Scratched glass due to grit getting stuck in sills of window

[BlackBeautZ]

Hi guys

I wonder if you can help I have this really annoying 30cm long scratch on my driver side window where grit has obviously gone into the rubber sills of the window then when you put the window down it scratches with the up and down motion any ideas how I can remove this, does it involve a new window? Is there scratch remover the scratch is not too deep but very annoying and long.

Thanks

[Southernboy]

I posted an article on doing just that about 2 months ago. Try searching in the knowledge base. I can't recall the product name, but it is available on eBay, and perhaps more readily from any glass cutter that does bevelling or glass polishing. It comes as a powder that you mix with water, and then buff the glass...it removes the scrarches..as you will imagine removing the scratches from a bevelled glass edge would need to become clear polished glass...
Hope this helps.

[Southernboy]

The article I posted is in the "Beauty Parlour" section...search under "Polishing Glass" it'll pop up at the top with headlights, foglight glass polishing etc etc...you will find the name of the product there...

[Southernboy]

CERIUM OXIDE GLASS POLISH... NB. There are various grades...the best from my research was white... not yellow, cream, red etc etc...
Oh and it's only for the window polishing - the white powder...

[Southernboy]

One last pointer...It is advisable to read up on the polishing procedure...ie: glass will get hot as you buff, so take care not to overheat etc etc..Quite simple really...

[BlackBeautZ]

Thanks for this guys I ordered a 50ml bottle of Cerium Oxide Glass Polish on amazon for 9.99 it says to put a pea size amount on a cloth and polish.

[Southernboy]

A buff on a drill will also work...unless you have all day of course..

[BlackBeautZ]

Oh and it's already concentrated so no need to mix just use straight from the bottle

[BlackBeautZ]

I don't have a buff on a drill sadly, so applying manually will hopefully be ok?

[Southernboy]

Depends...you may end up buying a buff for your drill after your elbow begins to tire and hurt...I'd get a buff...it'll save you considerable frustration because glass is seriously hard stuff, and to polish it takes a lot of molecules to be removed and leave beaut clear glass. If the polish was gritty, all you'd end up with is a mess, so understand that this stuff removes glass by molecules not by any tangible bits...just make sure the polish doesn't dry on the buff..ie. keep it "wet" otherwise it'll build up heat.

[BlackBeautZ]

So when I get the stuff out a pearl size bit as its concentrated on the centre of a buff pad and buff for 10 mins non stop then apply more and repeat?

[Southernboy]

Well, I would say you need a small buff, perhaps if you have a buddy with a Dremmel tool..they make little buffs for them..But if you're going for a drill operated buff, I would say you will need a LARGE PEARL drop, and observe that the area being buffed is wet. If it begins to look dry, stop, apply more and continue...
Look for as small a buff for the drill, otherwise you're buffing glass you don't need to buff. From what I read on the use of the stuff, a veldt type buff was the choice. ie. nothing that will scratch glass.
If you google Cerium oxide glas polish and read any threads you find, quite a few guys have used it on their car windows...it's worth the time to read up their experiences.
I went into it when I considered doing my fogs on the Zed...they were kinda sandblasted...I then found a set of OEM's complete, brand new from a deceased estate...on eBay cost me $20 plus $23 shipping.. so I schnaffled those..and sold my old ones for $20 to a local guy who had cracked lenses...
But do yourself justice and google and read... I think I used "removing scratches with cerium oxide polish" a whole bunch of threads came up.. But it was the only stuff that will do the job...
Good luck...Let me know how you get along..in fact, do a before and after.. that will really be good.

[TitanTim]

If you can feel the scratch with the your finger nail then I wouldn't bother with polishing and get the glass replaced. The problem with trying to polish out scratches on glass especially the windscreen is intense polishing will alter the optics of the glass. I found this out when doing a scratch on an Toyota MR2. Got rid of the scratch but ended up with wavy glass in the line of sight Replaced the screen in the end and a better option. Not so bad on the side glass but could be irritating all the same.

Tim.