Have you gotten a small chip in the windshield and you are looking for the best windshield repair kit to avoid this crack to spread out? Well, if that’s the case, then you are at the right place because there will be a lot to cover on this topic when it comes to the best windshield chip repair kit.
Having a problem with a chipped and cracked windshield can be a really annoying thing to deal with. Mainly because chips can be created and all of a sudden they will spread around the whole windshield and make the whole windshield look like spiderman’s web. And that’s something that you don’t want to deal with.
Mainly because when the cracks spread all over the place, replacement of this windshield is imminent and no matter what you do, you just cannot fix it and bring it back to factory spec. So, whenever you notice even the smallest chip in the windshield, it is important to act quickly and prevent the windshield from cracking. And we are going to help you out with that.
First, we are going to cover the basics and learn what is a windshield and its main task, then we will cover the reasons why windshield cracks and how to prevent cracking. Then we will dive into the types of repair kits that are out there and after that, we will list the best windshield repair kit and also how you can perform this repair at home by following some simple instructions. So, if you want to learn more, follow along.
What Is A Windshield?
Now before we dive into more complex stuff and start discussing the best windshield repair kit, let’s first cover some of the basics and learn what is a windshield. I bet that there are not a lot of people who are into cars and are reading this and need to know what makes a windshield glass quite different from other automotive glass. So, let’s get into it.
One of the most important things to know about windshields is that this type of glass is a safety glass. This means that it is designed in such a way to prevent life-threatening situations on the road.
For most of the windows, cars are using tempered glass. The tempered glass is a special safety glass that shatters into small pieces on impact. This is the glass that you have on the doors as well as the rear window.
But unfortunately, using this glass on the front window is not possible. Because imagine if there is a rock that hits your windshield. You just don’t want the glass to burst and end up in your eyes and face.
So, something else had to be invented for this purpose. And that is the windscreen laminated glass. Laminated glass is a type of glass that holds together when impacted. This means that there could be chips and cracks. But in most cases, the windshield will stay uniform and you will not have to worry that will shatter into pieces.
All this is possible because the glass is held by a thin layer of polymer that is sandwiched between two layers of glass. This polymer layer simply does not allow the glass to shatter into pieces. But what is the best windshield repair kit? More on that in a bit.
Reasons Why Windshields Crack
Now before we learn what is the best windshield repair kit out there, let’s learn more about the reasons why windshields crack in the first place. Knowing this will help you avoid your windshield cracking in the first place.
The first and most common cause of windshield cracking is road debris. Imagine that you drive on the highway with a speed of 70mph and there is a car in front of you that drove over some pebbles and it basically lifted them up in the air.
Then you drive through these pebbles that are floating in the air at 70 mph and your windshield doesn’t stand a chance. It will crack, even if you hit the rock at smaller speeds it could still crack. This is the most common reason for this problem with the cracked windshield.
The second very common cause is bad weather. If you live in a place that has a ton of hale storms. Then you will highly likely end up with a cracked windshield or a cracked rear window. These are simply rocks of ice that could cause a lot of damage.
The next cause that could make the windshield crack is a sudden change in temperature. Imagine that is really cold outside and the windshield is frozen. Then you get the idea to defrost it with warm water. This is a bad idea from the start because you will end up with a cracked windshield. Glass simply does not want abrupt changes in temperature.
And the last type of damage that we are going to cover is the collision damage. If you’ve been involved in a collision, you can expect your car to have a cracked windshield. Glass doesn’t tolerate big impacts. But what is the best windshield repair kit? More on this in a bit.
How To Prevent Windshield Cracking?
Now before we dive int to the types of best windshield repair kit, let’s learn more about how you can prevent cracking development on your windshield.
As you probably know, everything starts with small chipping. That small chip is caused by the impact of pebbles on the road or hale.
Then as you drive the car and go over bumps the crack will start to spread across the whole windshield and you will end up with a spider web of a windshield.
In order to prevent cracking you need to perform an immediate repair on the small chip. And by immediate, I mean you need to do this really fast.
The more you drive the vehicle like this, the worse it will be and your windshield will start to crack and when it does, you will not be able to repair it at all. You will have to replace it. This is why you want to avoid this type of situation. So, you need to learn which is the best windshield repair kit and fix the window. But more on that in a bit.
Types Of Repair Kits
Now before we learn what is the best repair kit, let’s learn more about the types of kits that are out there.
Knowing the types will help you to get what you want for your purpose. You don’t want to get the wrong kit and then not know what to do with it in the first place. So, let’s cover the two main types of windshield repair kit.
DIY Repair Kits
The first type of windshield repair kit is the DIY kit. So, what is a DIY kit? Well, this is the type that you probably need. In other words, this is a Do It Yourself Kit.
This is a small single-use package that will be enough to fix your windshield and then you can dispose of it in the trash bin.
