Table of Contents
- View The Best Windshield Repair Kit Below
- Windshield Repair Kit Buyer’s Guide
- What to Look For When Buying a Windshield Repair Kit
- What is the Best Windshield Repair Kit?
- Will a DIY Windshield Repair Kit Work?
- Does the Rain-X Windshield Repair Kit Work?
- What are Laminated Windshields?
- What Does the Resin Do in a Windshield Repair Kit?
- How Does a Windshield Repair Kit Work?
- Health and Safety Aspects
- Conclusion
People purchase cars every single day, either brand new or used ones, for various purposes, depending on individuals’ needs. Cars are prone to be damaged in various ways, no matter how many preventive measures one might adopt. Sometimes these measures cover the entire body of the car, both inside and out – sometimes only specific parts, such as the windshield. The windshield is the most exposed, delicate part of a vehicle, as common sense would tell you. When a windshield gets damaged, it can either crack or chip, depending on the cause of this damage.
People are likely to visit local body shops or garages for their windshield to be fixed by professionals. Instead of incurring this expensive cost, you can easily do it at your home, in your garage, using these DIY windshield repair kits. Because these DIY windshield repair kits are easy both to use and afford, they are a great option for you.
There are many different options in the category of DIY windscreen repair kits for you to choose from, depending on your needs and preferences. Due to their nature, many of these kits are very similar to each other, and it can be challenging to choose the best repair kit for your needs.
With this in mind, we have produced an article with a compilation of some of the best windshield repair kits, along with a buyer’s guide to help you make your decision.
View The Best Windshield Repair Kit Below
1. Bamoer Windshield Repair Kit
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This Boemer windshield repair kit is one of the best windshield repair kits around. It’s very convenient for DIY-ers as it will cover the repair of bullseyes, small chips, spider webs, half-moon crescents, as well as cracks that are less than 12 inches (equivalent to 30 cm) long.
This repair kit will save you from spending lots of money that might be paid out when taking your car to professionals for repairs. It will restore your car’s appearance as if it’s never been damaged in the first place.
The Boemer windshield repair kit saves lots of time as it only takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to repair the damaged windshield. Because it takes such a low amount of time, it means that it’s easy to use and provides effective results.
Pros:
+ Scientific resin formula with shear strength up to 20Pa
+ Works best on cracks less than 12 inches
+ Easy to operate
Why We Like It – We chose this Boemer windshield repair kit as one of the best kits you can get simply because it is easy to use, saves time, and is also pocket friendly. It will efficiently restore the original strength of the glass. Rest assured that its results are effective.
2. Clearshield Windshield Repair Kit
This Clearshield DIY windshield repair kit is available in different varieties that would suit every DIY worker, depending on their requirements. It comes with a large quantity of equipment such as repair bridge injectors, various inner rings (depending on the type and size), external end seals, a thin resin bottle, various pairs of thin razor blades, and a good number of drill sets with rechargeable batteries.
This windscreen glass repair kit is good for repairing a good number of different cracks and other forms of windshield damage. Its size means you can use it many times over and over again. It has the added advantage in that it comes with a toolbox – you might as well use this to help to store other tools as well.
This is a kit that not only suits DIY workers but can also be used for commercial purposes by professionals. This because of its size: you can use just one kit on a good number of vehicles.
Pros:
+ Includes a drill with rechargeable batteries
+ A toolbox
+ A repair bridge injector
+ A UV light
+ Drill bits included
Why We Liked It – We chose this Clearshield windscreen repair kit because of its variety. This gives you ample time to choose what best suits your needs and what will be the easiest to use for the task in hand. We strongly recommend this windshield repair kit if you are after a premium, multiple-use product.
Related: Windshield Washer Fluids Review.
3. Permatex Windshield And Glass Sealer
This Permatex windshield repair kit can help you to make various repairs on damaged windshields in a very short period of time. You can also use it to make permanent, air-tight repairs on the windshield, in particular, if your windshield is made of laminated glass.
You don’t need to mix any additives in with it, which is a useful feature. This windshield glass repair kit is fully packed with easy to follow instructions alongside detailed images to help you when you are using it.
It’s convenient and easy to carry and can be used anywhere and everywhere. This might just save you time in the future.
Pros:
+ Curing strip
+ 1 Push pin
+ 1 Adhesive disc
+ Repair compound of NET 0.025 FL 0Z
+ Permatex Windshield Repair Syringe & Plunger
Why We Like It – We chose to add this windshield repair kit to give you an option of great value. To this end, Permatex offers a wide range of sealants, gasket makers, lubricants, thread lockers, and hand cleaners. These hand cleaners are a small yet effective addition which helps you in the cleaning of your hands after the repair is done.
