Polishing rear softtop window

<p>Polishing the rear softtop window of a convertible is not overly difficult&comma; but might require a bit of trial to get the technique right&period; There are a few ways to handle this&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Why polishing a softtop window<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The window in the softtop is most often made from a flexible but transparent type of vinyl&period; This material is softer then glass and is more susceptible to surface imperfections&period; The material can also suffer from UV damage and general discoloring&period; Oxidation has also been known to cause to issues with the clarity of the material&period; When this is not treated in time&comma; the material can dry out and crack&period; This would create a leak for rain to get through&period; When putting down the roof&comma; it might crack the vinyl&period; Obviously it can also be dangerous if your vision through the rear window is limited&period; Even for cosmetic reason it can be recommended to remove surface imperfections&period; Polishing is one of a few different ways to improve the look of the flexible rear softtop window&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>How to polish the rear softtop window<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>There are a few different to approach this problem&period; The biggest issue is that the material is soft and flexible&comma; making it difficult to put pressure on it&period; You can either use counterpressure or improve the working conditions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Using another polisher<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>If you have somebody close by who knows how to handle this issue&comma; you could polish both sides at the same time&period; As long as both polishers press against each other from both sides&comma; with equal pressure&comma; the vinyl will be polished on both sides with the use of pressure&period; This will take some practice as both parties would need to move at the same time&comma; same direction and same speed with the same amount of pressure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Using an object to counter<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>If another polisher isn&&num;8217&semi;t an option&comma; you might be able to use a flat surface to push back&period; Something like a flat piece of wood could work&period; However&comma; you either need something to hold it in place or somebody to hold it in place for you&period; Be careful that the material you use won&&num;8217&semi;t create surface imperfections on the vinyl&period; Wrapping it in a microfiber towel might help&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Removing the window<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>If possible&comma; remove the roof will allow you to lay the window down on a flat surface &lpar;like a table&rpar;&comma; which will give you the counteraction to apply pressure with the polisher&period; This will make it much easier&comma; but you would need to check the results carefully&period; When the roof is installed&comma; the light going through the material will easily reveal imperfections&period; When laid down on the table&comma; there is no light going through the material&comma; making it less easy to spot these imperfections&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Polishing material<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Polishing vinyl can be done with a regular polishing machine&period; Due to the effect heat has on vinyl it is recommended to keep the speed low&comma; and make sure there is enough lubrication in the polish&period; A dual action polisher might make it easier to get a better finish&period; Because of the soft material you can get a good polishing result without the use of a cutting polishing pad&period; In some cases a finishing pad or a light polishing pad can be enough to get proper correction&period; The use of a soft polish can give better results because it will leave less of imperfection behind that need to be corrected by a lighter polish&period; Some manufacturers even make special vinyl polish&comma; or plastic restorers &lpar;polish&rpar; for this task&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;