polishing a windscreen

[johnvaudo]

Looking for a way to Polish out some scratches in my windshield. the PO had something gritty on his cloth or sponge and put a significant scratch that is very visible in low angle sun conditions.

[Mh434]

Honestly, I doubt you'll have much success in polishing it out if it's an OEM screen. The surface is hardened, and resists polishing like you wouldn't believe. I tried everything (on a spare) from polishing compound to jeweler's rouge on a buffing wheel, to 2000 grit wet/dry paper. Nothing helped. Eventually, of course, you can get through the hardened layer...and the plastic underneath is as soft as cheese. Then, you can scratch it just by looking at it.

The best method I've found for my yellowed and crazed windscreen is to wash it really well, then use a carnauba car wax on it. The vast majority of scratches seem to disappear, and the screen looks clear again...for a few weeks. I suspect the only long-term cure is a new screen - something I'm going to have to do soon.

[WingAdmin]

Honestly, I doubt you'll have much success in polishing it out if it's an OEM screen. The surface is hardened, and resists polishing like you wouldn't believe. I tried everything (on a spare) from polishing compound to jeweler's rouge on a buffing wheel, to 2000 grit wet/dry paper. Nothing helped. Eventually, of course, you can get through the hardened layer...and the plastic underneath is as soft as cheese. Then, you can scratch it just by looking at it.

That's true for coated windshields like the F4 and those from Optic Armor. However, most windshields are not coated, and scratches can be easily polished out. Several people have had excellent results with polish intended for use on clearing yellowed headlight lenses. Others (including myself) have used polish designed for aircraft windshields, which are made of the same material.

[Mh434]

Oh, okay. The one I tried to polish appeared to be an OEM one, but it must have been aftermarket. I never was able to clean it up.

The good news is, I'm pretty certain that the one currently on my bike is original, so maybe I can buff it out!

Thanks, WA!!

[FM-USA]

I'll be testing a product on my screen tomorrow.
It's got micro spider web scratches... enough that when the afternoon sun hits it, I can't see.
I did do a small test section last week and does look promising.
WE'LL SEE, SAID LUCY

[johnvaudo]

will try some headlight cleaner and see not sure which windshield I have but please keep the ideas and trials coming

[Ghostman]

Theres a couple of different products that are really good for plastic windshields. Meguiars PlastX,Novus 2, and Meguiars Diamond crystal polish. The Meguiars Crstal polish is similar to Novus 2 but a tad finer in grade. Biggest thing before cleaning is to make sure you thoroughly clean the windshield,then when polishing do NOT go side to side or circular. Use top to bottom motions. I generally use a cotton towel or a soft microfiber towel. Some microfiber towels are 2 sided with one side being a softer fiber than the other.

[FM-USA]

I haven't got'n to my shield yet, (detained ), that's the stuff I have Meguiar's for my shield.

[JerseyDevil]

http://www.ceebaileys.com/cleaner_prods.html
You can check out Cee Bailey's site for some plastic cleaner and protector information although there's not much about removing scratches. I love their products. They're not cheap though. I had the kids get me some for Christmas.

[BikerGuy]

Toothpaste works well for headlight cleaning. It might work well for windshields too... Couldn't hurt to try it in an inconspicuous area, could it?

will try some headlight cleaner and see not sure which windshield I have but please keep the ideas and trials coming

[Dogsled]

I had a bottle of Novus scratch remover for years and never had it work when I did it by hand to remove a scratch. The windshield was pretty bad and thought of replacing it but not before an effort to revive it. I have a woodworking orbital sander and bought some fairly heavy cloth buffing pads over the foam ones from Harbor freight. I squirted alot on and did a medium to slow cleaning. This thing shines like brand new and it was easy to clean off the Novus with some Novus Plexi Cleaner. It was an amazing transformation for ten minutes of actual work

[Mh434]

Toothpaste works well for headlight cleaning. It might work well for windshields too... Couldn't hurt to try it in an inconspicuous area, could it?

will try some headlight cleaner and see not sure which windshield I have but please keep the ideas and trials coming

As a bonus, your bike would be imbued with a hint of minty freshness!!