4. FILBAKE Car Windshield Repair Kit
Filblake produces a high-quality windshield repair on small cracks and chips, in particular. It minimizes their appearance and helps the windshield look like new.
The advanced resin formula can be used multiple times and will help the glass to produce a shear strength of up to 20 Pa. It helps to restore windshields to their original condition while consuming less time and money as well, compared to taking it to a body shop. This car windshield repair kit comes with a reinforced injection sealant dispensing head.
Pros:
+ Shear strength of up to 20 Pa
+ Good quality repair fluid
+ Vacuum function
Why We Liked It – Although this kit might seem to be simple in terms of its structure, it’s a great product. It will help you to repair your broken windshield almost instantly. As well as this, it is very mobile and small, so you can take it with you wherever you’re going. It can even be used when you are traveling – you simply pull over for a short time to repair your broken windshield before proceeding with the journey as before.
5. Blue-Star Do it Yourself Windshield Repair Kit
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The Blue Star windshield repair kit that is designed for any vehicle owner to perform professional repairs on their damaged windshields. The kit comes with a special resin formula that penetrates deeply. Like many of these products, it also requires direct sunlight for it to be effective.
The Blue Star glass repair kit also prevents damage from further spreading on the windshield glass.
Pros:
+ 1 Blue star repair injector
+ Adhesive alignment
+ Resin chamber pedestal
+ 1 Tube of quick cure resin
+ 1 Mylar curing film
Why We Liked It – We chose this Blue Star windshield repair kit due to its simplicity: it’s very easy to use. It also prevents the spread of all different forms of damage as it restores the damaged windshield to a nearly new condition.
6. Permatex Bullseye Windshield Repair Kit
The Permatex Bullseye windshield repair kit will do what you need it to do: it’s easy to install, and, with it, you can make virtually undetectable windshield repairs.
The kit does not feature any technical requirements and therefore is essentially zero-maintenance. Also, like almost all windshield repair products, you will need a UV lamp or direct sunlight to cure it.
The small size of this particular kit means that it is easy to carry around in your pocket.
Pros:
+ Curing strip
+ 1 Push pin
+ 1 Adhesive disc
+ Repair compound of 0.025 fl oz
+ Permatex Windshield Repair Syringe & Plunger
Why We Liked It – This kit offers fantastic value for money. Permatex offers a wider range of sealants, gasket makers, lubricants, thread lockers, and hand cleaners. Again, just a small addition, but great for helping you to clean your hands after you have finished with your repairs.
7. GLISTON Car Windshield Repair Kit
This kit suits DIY users well, as it has highly-detailed instructions to direct you through how to use it. It only takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes to make your repairs using this kit and thus potentially saves you lots of time.
This GLISTON kit comes with resin, which solidifies on exposure to direct sunlight, and it is a good idea not to allow the windshield to become exposed to this direct sunlight until you have finished and are ready for it to dry.
Pros:
+ 5pcs of curing strips
+ 1pcs of bottle repair resin (2ml)
+ 1 car windshield repair device
Why We Like It – This GLISTON repair kit offers a great and secure service as it is easy to operate and dries quickly – in less than 10 minutes. It’s also designed for most car windshield pieces of damage, whether big or small, but works best on the small chips.
This GLISTON kit is a professional DIY kit as it also prevents the spread of the cracks in the future.
8. XUELI Windshield Repair Kit
This repair kit repairs damage up to 30 cm long on the windshield with ease. It offers you a great opportunity to save your money and time by just doing repairs yourself.
This kit works with most exterior glass-types and therefore leaves you with many options (except on mobile screens).
It contains a resin that works best when exposed to direct sunlight. You can expect a repair using this XUELI kit to last a long time.
Pros:
+ Cuff shaver
+ Curing strips
+ Repair resin
Why We Like It – We chose this windshield repair kit because it’s suitable for repairing all types of laminated windshields. It’s especially useful if you have to repair a crack but also works well on other forms of windshield damage. It has an impressive method of fixing too, as it produces a strong enough pressure to push the repair liquid into cracks.
Windshield Repair Kit Buyer’s Guide
What to Look For When Buying a Windshield Repair Kit
Before buying a windshield repair kit, it’s best to consider if this kit suits your car. What kind of glass does your car have? Most modern cars will have laminated windshields. It should be proficient at helping you repair the various kinds of damage that might have damaged your windshield. For example, if you have a bad crack running down the windshield, get a repair kit that’s known for getting rid of cracks. If you have a spider web, find a repair kit for getting rid of them. If a chip, get one for chips, and so on.
