Alas, it is not an ideal world we are living in. That relates to our car as well. We have to drive under all kinds of conditions: there are trees growing along the roads, other drivers are not so careful as we are, there are loose stones, dirt, and so on. The chance that your car will remain as shining and new as it was when you just bought is null. Sooner or later, you will have to deal with scratches and chips on your car’s body. Those can be minor or more serious. However, all of them require your attention. If you take no scratch removal steps, it may lead to deplorable consequences. Your automobile will not only have a worn and unpleasant look. A defect in its paint job may lead to corrosion and rust. While deeper scratches should be left to professional car repair shops to be fixed, shallow scratches can be easily removed by the owner of the vehicle. Here are a few scratch removal tips you may find useful.
1. Find out how deep the scratch is
First, you should know that your paint job is not something monolithic. It consists of several layers. The metal body is the lowest of them. It is followed by the primer, paint, and finally clear coat. You need to understand how deep is the scratch you have to remove before you take any action. There can be several types of chips and scratches. You may have to deal with a chip through the clear coat only. That is the simplest case and requires just a little scratch removal effort. You may also face a chip through the clear coat and paint or a chip down to the metal. Those are worse, and you will probably have to find a professional scratch removal technician.
2. Do the preparation stuff
Once you have determined that you will be able to remove the scratch on the body of your car with your own hands, you need to do some preparatory work. Above all, that means washing the area around the scratch thoroughly. By doing that, you prevent dirt from getting under the paint job, which will make things worse. After cleaning the damaged area, sand it. That is necessary in order to give a smooth look to the spot with the scratch when you get down to putting new paint on it. You have two options when it comes to sanding. First, you can use a fine 2000-grit sandpaper (or a coarser variety for deeper scratches) if the scratch area takes up much space. If the area is comparatively small, use an ordinary toothpaste on a piece of cotton cloth by rubbing it into the scratch with circular movements.
3. Small scratch removal
Removing a small (and not deep) scratch requires using a rubbing compound and applying wax next. Put a small amount of rubbing compound on a clean piece of cloth and start rubbing it into the scratch with circular movements. Proceed until the scratch is not visible anymore. Next, put wax on the place where the scratch used to be and rub it in with gentle circular motions. That will restore the clear coat in the damaged area. The last important operation is to wash the newly repaired spot. If you see beads on it, it means that you have done everything right.
4. Deeper scratch removal
Producers of vehicles are very considerate. They know that scratches and chips are simply unavoidable. That is why they provide car owners with touch-up kits that will restore a damaged place using the “native” color of the car body. Each color has a corresponding code. So, your first task is to find a touch-up kit with the color of your car. Begin the scratch removal by scuffing the spot (in addition to sanding you did at the preparation stage). Finish scuffing when the metal is rough to the touch. Protect the parts of your car where you don’t want the paint to get by taping them off with painter’s tape. Apply the primer to the affected area with a brush and leave it to dry for some time (usually a day). Put a thin layer of paint from the touch-up kit on the scratched area (shake it well before) and let it dry for a quarter of an hour. Then, proceed to put layer after layer of paint. This process should go on until the new paint and the original paint coincide. The paint should dry for about two days. Then, apply the clear coat by spraying it on the car. Finally, wax the spot in the same way you would for a shallow scratch removal. It is also a good idea to wax the entire car for the shine to be evenly distributed along the body.
You should try to remove car scratches as soon as you notice them. That way you will avoid more serious problems with your vehicle such as rust. Although anyone can remove small or shallow scratches, deeper scratch removal should be entrusted to a professional auto repair shop. They have all the required materials and equipment to make your car look brand new again.
