Little scratches from shopping carts and roadside shrubs and so on are the most common way for cars to get damaged. It’s not always worth either the time or money it takes to have a garage clean them up – a garage can take days to paint a car, because of the drying time. When you’ve got a noticeable scratch you want to fix, you have the option of doing it yourself. That way, you don’t have to do without your car for any time, and you save money.
The process sounds intimidating, but it’s really something anyone can do. You just have to follow the instructions carefully and take your time with the paint.
Touching up minor scratches on cars
You’ll need:
- Touch up paint
- Wax removal wipes (only if the car has been waxed since the scratch occurred)
- Mild cutting polish
Instructions
- Buy your supplies from an automotive shop or shop that sells automotive goods, or online. If you order online, you will have to do all the research to find out exactly what paint color you need and so on. The advantage of going to a shop is that the staff often likes cars and likes to share their knowledge, and they can be very helpful.
- Match the paint color as best you can to the color and finish of your car. Know the manufacturer’s name for your car’s color before you go to the shop. That way, if none of the available paints seem to be quite the right shade and you need help picking the right one, most auto shops have catalogs that show them what colors each paint will pass for. Hint: you can also do some research online to find a matching color.
- You’ll need a rather fine brush so you can apply the paint a tiny bit at a time. The paint may come with an appropriate brush. If not, ask the sales staff for help.
- For small scratches, the paint need not be exact to disguise the scratch. For larger scrapes, like the one pictured, it will need to be pretty close.
- Put a tiny bit of paint on a hidden area to test the color. Be sure to shine a light on it from several angles to see if it works in different lighting.
- Wash the area you’re going to paint and let it dry completely.
- If the car has been waxed since the scratch appeared, you will need to remove the wax. You can purchase wax/silicone remover wipes at an automotive store.
- Dip the brush into the paint. Wipe off any excess on the inner rim of the container. This is very important, to avoid getting blobs of paint on the finish.
- Apply the paint by dabbing a tiny bit onto the scratch at a time. You want to use the least paint you can to make the scratch blend in. Multiple thin coats are always better than a thick coat.
- If you do end up with some blobs of paint (almost inevitable on big scratches), let the paint dry thoroughly, then carefully scrape off the excess with a straight razor blade.
- Wipe with a mild cutting polish to blend the scratch in.
The scratch should become virtually invisible. At the very least, it will be hard to see unless someone’s looking really closely.
Find more in Do It Yourself
Updated: December 14, 2011
Copyright: December 1, 2009
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