Witnessing scratches on the shiny surface of your car can be so disappointing. Especially when they seemingly appear out of nowhere and you find yourself clueless.
So frustrating! Right.
The scratches on your car’s surface can appear for so many reasons like parking mishaps, accidents, negligence, vandalism, and for many other reasons. But our main concern should be how to remove scratches from the car.
Though it can be daunting and pretty frustrating too hence I have discovered after some research a few efficient strategies to remove car scratches without spending a fortune on professional detailers.
Know Your Car Paint Job
Before we dive deep into the details or strategies to fix scratches on a car it’s vital to know about the basics of your car paint job to avoid any inconvenience later. While it will also give you a better approach to tackling scratches on your car in the future.
So the paint of your car is made up of three layers that also work as a protective coating. These three layers include:
- Primer: It is the first coat of paint onto the bare metal sheet of the car and it holds significant importance in terms of surface protection.
- Base Coat: It is the color of the car paint and without primer, you might not achieve the right color saturation for your car.
- Clear Coat: The final layer of paint is the clear coat which is also the thickest layer and is about 0.03-0.05 mm thick. This protects the car from external factors that could damage the surface like bug splatters and deep scratches. The car wax is applied onto this layer and it also helps to fix small scratches and imperfections on the surface.
Prepare Your Car For Scratch Removal Process
So before you adopt any method to remove scratches from your car, you better prepare the surface of it. As there can be accumulated dirt or grime on the surface of your car and if not treated the right way it can do more damage than good.
Hence a proper car wash with the best car wash soaps before scratch removal is vital or you can simply wash and clean the affected area. In this regard wash the car with running water and if you are using a hose make sure to set it on low or medium setting.
Now take a bucket of water with the added to clean the surface. Dunk the best car wash mitt or soft sponge and start scrubbing the surface gently.
As most of the time, the dirt gets stored in creases of the scratched area making it appear even worse. But the cleaning will let you analyze better how deep the scratch is to treat it properly.
After you are done with scrubbing, wash the surface with clean water and your car is all ready for a thorough scratch-removal process.
Trick To Treat Shallow Car Scratches
You might witness numerous little or shallow car scratches now and then even when you can’t even remember any event they come from. Just know that every single car is prone to scratches and you are not alone in this.
So what we all can do in this scenario is to treat these tiny scratches properly so that they do not dull the shine of our car over time. These tiny scratches are often the easiest to clean and do not take much time.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s dive into the details!
- Sand The Surface
Yes, sanding the surface it’s undoubtedly the most reliable method to treat those tiny scratches on the surface. In this regard, wet the surface and the sandpaper and start rubbing onto the affected area in a circular motion.
Continue to sand unless the surface is all dull and the scratch is not there anymore. Clean the area with a soft microfiber cloth.
- Apply Rubbing & Polishing Compound
Now apply a rubbing compound onto the polishing pad and spread it gently onto the area. You can also use a drill at 1200 rpm for better results. Make sure to sub the surface until you see the haze and then finish off by applying a good polishing component to restore that sparkly surface shine of your car.
Strategy To Remove Small Car Scratches
Next comes the small scratches that are a little deeper than those “barely there” shallow scratches. And they are also easy to remove as compared to treating those deep scratches.
To start removing such scratches make sure to first prepare the surface by giving your car a regular wash to clean the surface from any dirt or debris. While you can also read how to wash a car for a detailed process of car cleaning.
- Test The Scratch
To check the depth of the scratch you can use the fingernail test method to check if the scratch is deep into the base coat. But don’t worry even if it is dug deep into the base coat you will still be able to get rid of them without tested strategies.
- Get Quality Scratch Removing Product
You can also adopt the above-mentioned method of sanding the surface and then buffing it off with a rubbing or polishing agent. But in case you do not have that much time and seek some quick solution.
It is always encouraged to have some good quality car scratch-removing products at your disposal. So you can always get rid of those unwanted scratches from your car without putting in a lot of arm grease.
- Apply The Scratch-Remover Onto The Affected Area
Take a quarter-size bead of the scratch remover onto some soft microfiber cloth or scrubbing pad. Apply the remover onto the scratch directly and rub in circular work. Work on the scratch as well as surrounding areas.
After you are done, wipe off the residue using a best car wash mitt and clean the surface thoroughly.
- Repeat The Process
It is also advised to repeat the process as required as only a single application of remover might not be enough to hide the scratch properly. Hence you can repeat the process a couple of times to ensure that the scratch is completely gone.
