scratches in coffee table
 

picked up a freebie coffee table with a nice glass top...i noticed some rather long scratches in it......is there a product that really works to remove scratches on the market? I haven't tried anything yet...was going to start with toothpaste and see what happened....i just don't want to make it any worse...the rest is in great shape....a $200 table new thx all

Scratches in the wood or the nice glass top?

DM

Scratches are in the glass top or wood surface under it?

Don't use toothpaste even if you think you can polish the scratch. There is not much availed to the consumer market for polishing out scratches in plate glass or even glass countertops yet. A glass shop might be willing to order the paste abrasives and diamond pads used most commonly for removing scratches or can polish it out for you. Whether it is worth it depends on what type of glass you have and whether the expense is justifiable. Sometimes, if you can, flipping the top over so the scratches are on the bottom can make them less noticeable.

If the scratches are in the wood underneath the glass top?

Get a mild abrasive at the paint or wood worker store. They sell filler pencil things in popular stain colors for filling scratches. You can sometimes accomplish the same thing raiding the kids' crayolas. Just melt some of the color in the scratch and burnish it in. Q-tip and some gel stain could work.

Raise the glass top off the surface if you are putting it back in place with buttons to raise it around the perimeter. You do not want it touching the wood directly.

I'm always inclined to sand and refinish the bad ones if it's solid wood and not a veneer.
Cover-ups always seem to look like.... well, cover-ups. I know I always notice them.

DM

You might be able to polish out light scratches on the glass using polishing compound. It's sold in automotive stores and comes in various grits up to 6000 or so. A hand buffing machine works very well.

My friend once told me that if you got a scratch on your watch's glass surface, you can rub toothpaste on it with a tooth brush and it will get the scratch out. I've tried it once and i think it worked.

But, reading sdsester's suggestion.. its really makes me to reconsider the toothpaste solution :tooth::wallbash:

When you're sure, let us know.

Most watch "glass" is hard plastic, so yes, toothpaste does work. I've used it, then buffed to remove minor scratches.

DM

glass top...still haven't really heard any information here yet.......toothpaste yes???? no????? or research a commercial product????

I never tried toothpaste on real glass. I suppose it's worth a shot, but if it's that bad, I'd just replace the glass.

DM

Used to try toothpaste to polish out some crud from plastic windows of British sports cars. There is not enough or hard enough abrasive to do anything with a glass scratch. I hope! Think what that would do to a nice set of choppers?

If the scratch in the glass is really light toothpaste might work, but cerium oxide powder (available at any lapidary shop) mixed with a little water would work ten times faster. (Diamond paste would be better yet, but cerium oxide is a lot cheaper.)

If the scratch is deep enough that you can catch it with your finger nail, forget polishing it out by hand - you'll need to grind it out. Might be worth looking into filling it with epoxy instead.