How to polish glass
Written by: Vinnie van Rooij
Polishing glass is not the same as polishing paint. Using the right technique will help to get easier results. Glass can be polished when it suffers from wiper marks and small imperfections.
Contents
The difference
Glass is more sensitive then most may think. Glass is actually damaged quite easily. However, correction on glass is not very easy, the surface is hard enough to make polishing very ineffective, however minor improvements can be made.
Paint is much softer then glass, and is also much easier to correct. Glass is harder and also much more fragile.
What you need to know about glass
There are several things to keep in mind when working with glass.
- The windscreen is made of 2 pieces of normal glass with a sticky layer between them. This prevents it from falling apart when breaking
- The glass on the sides are strengthened glass and is more stronger but will also break down in millions of tiny pieces when it breaks
- Most glass will break when there is a temperature difference of over 60 degrees celsius between 2 areas
- Applying to much pressure can break the glass
- Glass heats up really quickly and really easily
- To polish glass you need patience, time and practise
- Special glass polish gives much more result then automotive polish
- Special glass polishing pads will make much more result then normal polishing pads
- A DA is not very suitable for polishing glass, a rotary is more effective
- It is not only a matter of speed or pressure, it’s the right combo of these both
- Cleaning is still very important before starting to polish glass
Realistic results
Don’t expect to turn worn glass into perfection. It won’t happen. But you can make those wiper streaks less visible and perhaps hides a few other marks. As soon as you can feel it with your fingernail, you will have little effect on it. If it is just barely noticeable with your fingernail, then you have a chance to make it less visible.
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