Remove scratches from glass

GeX

GeX

GeX

Soldato
Joined
17 Dec 2002
Posts
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Location
Manchester
Does anyone here have experience of having scratches removed from glass? My side windows have vertical scratches (presumably from grot in the rubbers scratching the glass as they're lowered / raise) and my rear window has various scratches, mostly horizontal - not sure how.

I've no intention of DIY'ing this - wondering if anyone here has had this done as part of deep detailing?
 
yes it works for light marks, as far as i know the right way to do it is to use a glass polishing pad on a rotary polisher with a glass polishing powder called cerium oxide.
 
I’ll try and get some pictures, they show up best when the car is clean.. which is only for about 5 minutes after I’ve finished cleaning it at the moment!
 
It can be polished out yes BUT... you'll get a weird view through the glass if it's in the main area (basically you make it a bit of a lens and it can look like you're looking at a hall of mirrors if you're not careful.
 
You’ll need this

www.cleanyourcar.co.uk

CarPro - Ceri-Glass Kit

Carpro CeriGlass Kit This is a special glass polishing technique developed by the innovative special ceramic, Cerium Oxide, together with some other nano components. The overwhelming effect of removing water spots attached on the glass-like scales . Formulated with mild abrasives, CeriGlass de
www.cleanyourcar.co.uk www.cleanyourcar.co.uk

And this if you have a machine polisher.

www.cleanyourcar.co.uk

Flexipads - Rayon Glass Polishing Pads

Flexipads Rayon Glass Polishing Pad These pads are extremely aggressive and designed specifically for polishing hard surfaces such as glass & stainless steel. Capable of removing 1000 to 1500 grit sanding marks from glass. We find these pads work very well by Dual Action polisher in conjun
www.cleanyourcar.co.uk www.cleanyourcar.co.uk

It’s a lot of work depending on the severity but it will work. If you use a machine watch out for heat.
 
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If you can't feel the scratches with a fingernail, then rubbing with jewellers rouge and polishing might remove them. It'll certainly reduce their appearance and make them much less visible.

If you can feel them with a fingernail, jewellers rouge won't get them out. The glass will need aggressive abrasion and polishing and, as mentioned, it'll skew the view through the glass.

It would be a shame if some scrote cracked your windows and you needed to make a glass claim to get them replaced.
 
those flexipads look very big for the job, I'd be looking for a dremmel attachment
would rainx/similar bond into a scratch to make it much less visible ?

I've used dap polisher , pads & meguiar 83 on stainless steel (espresso machine) which worked, and have been tempted to try it on the headlight glass, but have never got round to masking them off.
 
Been there, done that.
While its effective at removing scratches (I got a pro in), you would be AMAZED at the change/distortions to the light coming through.
If I had to choose whether to live with the sort of distortions/hall of mirrors effect, I would most certainly just choose to replace the actual glass again, and do the seals at the same time.
Once you notice the distortions, it does your head in and its a case of never being able to unsee it.
Of course, replacing the glass, and leaving the old seals in there, and almost instantly getting a scratch on your brand new replacements, is even more of a kick in the teeth too.
What's the car?
If it makes you feel any better, some folks in a car group I'm a member of, have had their frameless door glass scratch after only 2000miles on a brand new car!
That would drive me nuts.
Also for folks trying to clean their seals of grit and dust, NEVER, EVER rub anything down the crack or on the seal. All the window seals are rubber, with a very fine layer of flock/felt glued on. Once this is damaged, it's game over. Only use a hand sprayer with dilute anti-microbial/algae and/or strong all purpose cleaner mix.
 
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My windscreen has a million micro scratches. When the sun hits it, it's awful.

If you have good results OP, please let me know how. I asked the question about it in the car cleaning thread but I got no response :(

My car is a 12 plate 3 series BMW. I remember my boss many years ago having the same issue with his (then new-ish) BMW 3 series. Maybe it's a thing with these windscreens? My boss ended up getting it replaced with his insurance.
 
cjgardens said:
My windscreen has a million micro scratches. When the sun hits it, it's awful.

If you have good results OP, please let me know how. I asked the question about it in the car cleaning thread but I got no response :(

My car is a 12 plate 3 series BMW. I remember my boss many years ago having the same issue with his (then new-ish) BMW 3 series. Maybe it's a thing with these windscreens? My boss ended up getting it replaced with his insurance.
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Tiny micro spider web type ones which you likely are not able to feel with a finger nail are definitely manageable without distorting the view. Especially as a pro could polish uniformly the entire windscreen area. Anything you can really feel, obviously still can be "removed", but at the cost of giving you wonky vision!
 
CaptainCaracaras said:
Tiny micro spider web type ones which you likely are not able to feel with a finger nail are definitely manageable without distorting the view. Especially as a pro could polish uniformly the entire windscreen area. Anything you can really feel, obviously still can be "removed", but at the cost of giving you wonky vision!
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That's exactly what it looks like. That many micro scratches it looks like a defect or some sort of chemical has done it and made a web like thing all over it.
 
I never experienced the distortions people are mentioning in this thread, neither do any of the reviews to the products I linked mention it.

It does work but it can only do so much so if it’s a deep scratch then you might be out of luck.

 
Fuzz said:
It can be polished out yes BUT... you'll get a weird view through the glass if it's in the main area (basically you make it a bit of a lens and it can look like you're looking at a hall of mirrors if you're not careful.
Click to expand...

Have had it done to house windows in the past and it does indeed distort the view through glass. Ended up replacing them.
 
Easier and safer to just have the glass replaced and pay the excess through insurer. Once you start grinding glass down it will never be as clear.
 
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Again I did every single piece of glass on my old car and never had an issue. Perhaps because I used a machine polisher and did the whole piece of glass rather than a localised area.
 
When I bought our bungalow one of the neighbours said do not park your car up the side of bungalow - when it rains it bounces all the sand off concrete tiles onto your car especially the windows and rubbers - Open the window and your door glass will be covered with scratches.
Wife had a Toyota Paseo and one day I noticed all the windows had large scratch marks on them - When it was icey she used the window wiper but not the blade but the aluminium frame to scrape the ice off.:rolleyes:
 
I've tried getting photos of the side windows, but it's not easy to get (I hate iPhone cameras);

QzzNGJOl.jpg

easier on the rear glass

un8UqLOl.jpg

Car is a 2005 R53 Mini, and yep - frameless front windows
 
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