These kits are really beginner-friendly. In order to use them, you will only need to watch a small instruction video on YouTube and also read the instruction manual on the back of the package.
Not to mention that these kits are dirt cheap. They only cost between $12 and $20 on average and is a real no-brainer to get one of these best windshield repair kit to sort out your problem.
Professional Repair Kits
The next type of best windshield repair kit is the professional repair kit. The professional repair kit as you probably assume is intended for people who are doing this professionally.
So, if you want to get a new hobby and make a couple of dollars you can go for this kit. At first, you can try to work on an old car with a bad windshield, and then once you ramp up your skills, you can offer your services and start to work as a windshield repairman.
This kit includes everything that you will need to fix chips and bigger cracks. But it also costs more money. Which is understandable. So, you need to be prepared to pay the price. But what is the best windshield repair kit? Well, more on that we are going to cover in the following chapters.
Best Windshield Repair Kit
Now let’s get to business and cover the best windshield repair kit. As we already explained previously. There are two types of windshield repair kits.
The first type is the DIY kit and the second type is the professional type of repair kit. In the following chapters, we will focus primarily on the DIY kits but we will also list some professional ones for the people who want to work with this on a professional level. So, let’s get into it.
Best DIY Windshield Repair Kit
The first type of kits that we are going to cover are the DIY kits. These are the single-use disposable kits that you can purchase and perform a single repair. In the reviews, we will include links to Amazon so you could read some reviews and grab one of these kits for yourself.
Permatex Windshield Repair Kit
The Permatex best windshield repair kit is one of the most popular repair kits on Amazon with more than 6,000 reviews. And also, it is dirt cheap, costing about $11 which is a real bargain.
You can fix your windshield for this money instead of replacing it with a new one that will cost you hundreds in the worst cases.
This kit comes with all the tools you need in order to apply it the right way. It has a bottle of resin which is the most important thing, then there is an applicator and a suction cup that will allow you to apply this resin and solve your problem permanently.
The downside with this applicator is that it is single-use only. Which means that will be enough for one chip or crack. If you want to fix more cracks, you will have to get multiple applicators.
Another positive when it comes to this kit is that you have clear instructions coming with the kit. Read them carefully and you will tackle this issue in no time.
Rain X Windshield Repair Kit
The next best windshield repair kit that we are going to cover is the Rain X. This is easily one of the most popular repair kits out there. It has almost 29,000 ratings and is the number 1 best seller on Amazon. It costs only $12 and for a pack of 6 of these, you will only have to pay about $43.
This product similar to the previous kit that we reviewed is single use only. This is a perfect kit for the ones who have a single rock chip on their windshield and want to stop this chip from spreading across the whole windscreen.
What is bad though is that you need a UV light in order to make this resin cure quickly. It will not dry quickly if you don’t have a UV light. So, for this job to be successful, you will also need a UV light if you want to tackle it properly.
What is another positive is that you get a manual with instructions on how to tackle this task in no time. Now let’s cover the next best windshield repair kit.
3M Windshield Repair Kit
The next best windshield repair kit that we are going to cover is the 3M Windshield Repair Kit. We all know 3M and their quality products. And not only that this is a quality product with more than 5,000 ratings, but it is also one of the cheapest out of the bunch costing only $10.
This is a kit specifically designed to tackle chips and prevent the cracks from spreading around and ruining your beautiful windshield.
This kit comes along with all the essentials to tackle this job like the resin, applicator, and cleaning wipes. It also has a step-by-step tutorial that will help you tackle this repair in a speedy manner without any hiccups. In the end, your windshield will look good as new and you will never have to worry about the crack spreading.
Best Professional Windshield Repair Kit
Now as we covered the DIY best windshield repair kit, now it is time to list the best professional repair kit. These kits are only for guys who want to do this professionally and earn their bread from this type of work.
Delta Kits Windshield Repair Kit
The first best windshield repair kit for professionals is this Delta Kits product. This product contains all the essentials that you will need to tackle these problems professionally.
If you want to earn your money by fixing windshields you need to invest in something like this. It might be pricier. But if you want to look like a professional and have all the bells and whistles at your disposal this kit would be perfect for you.
As the description says, with this kit you will be able to repair about 100 windshields. And once you are out of resin, you can only purchase resin and resume working. Simple as that, in the link you can read more about this kit and see if it fits the bill for you.
Clearshield Windshield Repair Kit
And the last kit on our list is the Clearshield Windshield Repair Kit. This kit is also a professional kit that is intended for professional use only.
What is good about this kit is that is really affordable. Costing about $350 and has a ton of positive feedback from customers.
As its description says, this kit includes everything necessary for performing windshield repairs. It has enough resin for more than 200 windshield repairs, it also has a professional heavy-duty applicator and UV light. And on top of that, it is made in the USA. You just can’t beat that.
