You’ve just left the supermarket and as you’re pushing your trolley you see a scratch on your passenger-side door.
Looks like someone couldn’t handle their trolley as well as you can!
The good news is, we’ve all been there, and fixing a scratched car is way easier than you realise. This guide applies to light and medium level scratches and doesn’t require you to own a drill or buffing pads.
Tis but a scratch!
First of all, you might be tempted just to leave it; the car still drives after all.
The problem is, a scratch isn’t just a scratch. When metal is exposed to the elements, especially moisture, it will rust.
While your paint looks great, it is also protecting the metal beneath it from the weather. By ignoring a paint scratch, especially a deep one, the metal beneath it will rust.
The paint can also continue to flake around the scratch, meaning the small trolley swipe that you barely noticed could eventually look much worse!
Are there different kinds of car scratches?
Yes, and the level of seriousness will change how you decide to fix it.
Straight off the bat, if the scratch is deep enough to have actually dented your car, this is a job for a smash repairer.
This is also the case if the scratch has damaged a non-painted surface. Modern car paints contain chemicals that help seal the surface of your car. Without a coat of paint, a smash repairer needs to apply chemicals to get the same effect.
To decide how bad the scratch is, you can brush your finger over it and if your nail gets caught, or you feel a noticeable cut into the paint, you probably need to consult a smash repairer. If not, your car has a light to medium level scratch, and this car scratch repair guide absolutely applies to you.
How to remove scratches from your car
Before you get started, make sure you have the following items:
- Regular car washing supplies like car wash soap, buckets, clean sponges and towels
- A pack of microfiber polishing cloths
- Cutting polish
- (Optional) Blue masking tape
All of these items are available at Super Cheap Auto, but any auto supply shop should be fine.
Step 1: Cleaning the scratched area (or your whole car while you’re at it)
The first step is something you probably already know how to do…wash your car! You need to make sure that the scratched surface is completely free of any dirt or grit.
This is because when buffing the area later you could create more scratches by rubbing the dirt against the paint. Once the car is dry, continue to the next step.
Step 2: Masking tape
If the scratch is next to a non-metallic surface, such as the rubber trimming around your passenger windows, use masking tape to cover these exposed areas.
If the scratch isn’t near anything non-metallic, you can skip this step. You also wouldn’t need to buy the tape.
Step 3: Polishing
Put a small, thumb-sized amount of your cutting polish onto a microfibre cloth and begin gently rubbing it over the scratch in a swirling motion. Make sure your circles overlap. The key here is repetition. Once you have the motion down, add more pressure.
Remember, you aren’t trying to strip the paint; be forceful but if you are tiring yourself out quickly you are going too hard.
Step 4: Wiping
Once you feel like you have made a difference, allow the product to dry until it appears cloudy. Then wipe it off with a fresh microfibre cloth. If you aren’t happy with the results, you can repeat this process several times. Just remember that a fresh cloth each time will prevent scratching the paint yourself, unlike an old cloth that has dirt on it.
Eventually, the scratch will disappear and your car will be looking good again for the next grocery run!
What if the car scratch is still there?
If your elbow grease hasn’t paid off, don’t worry! It’s possible that the scratch was deeper than you thought. But that doesn’t mean that your car is doomed to look battered forever.
You just need to get in contact with a smash repair company. Adam’s Smash Repairs can remove scratches from a car easily, and getting a quote from them is a breeze. Simply drive in and show them the scratch, and they will quote it for free. For a single scratch, you will usually get your car back the same day. Also, the service is affordable because the scratch can be fixed by hand, cutting down the costs compared to a respray.
We hope this has been informative and that you’re proud of your paintwork once again!