[redial]

You mean the bike breath would be gone? Where did I put that minty flavoured hair gell?

[Mh434]

Absolutely! Just say "No!" to bad bike breath!

[FM-USA]

OK, finally found time.

Meguiars Ultra-cut compound is what I have and used to remove the fine spider swirls on my shield. Sure would like to know how they get there. All my wiping motions are top-bottom only.

Sure didn't take long, maybe 10 minutes tops. I didn't fuss over being perfect, just top-bottom wipes with a terry-sock.
# of swipes over the same area? Maybe a half dozen, but I did overlap sooooo.
Also I did the process twice and using a clean cloth. Soapy water clean and used "Finish 2000".
Nearly like new = good nuff.

No pix, I tried but they simply would not show the micro-swirls.

.

[FM-USA]

Trying to post a pix again.

AHHHHhhhhhh finally pix post.

Pix is a painted car but still shows the same Micro-Swirls a plastic windshield has.
After a rather QUICK wiping with Mcguires Ultra-Cut they're almost 100% gone and shield is much clearer.

.

[WingAdmin]

I've truncated this topic that has repeatedly strayed far, far away from the discussion of polishing windscreens, and into a discussion of advertising on the site, and how to circumvent it. The ads you see on the site are the only source of income that keeps this site running. Most of the time ad revenue pays for the hosting costs for the site, and sometimes for the monthly prize as well - but not always, which means it comes out of my pocket. Feel free to do what you like with your own browser, but I don't appreciate discussions talking about the best way to circumvent the thing that keeps this site running.

[Jeff_65]

this is what I use, 3 different types /levels of grit.

[PastoT]

I'm glad somebody mentioned Novus is available in different grades of cutting compound. I frequent a plastics supply house here in Boise and was able to obtain a couple sample packs of Novus 1, 2, & 3 and have used them from fast cutting to fine buffing (I can't remember the order to use them in) and it worked nicely and in my case for free. I was there for some Lexan I used to create wind wings and some long 1" shrink to fit, so I took advantage of the free samples. Wish I'd picked up a few more; will buy the 3 stage kit next time I'm there.

[BillyBarcode]

You probably have all the advice you need, but I polish my windshield with furniture polish from a spray can. It has carnauba wax in it, and seems to fill in any fine scratches. It really makes a difference, and some brands actually repel water. I know I'm cheap, but it works...does a great job on my sunglasses too...

Bill

[Ghostman]

One of the new things I tried was a product called FLITZ. I normally used it to polish my billet wheels on the trike. So I tried it on the wind wings as theyre 8 years old. Seemed to work well so I tried it on the windshield. Works really well and I guess what they put in it to protect the wheels from corrosion also has the effect of causing the bead effect of fluids on the windshield.

[FM-USA]

I WONDERRRrrrr
If a lot of these products on the market today are all the same and the only difference is there color.





.

[Ghostman]

Well Ill tell you that if you use Novus no2 and you open a bottle of Meguiars crystal polish you'd swear the Meguiars was a thinned down version of Novus. But a lot of the so called polish cleaners (more like polishes) like Novus 1 and Plexus and 210 spray polish basically have a compound that fills the scratches and shines the windshield for clarity. People swear that pledge does the same,I dont agree. Ive tried Pledge,Ive tried the dollar store versions and for me what works best is 210 spray cleaner polish. To each their own. I have an 8 year old Tulsa+4 that looks good ,clarity is great and is still chugging along so to speak. One of the things you'll find and maybe WingAdmin can step in here,is that if you look at aircraft window cleaners and protectors youll find some great products for long term care of our windshields. Aircraft have been using plastic for who knows how long and they go through a lot more than we do.

[kybigmac]

Novus has worked the best for me !

[guitarzan]

Hi,
I'm going to try to see if I can buff out the scratches in my windscreen and I have a question. Is there anyway to tell looking at the numbers on the windscreen if it's a windscreen made of a material that scratches can be buffed out?

Thank you
Frank