Personally, when I would need to choose a kit for myself and my business, this kit would be the one to get. You can also get a pre-chipped glass as an extra to practice on it and make sure that you perfect your skill. So, we learned what is the best windshield repair kit. Now let’s see how these tools are used in practice and how you can tackle a chip in your windshield.
How To Repair A Windshield DIY?
Now as we learned what is the best repair kit, let’s now learn more about how this repair is done right. How this kit performs in action? We will cover the RainX kit that we reviewed previously since this is the most common kit people purchase.
In order to perform a repair with this kit, you will first need to clean the spot where the damage is located, just make sure that you don’t crack the windshield.
The next thing will involve placement of the applicator directly on top of the hole and then applying the resin and also creating pressure on it. So, the resin gets into every tight spot of the crack and hopefully fixes the crack.
How this procedure is done in detail, you can check in the video above where the guy who performs this repair is guiding you through the whole process.
Average Cost For A Windshield Repair Kit
Now let’s cover another thing when it comes to the best windshield repair kit and that is the average price to get one of these kits and sort out your problem. So, what is the price for this repair?
Well, we can say that it is really cheap and affordable. The average price is $11 for a single-use kit. You can also find these kits for $10 in some cases if they are on discount.
And when it comes to repairing your windshield, the price should not scare you. On the other hand, if you want to do this work professionally, you can expect to pay more money to get one of these professional kits.
One of the kits that we recommended costs about $350 and we think that this is one of the best deals out there since you have enough resin to fix more than 200 windshields. When you are out of resin, you purchase fresh resin and that’s it.
Best Windshield Repair Kits for DIY Repairs
- A DIY windshield repair kit can help fix or stop minor chips or cracks from getting worse, saving you money compared to professional repair or windshield replacement (unless you know how to get your windshield replaced for free).
- DIY windshield repair kits work by using a resin solution to fill in the crack or chip and strengthen the surrounding area of the glass.
- DIY windshield repair kits can only fix the aesthetic appearance of your windshield and prevent further damage, but will not fully remove the damage.
- Using a windshield repair kit can be a safety measure to prevent the damage from impacting your visibility and increasing in size.
- Rain-X, Permatex, Blue Star, GLISTON, 3M, VERSACHEM, PDR King, J-B Weld, and ATG offer some of the best windshield repair kits on the market.
- The resin formula and the applicator system are crucial factors in choosing the best kit for your needs.
- The instructions provided by the kit should be followed carefully to ensure the best results.
- The curing time for the resin may vary depending on the kit, and some may take longer than others.
- Most DIY windshield repair kits can work on all types of laminated glass and windshields, including quarter windows, side windows, and rear screens.
- DIY windshield repair kits may not work on larger cracks or extensive damage, and professional assistance may be required in those cases.
Conclusion
In this article, we have covered quite a bit when it comes to the best windshield repair kit. First, we learned what is windshield and why it tends to crack. After that, we learned the types of repair kits that are out there.
Then we reviewed some DIY and also some professional kits that you can purchase. Lastly, we learned how this procedure is done and what are the costs involved in this job.
F.A.Q
Now let’s answer some frequently asked questions.
What Is The Best Windshield Repair Kit
From our experience, the RainX Repair Kit is one of the best DIY repair kits out there on the market right now. Also, the Permatex and 3M repair kits are really good when it comes to chipping. But for cracks, you will need something more professional.
How To Fix A Cracked Windshield
Fixing a cracked windshield is rather complex since you will need a professional tool to apply this resin. Still, you can try it with the DIY methods as well. Just pre-grease the windshield with any type of grease, make sure that you grease both sides of the crack and not the crack itself. Then place the applicator on the start of the crack and slowly with the help of the grease move it and apply gentle pressure on it. Make sure that you have enough resin to complete the crack from start to finish.
How To Fix A Chipped Windshield
Fixing a chipped windshield is easy, you only need a DIY windshield repair kit. Just get one from Amazon and follow the instructions carefully. Then apply the resin with the applicator, leave it to dry and you will be good to go.
How Long Does A Windshield Replacement Take
This replacement usually takes somewhere between 1 and two hours. Removing the old windshield takes time since it has a ton of adhesive that has to be removed and then new adhesive to be applied and the new windshield in the process. This is a laborious job that takes two people.
How To Fix A Long Cracked Windshield
You can fix this cracked windshield with the help of a DIY windshield repair kit. Just go to your local parts store and ask them for one of these kits. Then read the instructions, watch a few videos and apply this resin.
How To Stop A Windshield Crack From Spreading
You can stop a crack from spreading by applying a resin to the crack. For this, you need to look for the best windshield repair kit out there. Learn the instruction manual and apply it to your windshield.
