[Brent Deines]

In my glass shop I used Cerium Oxide and a small, dense wool-felt buffing wheel. This is also what many glass distributors use to buff light scratches out of windshields before delivering them to glass shops. A larger buffer and special wheel are available, but unless you are doing a lot of scratch removal the 3" drill/grinder mounted wheel works quite well. Delta Kits sells the exact same wheel that I used in my shop, and we sell a very high grade Cerium Oxide, but these products are available from a wide variety of glass tool suppliers. This is a very inexpensive and an effective option, with the only real draw back being that it is a little messy. Whenever possible I recommend rinsing off the vehicle when the job is complete.

There are lots of more expensive scratch removal systems on the market, but I have tried many and have not found them to be much more effective if any, and most are just as messy. Everyone has their favorite, but so far I have had better luck with a simple wheel and some inexpensive Cerium Oxide.

Novus sells one that works very well for removing deeper scratches, and it also recaptures the slurry that is used as a buffing compound so it is less messy, but it is quite expensive, difficult to get up close to the moldings, and great care must be taken so as not to damage the glass by grinding out too much glass. Used properly it is a very impressive product, but due to the size, and the time it takes to set up, I find that even most large auto glass distributors and glass shops use something similar to what I used in my ship.

There is a lot of hype about the different scratch removal systems on the market, but in my opinion there is no need to spend a lot if you just want to remove wiper scratches and other light damage of a similar nature.

Regardless of the system used scratch removal is a time consuming process, and the time it takes depends on the length, width, and depth of the scratch, so I recommend charging by the hour. I charged $45/hour but that was many years ago. I would charge more now, but of course it is up to you to determine what your time is worth.

If you decide to purchase a more expensive system, just be sure you get a demonstration, try it yourself first, and get a money back guarantee.