GLASS SMART WINDOW CLEANING & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT : Using a Cerium Based Compound from a Syringe

Friday, May 2, 2025

Using a Cerium Based Compound from a Syringe

These micrographs show how cerium particles tend to form "clumps" or agglomerates

Particle Distribution Curve

Notice how the tail reveals the amount of oversized particles

Five Micron Particles of Cerium Oxide

Pure white high quality cerium oxide

A cerium oxide agglomerate particle

Cerium oxide is the go to product for quickly polishing glass surfaces. It can be used up tp 3,000 rpms and more to clear a square foot in thirty seconds or less. When used correctly on a flat pad it will not leave swirls of "micro-scratches". Providing the hard water spots do not have large mineral based particles. Technique is still critical to the end result.

The first step is using the best cerium. Things like particle size, purity, agglomerates, particle distribution curve (PDC), quality consistency, and more must be considered. But once this has been sourced it must be determined exactly what medium the cerium powder should be used in. Some people will just open a pail of dry cerium, wet the edge of a pad, and rip into the glass with the spinning pad turned on edge. When this technique is used even the best product will create very bad micro-scratches that sometimes are visible only in the bright sun at just the right angle. The polishing pad must be used totally flat. Another technique that has been used involves mixing a slurry of cerium and water. Let it set for a week. Then mix and dip the pad. Next polish your clean window to remove the hard water spots. The problem with this method is lack of control over the splatter. Especially if you end up very close to the plate you have just cleared. Using a random oscillator at about 10,000 opms and a square flat felt pad completely eliminates the splatter.

Another answer involves using a cerium compound. This is a thick well blended long lasting suspension of cerium. The suspension is tested with a centrifuge. I build my own scientific apparatus. Compounds come in and are applied with a syringe. Or it can be blended and kept in a small plastic open mouth jar. From here it can be sucked up into a 20 gram syringe on the job. To use I just clean the window. Then I wet the window with clean soapy water. Next I apply several drops of the cerium compound to the bottom of my polishing pad. Next I apply directly to the wet window and polish. This process allows you to control the amount of cerium used to reduce cost. It also makes the use of the product very easy and far less messy. Further you can calculate exactly how much time is necessary to clear a square foot.

What I personally like about compounding is you can add other super-abrasives to the cerium or silica or diamond or whatever. Diamond has always intrigued me. But I won't go into that here. Just let me say one thing. Blending diamond and cerium super-abrasives in the polishing industry is becoming a relatively common practice. Because the results have proven to be rather favorable for different reasons.