The Question:
Scratching the Surface I’ve got some light scratches in my windshield. My nail doesn’t catch in them, so they’re not deep, but the usual Windex is not having an effect. Can I buff these out? How?
The Answer:
There are two ways to address light scratches in glass. The easiest is to fill the scratches with an acrylic scratch remover, which is applied as a liquid and dries hard and transparent, hiding the damage by filling the scratches chemically.
For deeper scratches, the most popular fix is buffing the glass with cerium oxide, a popular glass, ceramic and metal polish with very low abrasiveness, it’s widely used in jewelry and ceramics. Add water to the fine powder and make a slurry the consistency of Elmer’s Glue, then cover the damaged areas with the paste. Using a drill with a hard rubber polishing wheel attached, apply firm pressure to slowly grind the surface smooth. To make things a bit easier, mark the location of the scratch on the other side of the glass so you can keep track of where you should be working. It may take a while, but keep the paste moist and add more cerium oxide as needed, and the result will be a smooth, scratch-free surface.
Read more: How to Remove Light Scratches from Your Windshield – Popular Mechanics