Windscreen polishing

[grudas]

The surface layer is normally glass.

indeed.. it would scratch with tiniest of dirt if it was laminate. I've done a bit more googling and youtube and it seems that there is a way to do it but it's very risky, messing it up is easy. Especially if I aimed to polish the whole thing.

I think I'll need to wait for the magic stone chip to happen before I claim on insurance. Shame!

 

[Frozennova]

I would always try to keep the factory screen in place and repair for as long as I could. IME windscreen fitters are no better than Kwik Fit and will happily ruin your car and cause whistles, leaks, and other rubbish.

We aren't all total bodging monkeys, unfortunately the trade does have a reputation that leaves something to be desired

You can't really remove anything more than very light surface scratches, ones you can't even feel. If you try to polish them out you will end up with an un-even surface.

Also windscreens are laminated so your actually polishing plastic not glass.

It's two outer layers of glass with a L
PVB center layer. How on earth would you get a stone chip if the glass was in the middle

1. Grab a stone from nearby
2. Put stone on windscreen
3. Hit stone with hammer
4. Call autoglass / or insurance company or whatever it is you need to do
5. Profitzz

There are easier ways, still insurance fraud though

 

[Marvin]

I did polish my Z4's screen as it happens - same complaint, lots of really small scratches that meant oncoming lights in the dark made it really hard to see.

I used a kit designed for the job that was not disimilar to 3M's headlight polish kit - some fine abrasive discs, cut the glass (at which point it's opaque, which is a bit scary), work to a finer abrasive and then polish. Despite a lot of effort and stress, it didn't remove any of the more major scratches and left marks in places (not on the see through bit of glass though) where it was difficult to get into due to the size of the discs

Would I do it again? No. The benefit is almost too small to notice when compared with the effort.

 

[Dis86]

Just to echo what's being said, glass is an incredibly difficult material to polish. Now consider the heat treatment that windscreen glass has and it becomes even more apparent.

 

[Housey]

I had a new windscreen last week and it reminds you at 22K miles how much a windscreen gets pock marked with miles. It's dead clean right now, I suspect another weeks time a house brick will hit it, but for now I am enjoying looking out of it.

 

[bainbridge]

Totally incorrect information, as stated already the plastic is between 2 panes of glass.

Oh well my bad, or rather the bad of the windscreen lady at Autoglass who overcame my objections about driving round with a massive crack across my windscreen for 5 days while waiting for my fitting appointment to come round.

 

[Diagro]

There are easier ways, still insurance fraud though

What is? if a screen is damaged then its viable for a replacement...

 

[jpaul]

you can try autobrite repel or one of the othe rain/dirt repellent coverings, this fills scratches a bit, and reduces need for wipers -
but have to renew it every 2-3 months, also needs good prep.

 

[Frozennova]

What is? if a screen is damaged then its viable for a replacement...

If you're deliberately damaging it for replacement you're committing fraud however you want to spin it

 

[Psycho Sonny]

If you're deliberately damaging it for replacement you're committing fraud however you want to spin it

it's already damaged

 

[mjt]

it's already damaged

Pretty much.

I got my windscreen replaced a few months back because I couldn't see ANYTHING when the sun was low. The stone chips were ridiculous. Insurance company said sure, whatever, change away. Carglass said "where's the chip? This big one is repairable."
I said give me a hammer, let me smash it and bring it back. They replaced the screen.
Their argument was that they need to take pictures of the evidence in order to replace the screen, but the screen was trashed, sorry.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Not with a windscreen but I tried to polish out a scratch on a watch thinking how hard can it be? As it happens the glass on the watch was pretty hard and after a few hours of rubbing in straight, diagonal and circular motions I gave up as the hours had made no discernible difference that I could see. Can't remember the paste I used but I got it off ebay and promptly binned it straight after.