Make sure you don’t end up paying more for a windshield repair kit than you would pay to take it to a body shop in the first place, of course, unless you are purchasing a kit that you intend to use multiple times.
Pay close attention to the quality of the resin. Most windshield resins are designed to dry quickly in various degrees of temperatures. Most dry best in warm, dry conditions as they naturally blend in with the rest of the glass in your windshield. It’s also a good idea to check on the color of the resin once it has dried up.
Most resins should be able to set rather quickly and dry transparently, without leaving any marks on the windshield. The last thing you want is to fix the chip in your windshield but have a permanent brown stain in the shape of that chip instead. In this way, it’s best to look for high-quality products that reassure you that a good job will be done.
Some of these products have more repair accessories than others. For many people, this will be much better, since most of them consist of instructions, razors, injectors, as well as the glass resin. It’s best to check if all of the accessories that you want are present before buying the kit. You should also look out for whether or not there is an instruction manual. Unless you are a professional, you’re unlikely to want to risk completing a repair without the use of instructions.
Finally, we would advise you to check on whether or not the windshield repair kit you are looking at comes with a warranty, as this gives you security, and with faulty kits, you can get replacements.
What is the Best Windshield Repair Kit?
We hope the list we have put together above of 8 of the best windshield repair kits is useful to you in explaining different features of different examples of a repair kit.
The best windshield repair kit or chip repair kit is, obviously, one that suits your needs and is best suited for the kind of repair that you want to make. Just ensure that you get familiar with all the aspects of each product and learn what you need before making a purchase.
As you can see from our compilation above, we have chosen the Boemer windshield repair kit as the best windshield repair kit you can buy. We love it because users can rest assured that, once the repair has been made, it will last for a long time. Because it prevents the crack from spreading, you are less likely to find other cracks and chips spreading on the windshield. As well as this, it’s easy to use and builds confidence in the finished product.
We also found that it covers a wide range of repairs, fixing multiple chips, cracks, spider webs, etc. This makes it functional for you, as well.
Will a DIY Windshield Repair Kit Work?
If you have never used a DIY windshield repair kit before, it might be difficult to be sure about how to use one of these windshield repair kits.
It is, of course, true that everything in the world has its pros and cons, and windshield kits are no exception.
The most obvious advantage that raises the ears of many people is that they are considerably cheaper than the average repair from a professional. Of course, the reason why this windshield repair kit is so cheap is that you’re only paying for the purchase of the kit itself and will not have to pay any labor charges on top of this. The trade-off is that a professional is likely to have a much better idea of what they are doing, and their work should be insured against mistakes. You using a kit at home is, of course, not insured in this way.
And now for the instructions that no DIY worker likes to hear – “read the instructions!” A windshield repair kit depends on many factors, including the windshield is in the right condition before you apply the kit, the right temperature in the atmosphere and humidity, the presence of sunlight (or lack thereof) depending on your timing, the quantity of resin and method of application. And so on. Failure to read the instructions carefully could lead to a catastrophic mistake – this is the last thing you want.
Many of these repair kits are what the professionals use in their body shops when you take your car to them. However, as mentioned before, they will have used windshield glass repair kits like these hundreds of times before.
The best windshield repair kits are very popular in the DIY market.
Here are some advantages that these windshield repair kits have that lead to them being very widely used:
- Windshield repair kits are extremely affordable compared to having a full windshield replacement.
- Using a windshield repair kit is relatively simple, especially on small chips, and they often include everything that you need to fix your windshield.
- Windshield repair kits save you time and are convenient for travel. If you have to stop due to the windshield becoming damaged, it won’t be for anywhere near as long as if you had to take the car to a garage.
- Many windshield repair kits prevent cracks from spreading and, therefore, potentially offer some protection for the future.
- Most of the repairs are successful – but only when instructions are correctly followed!
Does the Rain-X Windshield Repair Kit Work?
You always want to be sure that you can see out of your windscreen. When you are driving in heavy rain, this is one of the most deadly ways your vision can be impaired.
The Rain-X windshield repair kit is one of the best examples of these a DIY windshield repair kit you can get. Like many other windshield kits of this nature, you can use the Rain-X windshield repair kit for the repair of windshield damage, such as chips and cracks. You can use it on all types of laminated windshields, to one layer of glass. Again, like many of these windshield kits, it contains an advanced resin formula and can be used multiple times for fixing any more chips and cracks that might appear.
In short, yes. It does work.
What are Laminated Windshields?
