When we first started learning about glass restoration, over a decade ago, we quickly realized that all glass restoration products do not produce equal results. Our Glass ReSurfacer Final Polish was produced as a result of our critical eye, and attention to detail.
As we began marketing glass restoration services to commercial buildings, we realized that the majority of the glass restoration products available to us actually produced fine scratches in the surface of the glass. This is most noticeable when looking at the glass in direct sunlight, and from an angle.
The problem is that when we did a test area at ground level with an abrasive product, the window looked great. We were excited, and our client was expecting all of the windows to look great. However when we were restoring architectural windows 5 stories up in the air, and the sun would come up in the morning, the windows looked scratched. This presents a problem when trying to explain to our client the difference in the two windows was not in the quality of our workmanship, but in the way that light reflects off of the scratches as you are viewing the window in certain sunlight.
In order to understand what is occurring, it is important to understand how glass restoration products work. In order to remove hard-water stains from glass, you actually have to remove some glass or the stain won’t completely come out. This is due to the fact that glass stains are adhering to both the high points, and the low points in the glass – on a microscopic level. In order to remove the stains from the low points, you have to remove the high points of the glass and get down to the lowest point in which a stain has formed. Glass restoration is achieved through removal of glass, and stains, by either an acidic or an abrasive product – or in the case of Glass ReSurfacer Stripper, and Glass ReSurfacer Final Polish – a combination of the two.
Certain abrasive products, like our EnviRestore Glass Stain Remover and pretty much any other abrasive product on the market, which are used by hand in order to remove glass stains scratch glass surfaces. This is not a scare tactic. It is a fact. In certain circumstances this is an acceptable outcome. These products are typically less expensive to purchase and use, so industry professionals are able to pass lower glass restoration costs on to their clients. These products work well for ground level glass restoration, or to restore windows which are never viewed in direct sunlight. It is however important, as a contractor, to make sure that your company is covered from liability through educating your client on the results which will follow from the use of these type of abrasive glass restoration products.
All to often Presto is contacted as a result of contractors using abrasive glass restoration products, actually finishing the job, and the client realizing that there are scratches on all of the windows which can only be seen during a certain portion of the day. The good news is that you are reading this article, and will never find yourself in this position – and if you are currently in this position, we know how to repair scratches caused by abrasive glass restoration products. While it is a slow process, and requires a very keen eye for detail, we have helped contractors repair glass scratches resulting from abrasive products for years. Order The Glass ReSurfacer System, and use it in accordance with our published instructions in order to remove fine scratches caused by abrasive glass restoration products. In some cases we have been called in to provide consulting on the effective use of this product in order to help train contractors and their agents. This service is available, contact us for additional information.
