Scratched glass repair

is quite the topic for debate among glass shops, window cleaners, window and glass manufacturers and anyone in the glass industry.
Can scratched glass really be fixed?  Many people are under the impression that once glass is scratched, it’s ruined, irrepairable. We’re here to “clear up” some myths about glass scratch repair!

Scratches in glass have many causes such as,  careless window cleaning,  abrasive debris on glass, vandalism (glass graffiti including etched, diamond scratched,  and acid graffiti), stucco, grout, concrete, all these things can lead to a contractor, homeowner, or individual in need of scratched glass repair!

History of Scratched Glass Repair

In the past, when people wanted premium quality glass, the process was a slow one.  Large pieces of glass were cut and polished with abrasives and then slowly polished with cerium oxide, tin oxide or some other glass polishing compound.  If you’ve ever seen old windows, they have a “dimple in the middle of them because they were created from a ball of molten glass, spun thin, and cut to fix the window.  The dimple was from where the blob of glass was removed while molten.  Things have changed!  Now we have “float glass” where molten glass is spread in a “ribbon” across molten tin and “floats” on top.  This glass is clean, clear, and flat.  We also have “tempered glass” or also referred to as “safety glass”.  This is glass that has been “tempered” by being heated to near the melting point of glass, then cooled to create a very high surface tension which makes the glass four to five times stronger, not harder, than un-tempered or annealed glass.

Scratched Glass Repair pictures

Pictures of a scratched glass repair is difficult at best since most modern cameras auto focus and peer right through the glass.  The trick to get quality scratched glass repair pictures is to trick the camera to focus on the surface of the glass, where the scratches are!  How do we do this?  If your camera has a “macro” setting, (the “flower” setting) use this.  Then focus on the glass scratches from about 8-12 inches away.  The trick to get the camera to focus on the scratch and not through the glass is to put some blue tape on the glass near the scratch and get the camera to auto focus on the tape, then move the camera to the glass scratch while keeping the camera the same distance as when you auto focused it.  Here are a few samples.  However, please do not copy these pictures.