Date of publication: April 21, 2020. Category: Automotive equipment.
Sand, dust, small pebbles and branches cause scratches on the windshield of your car. Such defects not only irritate the driver, but also reduce visibility. Many car owners resort to a fairly simple remedy - toothpaste, which is applied to the damaged area. However, such “know-how” will only help cope with minor damage and not on glass surfaces. Polishing car glass from scratches is more effective and efficient.
In order to carry out specialized processing, it is not necessary to contact a car service; you can “restore” the glass yourself. To do this, first of all, it is necessary to determine the type of defect.
What scratches can be removed?
Minor scratches and abrasions are the norm on a car that has been in use for several years. They are not so much of a nuisance as to require effort, time and money to be spent on eliminating them. Usually the question of how to remove a scratch arises when a groove appears on the glass that cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to remove such scratches on your own: even a service center will require you to work hard on them.
Then what can be polished?
- Muddy marks from the windshield wipers (but not the scratches left by them!).
- Small chips from sand.
- Small scratches that are difficult to see.
By the way
It is the combination of chips, small chips and abrasions that spoil visibility the most.
This is not so important on the side glass, but if this is the main problem, then polishing at home will give a positive result, although it will leave all the large scratches in their places.
That is, in fact, you can only do polishing with your own hands without fear, and then you will have to act carefully.
How to polish?
In theory, everything is simple: polishing the glass with any soft abrasive should help prevent scratches. In fact, it turns out that the best option is still a special polishing paste and a special polishing machine. But we want to remove scratches on car glass without buying anything expensive! Then there are few effective and safe options.
TOOTHPASTE
What to do if you scratch your phone or watch? Many portals advise polishing the product with ordinary toothpaste. Perhaps there are craftsmen who actually managed to get rid of scratches in this way, but this method of repair still does not inspire confidence. The abrasive in the paste is too small and soft: polishing glass this way will take forever.
SOFT SANDAY
If it is difficult to achieve at least some shift with paste, it is easy to overdo it with sandpaper, even the finest one. Not only does the risk of new, even more noticeable scratches skyrocket, but intense friction can create a depression that will disrupt the evenness of the curvature of the glass, and it will look no better than a large chip.
PASTE GOI
But this kind of car glass polishing may well work! The paste made from chromium oxide powder is well known to soldiers: how else can you polish a plaque until it shines, if not with it? In everyday life, it is used for polishing metal and glass products. Only here there are some peculiarities.
- You need to choose a paste with a medium abrasive: this is number 2 or 3.
- It cannot be applied to the surface to be polished due to the risk of scratches, so the paste is applied only to the fabric.
- Choose a lint-free fabric: felt or lint-free napkins are fine.
They say you can add gasoline or oil to the paste to enhance the effect, but we wouldn’t risk the integrity of expensive car glass.
Important!
Large and deep grooves require not polishing or even grinding, but filling with special polymers. Even after purchasing all the necessary materials, it is unrealistic to do it yourself without minimal experience, so in order to avoid unnecessary frustration, it is better to immediately ask a knowledgeable person for help.
Is this all? Unfortunately yes. The remaining methods require special equipment and polish, and the procedure for removing imperfections carried out at home will not be much different from what they will do for you in a workshop.
Removing scratches on the windshield - professional repairs in artisanal conditions
1 Cleanliness is the key to success or car preparation
Before you begin any repairs, you need to prepare your vehicle. First, wash the car thoroughly.
Moreover, you should wash the entire car, and not just the windshield, so that during work, dust from the body does not fall on the surface with which you will work.
This is very important, since even a few grains of sand caught under the polishing wheel will scratch the glass even more, resulting in the need to grind it or even replace it.
Minor defects on the windshield and side windows can be easily eliminated, and you can even cope with this task yourself. Then assess the damage on the surface of the glass.
If the scratches are shallow, for example, there are marks from wipers and other minor defects, it is quite possible to get rid of them by polishing. If the scratches are such that the nail clings to them, then polishing will be needed.
It is better to entrust this operation to specialists, since inept actions can create a lens effect, which will affect traffic safety.
Then remove the wipers if they interfere with access to damaged areas of the glass, or if the glass will be polished completely.
Since the polishing process inevitably scatters the paste, which is quite difficult to wash off, the surfaces adjacent to the windshield, that is, the hood and roof, must be covered with film and secured with masking tape.
- 2 Selecting tools and consumables - polishes and wheels
- To remove scratches from glass, you will need the following tools and supplies:
- a grinding machine or a regular electric drill (preferably with the ability to adjust the speed);
- coarse glass polishing paste or powder;
- fine abrasive paste;
- glass cleaner;
- non-abrasive polish;
- water spray;
- a hard brown polishing wheel and a softer one, which is always white.