Methods To Buff Off Scratches From Car At Home
Besides those typical methods to remove scratches from cars, there are also a few remedies or DIY methods that will save your skin as well as money. They might not work for deep scratches but serve a great deal for small and shallow scratches that just appear out of nowhere.
Let us brief you about a few of those techniques that you can adopt for scratch removal from a car using some simple household gears that are easily available at your disposal.
- Use Toothpaste To Buff Off Car Scratches
You might not believe it, but toothpaste can do wonders in terms of removing mild or shallow scratches from your car. It is efficient, effective, as well as budget-friendly.
So get your hands on any whitening toothpaste that you have at home and start the process of scratch removal. Follow the following simple steps for better results.
- Get any toothpaste and apply a sufficient amount onto a clean microfiber cloth. (avoid using toothpaste with granules as it might worsen the situation and always use the simple one.
- Now spread the toothpaste with microfiber cloth onto the affected area with mild scratches.
- Gently rub in a circular motion and continue to do so for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Buff off the scratches and excess toothpaste with the help of a clean microfiber cloth.
- Rinse and clean the surface with running water or you can also use a wet microfiber towel to buff off scratches.
- Repeat the process if needed as one application of toothpaste might not suffice.
- Use WD40 To Remove Scratches From Car Paint
As we all know WD40 is the solution to most of our automobile dilemmas. And it can also efficiently work for car scratch removal. Some people also consider it efficient enough to conceal even those scratches that are dug into the base coat.
While the process of scratch removal with ED40 does not involve any rocket science, you can achieve mind-blowing results following simple steps.
- Give the bottle of WD40 a good shake and spray directly onto the affected area a generous amount. And let it sit for a few minutes.
- Next, you can start the rubbing process by applying gentle strokes with a microfiber cloth in a circular motion.
- Make sure the product is nicely applied onto the affected area and as you scrub you will witness the scratches fade away.
- Repeat this process a few times unless the scratches are invisible. And you can also adopt this method after every car wash to keep your car glossy for more years to come.
- WD40 will also restore the surface shine and your car will look like it is just coming out of the showroom.
- Use Of Rubbing Compound
Rubbing compounds can also help to tackle the issue of mild or shallow car scratches if utilized properly. This method is helpful to remove swirl marks, paint smudges, and tiny scratches often caused by dirt.
The process is pretty simple and all you have to do is to follow the below-mentioned steps to enjoy amazing results.
- Get any good quality rubbing compound and apply it onto a clean microfiber cloth or the best car wash mitt in small amounts.
- Rub the surface gently in a circular motion without applying too much arm grease and keep doing so for a few minutes.
- You can also apply the compound onto a polishing pad with a drill and the job will be done in significantly less time and with minimal effort.
- The compound will smoothen the surface and eliminate any traces of minor scratches, smudges, paint drabs, and other factors that were fading the shine of our car.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Hope you have enjoyed our method of explaining the process and techniques on how to remove scratches from a car and we hope that it is helpful to you. But to clear your concepts a little bit more here we have answered a few queries that will help you throughout the process of scratch removal.
Q.1. Does Scratch Remover Do a Better Job Than Polishing Compounds?
Scratch removers and polishing compounds often have similar characteristics and they are made of the same compounds. But scratch remover does a little bit better when it comes to repairing car scratches or concealing blemishes than car polishing or rubbing compounds.
Q.2. Can WD40 remove car scratches?
Yes, WD40 is pretty efficient in scratch removal but it does a great job only when applied on minor or shallow scratches and not deep ones. The process is also simple and you just simply have to spray it onto the affected area and keep rubbing unless the scratch is gone.
Q.3. Can I remove scratches from the car at home?
You might not believe but it is possible to remove car scratches at home. You can use numerous household items like toothpaste, WD40, or some rubbing/polishing compounds to treat scratches at home. We have also mentioned a detailed method of car scratch removal at home for better understanding.
Q.4. Can Toothpaste Remove Car Scratches?
Yes, toothpaste can do wonders in buffing scratches from car paint jobs. The process is simple and you can start by applying a little toothpaste to the area with scratches. Rub gently with a microfiber cloth and keep repeating the process unless the scratches are all gone. Read More.
Final Words
Removal of car scratches at home is not as daunting as you imagine and with the explanation of simple methods of scratch removal, we have also proved this to you. Hope this guide on scratch removal gives you better insight into the whole procedure and makes the process of removal of scratches from your car as seamless as possible.
