Tempered glass can become cloudy or scratched and may need to be polished. It’s something that’s easy to do and doesn’t require any special equipment. In fact, you should generally steer clear of special equipment for this job. It doesn’t take that long and your glass will look a great deal better once you’ve finished the job.
Step 1 - What Not to Use
Before you begin to polish tempered glass, it’s important to know what not to use on the glass. Never try to clean tempered glass with a buffer (and definitely not a sander) because there’s a very big risk that the glass will shatter. Nor should you use scouring pads which can be very abrasive on tempered glass. Although vinegar is often used to clean glass, it’s not suitable for use on tempered glass since it can also prove to be abrasive.
You can use a commercial glass cleaner on tempered glass without any problems but it won’t give as deep a shine to the glass as other methods. It’s very useful for maintenance cleaning but not for anything intensive such as a spring clean.
Step 2 - Cleaning
To clean the glass more effectively, mix water and dish soap into a spray bottle. Under normal circumstances, the mixture doesn’t need to be too strong. However, if the glass is dirty, make the mixture more concentrated by adding more dish soap.
Spray the mixture liberally onto the tempered glass and allow it to stand for about 15 minutes. This allows the soap to soak into the grime and loosen it. Once the time has passed, take a damp sponge and begin wiping down the glass. Press reasonably hard to remove the grime and any films of grease which might be on the glass.
Wring the sponge out regularly or use several sponges. Keep going until you’ve cleaned the entire piece of tempered glass. If it’s very dirty, it might require two or more applications of the soap mixture. Again, let it stand on the glass then rub clean.
Step 3 - Polishing
Before the glass has completely dried, take a soft cloth and buff the entire surface of the glass. This will leave a good shine on the surface.
Step 4 - Scratches
Just like other kinds of glass, tempered glass can become scratched and regular polishing won’t eliminate the scratches. For this, you need a glass polishing kit although even this won’t remove deep scratches.
Apply the solution in the kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions. It will relax the glass a little so that when you hand buff it with the buffer provided, the scratch will become a lot less visible even if you don’t get rid of it entirely. Finish by using the soap and water mixture, rubbing it down with a sponge and then polishing it again with a soft cloth until the glass shines.