A set of devices and tools to remove one single scratch may even shock you at first, but then you will quickly understand what and why. In addition, you will need a soft, clean towel or napkin. It is also advisable to have a portable lamp or a bright flashlight to monitor the quality of work.
3 Let's get to work - we won't leave any chance for scratches
Before we start polishing, we prepare the room, namely, we eliminate drafts, if any, and also wet the floor around the car.
All this is necessary so that during the polishing process no dust gets onto the surface, as it will immediately stick to the paste and do its bad job.
It is not worth polishing outdoors, since the risk of dust and debris getting onto the polished surface in this case greatly increases.
Now you can start working - apply a small amount of medium-abrasive paste to a clean, prepared surface and smear it with your finger.
If you use powder, you must first dilute it in water, according to the recommendations on the package, and mix thoroughly. Then you need to take a grinder and, without turning it on, rub the paste into the glass all around.
This is necessary so that all the paste does not fly apart when the machine is turned on.
We carry out all work only on a completely cleaned surface. From time to time, work must be interrupted to allow the surface to cool. Otherwise, the glass will overheat and burst, after which all you have to do is replace it.
As the paste dries, moisten the surface with water from a spray bottle. To control the quality of polishing, wash off the paste with a glass cleaner, then wipe the glass and carefully inspect the surface. To better see the scratches, hold the lamp at an acute angle.
If necessary, apply the paste again and repeat the procedure.
When finished, do not throw away the buffing pads as they are reusable. But after polishing, they must be thoroughly rinsed and dried.
Don't count on quick results. It will take several hours to completely polish the windshield with a coarse abrasive paste.
Then the glass must be thoroughly washed and polished with a fine abrasive paste using a white (soft) polishing wheel.
At this stage, small flaws are removed that are not visible during the day, but become very noticeable when driving at night. Without final polishing in the dark, visibility through the windshield becomes as if it is foggy outside.
The process of polishing with a finishing fine abrasive paste is similar to working with a coarse abrasive compound - the surface is polished with frequent pauses and periodically moistened with water. Upon completion of work, the glass must be thoroughly washed with a glass cleaner. Then apply a non-abrasive polish to the surface and rub the glass with it using a soft towel or microfiber.
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Why is it better to contact a specialist?
And yet, GOI paste and a piece of felt cannot be compared with the equipment in the workshops and the experience of the craftsmen in terms of efficiency and feasibility.
Polishing does not cost exorbitant amounts of money, and the advantages of doing it in a salon are obvious.
- You won’t ruin the glass by mixing strong polish on the advice of an expert on the Internet or by choosing the wrong machine speed.
- The polisher at its optimal speed works more than 100 times faster than your hand with a cloth.
- The service workers have been doing this for several days and know the nuances that are not included in the instructions along with the grinding machine.
Advice
We often create scratches on the windshield ourselves by improperly washing the windows. Do not wipe them dry with rags containing grains of sand or hard fabrics - and the problem of polishing can be slightly delayed.
Polishing just seems like a simple process! To do everything correctly and beautifully, grandmother's advice may not be enough. And risking the integrity of glass worth several thousand rubles out of savings of several hundred is a dubious financial tactic.
Recovery process
To remove scratches from a car windshield, you need to use special compounds from 3M and cerium oxide.
To prepare the paste, you need to mix the oxide with water and stir. The slurry is applied to the polishing wheel and polished at low speed.
Step-by-step instructions for restoring glass transparency with your own hands:
- Clean the windshield, side and rear windows from dirt.
- Cover the seals with tape.
- Apply diluted oxide to the circle.
- Polish the surface without stopping in one place to avoid overheating.
- Make sure there are no stains or scratches.
- Replace the wheel and perform final polishing with anti-hologram paste from 3M.
- Wash the shield and remove the tape.
After polishing, the car can be driven as usual. If glare appears from lanterns or headlights, it is necessary to make a second pass with 3M compound.
A clean and transparent windshield not only has a positive effect on the appearance of the car, but also does not distract the driver while driving. For the service of glass restoration in a specialized service they will require from 2 to 6 thousand rubles, depending on the complexity of the work. This money can be saved by doing the work yourself and gaining new experience.
Is it possible to learn polishing yourself?
People learn this too! True, you will have to invest a lot of time. What is the cost of choosing a quality machine and suitable paste? To learn all the details and technology, you need to be really interested and love cars! If garage talk has never inspired you, the knowledge gained will not be worth the time and pain.
If you have already decided to take on the task of putting the glass in order, approach this task responsibly and do not entertain yourself with illusions. The only more or less working “folk” remedy may save money, but it will take a lot of time and will not bring the desired result. The remaining methods are either frankly useless or unsafe! It turns out that all that remains is to master the science of polishing by purchasing a machine, discs and paste, or give the car into the hands of professionals and sleep peacefully!
