
 
Flex XC3401VRG
New Lake County 5" Glass Cutting Pad
Used light pressure and medium speed.
Yes I did have problems keeping it wet early on.

Switched to a Lake County white polishing pad and made sure to keep spraying the glass with distilled water so I didn't get any dry spots. Seems to have corrected the crescent scratches. Took a while. Started with medium speed to spread and then went to highest with light to moderate pressure.
 
Flex XC3401VRG
New Lake County 5" Glass Cutting Pad
Used light pressure and medium speed.
Yes I did have problems keeping it wet early on.

Switched to a Lake County white polishing pad and made sure to keep spraying the glass with distilled water so I didn't get any dry spots. Seems to have corrected the crescent scratches. Took a while. Started with medium speed to spread and then went to highest with light to moderate pressure.

Your problem is likely just the Lake Country glass pads. I'm just going to say this (I know LC is a sponsor), but I call 'em like I see 'em - those pads are horrible and have jacked up more glass than they've helped.

Get the CarPro pads. Use with CerriGlass. They will fix the defects instilled by the LC pads....Ask me how I know....
 
griot's glass pads are pretty decent too. glass is a very hard surface to correct, so don't be afraid to use heavy pressure and higher speeds, but keep the pad moving. cerium oxide based polishes are a must.
 
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