Windscreen polishing and scratch removal

[Blue Oval84]

Just wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of someone experienced in the art of windscreen polishing. I don't just mean cleaning, I mean proper abrasive polishing to remove all the fine scratches inflicted by the wiper blades?

I could get a new windscreen of course but the current one is original, and has a rain sensor, so given that the kit costs £15 and I've seen You Tube videos of it working, I'd like to give it a go. I'd rather buy the expertise of someone who has done it before though rather than risk inflicting distortions in my screen!

Glassman I'm looking at you...

[Blue Oval84]

xjay1337 said:

Glass is incredibly hard to polish.

It's the hardest thing by far.

It is also very very messy. Horribly messy.

You need cerium oxide based polish (carpro ceriglass) and rayon glass polishing pads and some water.

Apply plenty of polish to a lightly spritzed pad. Polish with hard pressure at max speed on rotary.
When the polish starts to dry, spritz some water on the screen. repeat. polish for about 2 or 3 minutes.
Work in small sections about 20x20"/

I've done some pretty deep scratches on windscreen and side windows.
Don't normally bother.

Thanks! That gives me the confidence to just tackle it myself, will order the kit from CYC, and I already have a rotary polisher so good to go on that front

[Blue Oval84]

So I had a first crack at the car this PM and I'm over the moon!!

Sorry the pictures are terrible but it's the best I could get with my phone outside. I'll be honest I only spent about half an hour on the whole screen as light was failing me, and probably didn't use enough polish on the pad (I applied two lines of polish in the shape of a cross on the pad) as it more or less disappeared after a few passes.

That said, in the area I focussed on most heaily in front of the driver, the improvement at night is massive. I can now see clearly, oncoming cars don't cause the screen to light up in a haze and the scratches are not a distraction. The passenger side isn't quite as good but that's where I started (didn't want to risk starting out where I look through it the most!) and I don't think I'd quite got the knack.

Anyway, I think when I get the chance to give it another go I'll restore it to more or less new, but this will definitely do for now. I can see clearly and want to focus on removing some horrible suncream staining from the paintwork as my next little job.

Big thanks to everyone who recommended Ceriglass, it's a great product!

Before-


After-

[Blue Oval84]

pits said:

Would hate to have tried polishing them only to bloody crack them, then get someone out to replace it, really inconvenient. *wink wink*

I could have done something like that, but this polishing kit cost way less than an excess and it means I don't need to risk someone who may not be very good changing my screen.

It's got the factory one in at the moment, the last time I had a screen changed the results were, disappointing. The aftermarket replacement also had most of it's heating elements fail within 12 months

[Blue Oval84]

Toyoda said:

How is that supposed to be better?? You've now got that significant diagonal glare which reminds me of driving at night with an old pair of glasses on that are finely scratched. Every streetlight or headlamp will cause the diagonal glare.

What do you mean? I had massive amounts of diagonal glare before, now I have a lot less, and in some patches none at all (I obviously didn't do it totally evenly).

Next attempt will have it sorted properly.

I've driven it at night twice now and believe me the difference between before and after is massive. The pictures don't remotely capture the improvement.