Swirl Removal on Tempered Glass Cooktop

[WMUCarGuy]

Hi everyone... here's something different.

 

A buddy of mine has a cooktop that has a tempered glass top piece. Likely via some abrasive cleaner, him or his wife has managed to dig some pretty significant swirls into the tempered glass cooktop.

 

He's not in any way a detailer, or someone that would consider taking a wheel to his car, or his cooktop, but he's done some research and tried a few things already that did not improve the situation. So far he has tried baking soda and water, whitening toothpaste. He's also read about using pumice soap or 0000 grit sand paper to wet sand it.

 

Would any kind of Adam's polish or compound do anything to remove any of these swirls when used with a wheel? Might he see any improvements using product by hand?

 

If no automotive detailing products would be the answer, does anyone else have any suggestions?

Thanks!

[RayS]

The first thing is to find out if it is truly etched into the surface or on the surface.  Since it is a Glass surface, I would try a small area using Brilliant Glaze.  If nothing else it will ensure there is no chemical residue remaining on it.  If that doesn't work, I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer to see if you can use #0000 steel wool on it.  I use that on windows on a regular basis and it does not scratch itself, yet will take out light scratches and waterspots on the glass.  However, I have not used it on a Tempered Glass cooktop, so I do not know if there would be any adverse effects.

[Rich]

We've had glass tops for at least a dozen years or more and never had that happen. Looks like they spilled something and used a Brillo pad or steel wool on it.  Or they used those tough plastic scrubbers. Those are the only things that will do that to a glass top.  The best thing I (or I should say my wife) has found to use on her cooktop is the Emeril Cleaner, but Adam's doesn't sell that any more. The Home Surface Cleaner works to spray and soak any crusty stuff or boilovers and clean off grease. But the best, and really only, thing that should be used on them is the Ceramic Cook Top Cleaner that the manufacturers recommend.  Don't even use Soft Scrub on them. 

[Dan@Adams]

On 1/12/2021 at 9:01 PM, RayS said:

The first thing is to find out if it is truly etched into the surface or on the surface.  Since it is a Glass surface, I would try a small area using Brilliant Glaze.  If nothing else it will ensure there is no chemical residue remaining on it.  If that doesn't work, I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer to see if you can use #0000 steel wool on it.  I use that on windows on a regular basis and it does not scratch itself, yet will take out light scratches and waterspots on the glass.  However, I have not used it on a Tempered Glass cooktop, so I do not know if there would be any adverse effects.

I'm glad Ray mentioned #0000 Steel Wool, as it is entirely different than a low grit sand paper, such as 80 grit, which is very coarse for rough wood work. I'm guessing that was just a typo by mistake, but for everyone reading, I would not recommend using a low grit sand paper on it. 

It can be very difficult to polish swirl marks out of glass. Other companies offer cerium oxide polish kits designed specifically for polishing glass, but I do not have experience with those. I've always been hesitant polishing glass, as I've read and heard stories of polishing too much and giving a distorted fishbowl effect to the glass.

You could try to compound and polish it with a Microfiber Cutting Pad and our blue Compound and then step down to the White Foam Pad and white Polish; however you may not see a large improvement in the appearance of the glass since they're intended for paint and clear coat. Also keep in mind machine speed and keeping the pad flat, as you don't want to potentially crack the glass from too much pressure or vibration (I'm not sure how strong/thick the tempered glass would be compared to a vehicle windshield...one of my neighbor's had her stove top shatter apart right around Thanksgiving from an accident from her kids, so I've been much more careful about setting pots and pans on my stove since then!)