Laminated windshields are made up of two layers of glass. These glass layers are joined together by a layer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), which is a bit like clear plastic. These windshields are now used the world over because they are much stronger. If the windshield gets damaged, you are very unlikely to get a hole in it. Instead of this, the crack or chip will continue to spread through the glass until it is repaired. This helps stop the windshield from shattering while you are driving.
What Does the Resin Do in a Windshield Repair Kit?
A windshield chip repair kit comes with a type of resin that fills the piece of damage (cracks, chips, etc.) and acts as a sort of glue. The resin used in one of these kits will be formulated to have the same refractive index as glass, meaning it shouldn’t be obvious to see against the glass. It will also contain UV inhibitors to stop it from yellowing.
If you see a kit that doesn’t contain either of these two features, you are likely to find that the repair will be noticeable against the glass.
How Does a Windshield Repair Kit Work?
All good chip repair kit or windshield repair kits will work in slightly different ways, depending on what equipment is provided to you. However, you may like to know just in general how a repair kit might be used, so we have explained how to complete a very basic chip repair using one of these kits.
Most chips that appear in your glass are as a result of the windshield getting hit by small rocks which, in most cases, only breaks the outer layers of the glass (unless of course it is hit by something particularly large, in which case both layers can end up broken).
After you have purchased your preferred windshield repair kit, we would advise you to read the instructions before you start using it carefully.
You are advised to dry the windshield to room temperatures by using the best method you can, as this pulls the moisture out of the surface. Cleaning the windshield is also advised to help remove tiny films that might affect the efficiency of the windshield repair kit.
Peel the back off of the adhesive strip and apply it to the pre-cleaned surface. The adhesive should be centered over the chip. After this, you should burnish with a blunt object.
Remove the cap of the syringe and attach it to the adapter, before pulling the syringe out to the furthest it can come. Create a vacuum by holding it at this position until the air in the crack bubbles up in the syringe, and then, at this time, the adhesive resin can seep through into the glass chip from the resin chamber, using the delivery system.
Give it some time for the resin to bond with the chip to create a seal and, once this has completed, your repair is complete and successful. You should expose the adhesive in temperatures suggested for the best and strongest bond, as different resins bond in different atmospheric conditions and temperatures. As always, consult your instructions in the manual.
Health and Safety Aspects
It’s important to consider your safety when completing windshield repairs, as well as the safety of those that are around you. We would like to remind you that there are various safety precautions that you need to consider while undertaking the repair procedure on your windshield.
With all that in mind, let’s check on some of the areas that you need to be especially diligent about when you are completing a repair procedure using a windshield repair kit.
- Protective measures for your skin – You need to take care of your skin, and it’s advised that you wear protective clothing since the resins in these repair products include acrylic acid and, therefore, should not come in contact with your skin at all. It must be immediately washed off if this happens. It’s also advised to use personal protective equipment such as non-latex gloves and barrier creams while you work on your repairs, as this is further good protective measures against skin damage.
- Protective measures for your eyes – Eye protection is extremely important during windshield repairs since the chemicals that are contained in the resins can cause serious damage to the eye. This is made much more dangerous as we can see how fast it is designed to react with the glass. Safety glasses are highly recommended since glass fragments from drills that can scatter when you are working on your repair can easily get into your eyes and damage them. You should also never touch your face until you have washed your hands thoroughly.
- Protective measures for your vehicle – On the other hand, it’s also advised to protect the body of the vehicle you are working on, to avoid any further damage to your car. You can do this using VPE (Vehicle Protective Equipment), such as wing covers and old towels or sheets covering the hood, roof, and side pillars. This is to protect the delicate surfaces of the vehicle from scratches and, more so, chemical spills from resin. If this happens, you will need to wash it off with warm and soapy water immediately.
- As the last piece of advice, we would recommend keeping the data you need for completing the repair safe and easy to find. Make sure you don’t use too much or too little of the resin and correctly use the windshield repair kit.
Conclusion
There are many other kinds of these products; many more than the eight that we have just narrowed down for you. We hope that this article will have given you a lot of information that you can take away and use as you come to repair your broken windshield, or if you are simply preparing for such a situation.
We believe it’s worth taking your time to find the best windshield repair kit to suit your needs and the needs of your car. Find a chip repair kit that you won’t immediately regret purchasing, and that is easy to use.
We would also advise you to visit professionals if you find that you have any really large cracks on your windscreen since most of these windshield repair kits only work for smaller bits of damage. This will help you to avoid wasting your time and resources on something that won’t work. If you are in any doubt, we advise that you visit a professional.
We hope that you find this article useful and that we have helped to solve some of your queries. We wish you the best of luck in your search for the best windshield repair kit.
Thanks for reading.
