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Window Chip Repair

Safety is no accident

With the amount of bugs, rain, sleet, hail and all manner of other airborne debris out on the roadways, the windshield of any vehicle has a tough task. The glass in automotive windshields is actually a laminate of one or more layers of glass together with a tough yet flexible plastic to protect against shattering in the case of impact.

This miracle of modern living was discovered entirely by accident by French scientist Edouard Benedictus in 1903. In knocking a glass flask to the floor, Benedictus heard it break, yet discovered upon picking it up that the flask had indeed shattered, yet somehow miraculously maintained its shape. As luck would have it, an assistant had neglected to clean a clear plastic solution from the flask for it had appeared clean already. When the flask fell to the floor and shattered, the thin layer of dried plastic on the inside held the broken glass together in one piece, and voila - modern safety glass was born! Safety glass didn't make it into production automobiles until the late 1920's, but has been standard equipment ever since.

Unlucky Objects

Even the toughest automotive safety glass takes a hit that causes a small chip every now and again. An errant rock, unlucky penny, rolling stone, or some other small bit of destructive debris is usually the culprit when it comes to window chips. The sharp crack of impact is often followed by an expletive and the realization soon after that the new window chip has created itself, as luck usually has it, right in your line of sight.

Fortunately, the same ingenuity and technological innovation that brought the world the miracle of safety glass has also provided a repair thanks to modern space-age polymers. If the chip in question is not too deep, or started its way cracking across the windshield like the outline of the mighty Mississippi river, it can easily be mended to look good as new. The same types of plastics that kept the window from shattering when the chip was made are reintroduced into the chip, and when cured will make the chip look as good as new. While automotive glass shops perform this repair, it can also be made while listening to the ball game in the comfort of your own driveway with a DIY kit similar to the one in the step-by-steps.