Hello,
Not sure about the reddish side, should be a pink or salmon at best. I had a quick look at CN and got the post below.
I have read that cerium oxide is used for industrial use in polishing glass, rouge is preferred for large precision instruments.
Throw some of your cerium oxide in a glass with water, it should settle cleanly in the water, you should not have a greasy surface with scum on top.
Can I ask how your water is out there? You might have tap water that is very hard or has impurities in it. You should be able to use the tap water for warming and cleaning the glass. But after drying and cleaning ready for a session, maybe try warmed bottle water with the rouge.
Steve
Ps. Try the jeweller's supply shops for rouge, or any lapping supplies companies if you want to try something fancier.
Microgrits are great, very good for the min/max grain sizes, highly recommended.
(not sure of naming companies on IIS but "Gemcuts" and "Aussiesapphire" are two that might be able to help you with rouge. For lapping suppliers try for zirconium oxide if you can find any, even better than rouge.)
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