How do I remove scratches from windscreen?

[Deleted member 122426]

On a recent trip to Scotland my car was bombed overnight by a seagull. A single strike in the middle of the windscreen. In the morning I soaked the offending concrete-hard sh*t with water and gently rubbed with a cloth until it was removed completely.

Obviously the seagull had taken in some sand with his fish supper because now I have small scratches all over that area. Large enough to see when the sun shines (not often in Scotland) but small enough not to be able to feel with a fingernail.

Does anybody have any good ideas on how to polish out the scratches without damaging the screen further?

 

[daveenty]

Jewellers Rouge, but be prepared for an awful amount of gentle polishing.

It will take a good while though, as long as it's not too bad, should remove the fine marks.

 

[David404]

Try this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ADMA8GQ/?tag=amazon0e9db-21

 

[Deleted member 122426]

Thanks daventy and David404 for your suggestions, much appreciated! I'll let you know how I get on (although it'll be about five weeks until I'm back in the UK).

 

[Cymruambyth]

Try this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ADMA8GQ/?tag=amazon0e9db-21

I might give this a go myself as mine has bad scratches on it. God knows how people manage to do such damage to their own car

 

[Liquid silver]

Do what I did. I had 5 years of road rash on my CL63 screen. Rang the Insurance broker and explained that when the sun shines it obstructs my vision (very important) he just said to contact National Windscreen and get it done. Hey presto new windscreen fitted the following week. Just cost £75 excess.

 

[David404]

I might give this a go myself as mine has bad scratches on it. God knows how people manage to do such damage to their own car

In fairness they say if you can feel the scratch with a finger nail this wont polish that out. Remember what you're doing is grinding away the surrounding glass down to the depth of the scratch. So if its very light scratching this is worth a try given the modest cost.

I used this to good effect but only to remove contaminates from the glass that nothing else would shift.

 

[Cymruambyth]

In fairness they say if you can feel the scratch with a finger nail this wont polish that out. Remember what you're doing is grinding away the surrounding glass down to the depth of the scratch. So if its very light scratching this is worth a try given the modest cost.

I used this to good effect but only to remove contaminates from the glass that nothing else would shift.

I did check that and I couldn`t feel it....it`s right in my line of sight!!!! Might do what was suggested above actually and get new screen as it does seem to be covered in road rash also.

 

[Deleted member 122426]

A quick update. I ordered this as suggested by David404 and I've finally got around to using it.

I was surprised to find that it's referred to as a non-abrasive treatment, but after a lot of polishing using the supplied pad in the chuck of the power drill, numerous applications of the white paste substance and spraying with water from time to time, the scratches are pretty much gone. You can see them if you know where to look but they're not noticeable now.

The stuff splattered everywhere so you need to protect all the surrounding paintwork and glass. Also you need to polish in short sessions and leave for five minutes for the windscreen to cool as it can get very hot, very quickly, meaning a risk of cracking. A useful tip is to stick a sheet of paper to the inside of the windscreen with the treatment area marked out on it.

In future I'll be more careful when a seagull chooses to use my pride and joy as a toilet!

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

 

[brucemillar]

Mrs M was strafed by a mahoosive seagull as she got out my car on a visit to the Turner Gallery. When I say strafed I mean she was absolutely plastered in the stuff. A complete sense of humour failure ensued as she headed off into the nearest shop to try and buy some wipes. She ended up having to buy a new outfit. It quite literally looked like somebody had emptied a bucket of seagull poop down her, luckily missing her head.

Some kindly locals explained that the seagulls are now the bain of the town. Encouraged by tourists who feed them on anything that they don't want to eat themselves. This includes burgers, chips, ice creams. The result of this over feeding, is seagulls that have taken on the appearance and size of Lancaster Bombers, dropping tons of chewed up burgers from a great height onto the unsuspecting people down below. We witnessed (and I kid you not) some people walking around with open umbrellas - a shrewd move.

Just saying.

 

[gianton]

A quick update. I ordered this as suggested by David404 and I've finally got around to using it.



I was surprised to find that it's referred to as a non-abrasive treatment, but after a lot of polishing using the supplied pad in the chuck of the power drill, numerous applications of the white paste substance and spraying with water from time to time, the scratches are pretty much gone. You can see them if you know where to look but they're not noticeable now.



The stuff splattered everywhere so you need to protect all the surrounding paintwork and glass. Also you need to polish in short sessions and leave for five minutes for the windscreen to cool as it can get very hot, very quickly, meaning a risk of cracking. A useful tip is to stick a sheet of paper to the inside of the windscreen with the treatment area marked out on it.



In future I'll be more careful when a seagull chooses to use my pride and joy as a toilet!



Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Thanks for the update! I ordered the same stuff from ebay and will be using it on my rear windscreen to remove scratches from the wiper.