Maintaining car windows and optics in optimal working condition is a paramount measure in the list of preventive procedures for car care. Moreover, the surface should be disposed of not only from dirt, but also from mechanical damage. Of course, it is not always possible at home to cope with serious physical injuries, but small defects are quite amenable to liquidation with your own hands. For example, in a garage, a scratch on the windshield can be eliminated. How to remove it without the help of specialists? Most often, such problems are solved by polishing and grinding. The operation is simple, but it also requires knowledge of some nuances.
Surface troubleshooting
This procedure is usually performed by specialists in service workshops, but understanding its essence will not be superfluous for an ordinary motorist who wants to deal with scratches on the glass with his own hands. Moreover, troubleshooting in the presence of appropriate equipment can be performed independently. Its meaning is to determine the depth of the scratch. For example, small scuffs, which may even be invisible externally, have a depth of about 50-100 microns. Typically, such defects are left by the wipers or poorly executed washing. Finely abrasive paste will help to cope with such flaws. To completely remove scratches from wipers from the windshield, you need to use a felt circle, treat it with the aforementioned tool and lightly polish it. Scratches that are medium in severity and depth can be treated with coarse-grained pastes, and in the case of cuts with a depth of more than 300 microns, it is better to contact specialists. By the way, the use of coarse abrasive compositions for grinding, although it seems to many to be an effective solution to the problem, but with inept use can cause even greater damage to the glass surface.
Surface preparation
The contractor is required to bring all surfaces in proper form in advance. That is, they must be rid of dirt, dust and not have the remaining soap scatters. Moreover, it is necessary to fully care all body parts - this minimizes the risk of foreign particles from neighboring areas on a clean surface. Another thing is that before direct processing it is necessary to leave open only places with defects. The remaining area is covered with a film, which is fixed with tape or special tape. If the question is how to remove a scratch from the windshield of a large car, then the problem of free access to the target area should be solved in advance. Even if we are talking about a small crossover, it is important to prepare special devices that will facilitate access to the glass. Using extension cords in this case is not recommended.
Materials and tools
The work will need three main components. First of all, this is the grinding machine itself. It is quite possible to limit the use of a special machine for polishing a manual type. This is a compact device, the power of which will be enough to eliminate scratches on the windshield. But is it possible to remove scratches from the windshield without using a special paste? It has already been noted that the mechanical cleaning of the surface, during which the defect is smoothed out, is carried out using abrasive products with varying degrees of granularity. For home use, it is still desirable to use soft pastes with a small fraction. Work with them may be delayed, since the physical impact will also be modest, but such a solution will insure against other cuts to the glass. And another component involved in the polishing process is the felt disc, which is worn on the working nozzle of the grinding machine.
Polishing
The work process begins by applying the paste. If the task is to produce spot processing of a specific site, then they can be limited. But since such a responsible preparation was made, it makes sense to process the entire area, along with the place where the scratch on the windshield formed. How to remove a defect with a polishing machine? When the paste is applied, you can turn on the device, delicately making circular movements. Do not press too much - especially if a soft abrasive compound is used, it is advisable to choose the same mode of rotation at low speeds.
In such a work, the main thing is not the intensity of the mechanical abrasive action, but uniformity. Also do not rush. To remove scratches from the windshield with your own hands using a typewriter, you should keep the rotation of about 15 minutes. Then you can proceed to the final cleaning.
Washing
Rinse off not so much traces of cleaning products as the remaining small particles of abrasive. They are difficult to remove without a special apparatus - usually a spray bottle is used for this. With its help, the entire area that has been polished should be treated. To eliminate such difficulties, during the final cleaning, you can completely abandon the abrasive. How to remove scratches on a car windshield without abrasive paste? It can be replaced with putty in the form of mastic or paraffin. They are often used for deep cuts and are simply rubbed into the damaged area without polishing.
Additional recommendations
Do not abuse radical cleaning products. The temptation to use powerful grinders with coarse-grained pastes is always very great, since this option guarantees the repair of damage within a minute, and this may not only be a scratch on the windshield. How to remove deep defects and chips - this issue can be resolved in this way, but only in professional workshops. At home, there is a big risk to get the effect of the lens on the surface in this way, because of which further use of glass will be impossible.
Conclusion
Practice shows that if there is a high-quality abrasive compound and a polishing machine, even a layman can remove a shallow cut on the glass with his own hands. The main mistake to be afraid in such cases is the risk of the formation of other defects during the polishing process. This probability can initially be eliminated by selecting a soft abrasive, due to which the scratch on the windshield will be eliminated. How to remove a defect without damaging other areas? Strict observance of the above polishing rules will help to eliminate the likelihood of an aggravation of the situation. Moreover, they relate not only to cases where you need to deal with scratches on the glass. This procedure is recommended to be performed in regular mode, regardless of the presence of noticeable damage.