Discovering that your car window is broken can be worrying. Whether it is a small crack or fully shattered, a broken glass must be fixed immediately. If not, it will give easy access to thieves to steal the valuables inside the car, make the car structurally feeble, and cause a whole host of problems. In an ideal situation, you must take the car immediately to an auto glass repair shop. But if you are not able to do that straightaway due to any reason, worry not. Here we have listed the steps that you can take to secure the car and protect it from any outdoor element until the broken glass is replaced.
1- Remove the broken pieces of glass: Start with removing as many pieces of broken glass as possible. Pick up large shards of toughened glass. Make sure you wear gloves while doing that. To clean the excess pieces use a shop vacuum. Place the hose close to the window seal. This will help remove any small pieces of glass stuck inside. Follow this procedure 2-3 times to ensure all pieces of glass are removed.
2- Wipe the frame area and window seal: Once all glass pieces are removed, use a cloth dipped in water to wipe down the frame area and window seal. The procedure may take time but it will help remove all the dirt and dust particles that may stick the area when sealing the window later. Dirt and dust may hinder your efforts of accurately sealing off the area, so make sure it is wiped off completely.
3- Seal the window: Once the area is wiped, use a packing tape to seal the window. Put stripes vertically across the window opening in a way that it touches the window frame. Then run another layer overlapping with the first one. Continue this until the entire area is covered.
Tip: Seal the window from the inside of the car to prevent peeling of the paint. You may also use cardboard in place of the packing tape, but the only problem with cardboard is that it will allow moisture to seep into the car.
4- Take the car to the service provider: The last thing to do is to take your care to a reputed service provider and get it fixed. You should not try to fix the window yourself and get it repaired only by experts.