Glass items need regular maintenance to retain the original sparkling condition and beauty. So it is necessary to remove all types of stains and ugly scratch marks from the smooth glass surfaces. Cerium dioxide is an effective chemical that is useful in polishing all kinds of glass artifacts.

Hence, cerium oxide polishing powder is constituted of cerium dioxide, Lanthanum oxide, and Praseodymium oxide; with traces of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide and calcium oxide.
 

First of all, the glass surface that is supposed to be polished should be very clean. So it best to wipe that glass product with a clean cloth or duster, to remove all dust, dirt and other unwanted particles from its surfaces.
 
Next, a colloidal solution is prepared by mixing the cerium oxide polishing material with required amount of water. The thickness of this solution should be just like any ordinary face cream, for rubbing over the glass surface. The water molecules are oxidized due to the action of cerium dioxide, to form unstable H3O.
 
Then a polishing pad is dipped into this viscous fluid of cerium oxide, for starting the polishing job. If the entire glass surface does not need to be polished, then only the required area may be marked carefully with a color crayon.

The polishing pad dipped in cerium oxide solution should be moved vertically or horizontally over the glass surface, for spreading the chemical evenly. If a large glass surface needs polishing, then the pad may be mounted on a drill for making the job speedier.
 
When this water-based solution of cerium oxide comes in contact with the glass surface, H3O promptly reacts with Sodium ions of glass particles. On the other hand, the cerium dioxide reacts with the silicate lattice of glass, for easy removal of all hard stains from the surface.
 
When the polishing is complete, the slurry substance spread over the glass should be totally wiped off with a soft cloth, leaving the sparkling glass surface that is as good as new.
 

Though it is mainly known as a glass polishing agent, cerium oxide also has some other uses in the laboratories. Since cerium oxide has the capacity of filtering infrared rays, this chemical is used in the optical experiments regarding infrared rays. In automobile exhaust system, cerium oxide polishing powder is used as a catalyst for oxidation and reduction of harmful carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide gases.

Thus, cerium oxide is known to be a useful chemical that is needed in daily life and also in high-grade laboratory experiments.