Sand bed and scratched glass

So I love the look and ease of the sand bed in my aquarium but I have majorly scratched up the glass while cleaning with an algae scrubber. Probably no way to get rid of the scratches I have, but how can I avoid making it worse? I try to be cautious, but apart from never cleaning the glass anywhere near the bottom, I can't see how to avoid getting some sand in the pad and messing things up.

Any thoughts or advice?