Can you machine polish glass?
Quick answer: Yes, for light marks. We can use a dedicated glass polish (cerium oxide) with a felt pad to remove water spots and fine haze. It won’t fix deep wiper scratches; if your fingernail catches, replacement is usually best. Polishing must be controlled to avoid heat and distortion, especially on laminated windscreens.
If you mean to polish out scratches, it can be done, but is generally not worth doing. It requires special and expensive products to do it, which are generally only used by jewellers and people rectifying antique glass.
This makes it expensive, and the results are generally not all that good. You can remove a scratch or even a light chip, but you can create a distortion in the glass, making a fish-eye lens effect.
It is generally better to replace the glass, even though this can be expensive, you will at least completely rectified the problem rather than just trading it for another.
Written by Danny Argent. Last updated 22/09/2025 16:30