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The Glass Polishing Process undertaken by Chicago Glass Technicians to restore the clarity of your glass.
We are a leading Glass Polishing Company working across mainland UK. Our glass polishing system removes scratches and other types of defects in the glass to the required standards for the appearance of newly installed glass.
This page covers only our process but if you are looking to see if we can help with the damage you are looking to fix, scroll down to see the types of damages our glass polishing process can remove.
If you have an impact damage (a chip or shell), then take a look at our Glass Restoration Services page.
Glass is an amorphous solid, meaning it has the characteristics of both a solid and a liquid. When the glass receives a light scratch, the particles have been moved or displaced along the surface, for deeper scratches sometimes the particles will have actually been removed.
The glass polishing process used by our technicians to restore your glass creates the conditions to cause the glass particles to flow back into the displaced area or scratched area caused by the damage. During the process, the void fills from the bottom, so the width of the scratch remains the same until the last few minutes of the process where after it fills completely, and the scratch is gone.
Our process uses a series of abrasive discs, to grind the glass defect, removing very thin layers of the glass until the scratch/defect disappears and the glass surface is level once more.
Our technicians then mechanically polish with polishing compound and a felt pad the area which has been abraded. At this stage, we may apply small amounts of water, normally a mist from a spray bottle to cool the glass and obtain the correct potency and mixture of the compound to effectively polish the glass type. This changes from glass type and specification, often requiring different amounts of purchase and pressure. This part of the process heats the glass molecules and starts moving them around rectifying the displaced and abraded glass surface to a clear and consistent finish. This process is then repeated blending the worked area to any unworked or existing glass surfaces.
Our 2-stage polishing system process and end result will restore the glass to meet the BSI standard for newly installed glass in buildings.
You will often hear our Head Office and technicians talk about working an area larger than the actual defect on the glass, this is to ensure the risk of distortion or dishing is reduced.
All our technicians undergo extensive in-house training upon starting with us to enable them to learn the skills required to be able to polish damage out of the glass to the high standards and output levels we pride ourselves on.
From the different types of glass, and how the depth of the damage, the glass type and also the damage itself affects the process they need to choose to restore the glass panel back to its original condition.
Along with the initial training, all of our new technicians will attend site with a senior technician, who will help them perfect their technique. They do this for a minimum of 6 months before they are allowed to go out to jobs on their own. Of course, the team are always there for each other, and regular communicate on jobs and the best way to resolve the damage, if they are faced with a new challenge.
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We hold CHAS Elite, along with being members of the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF).