Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
You don’t need to be an auto enthusiast to know that a dirty car is not a good look. It’s not just about turning heads on the highway – you should take pride in your ride since you’re the one driving it every day! While the occasional car wash can …
You don’t need to be an auto enthusiast to know that a dirty car is not a good look.
It’s not just about turning heads on the highway – you should take pride in your ride since you’re the one driving it every day!
While the occasional car wash can do the trick temporarily, we all need help keeping our cars looking great year-round. So follow these tips and commit to driving a clean car once and for all.
Scratches are practically unavoidable and are a sign of some good old wear and tear. Smears, chips, and blemishes can come from any number of things. Whether it was caused by loose pebbles, a collision mishap, or a sloppy parking job, most scratches …
Scratches are practically unavoidable and are a sign of some good old wear and tear. Smears, chips, and blemishes can come from any number of things. Whether it was caused by loose pebbles, a collision mishap, or a sloppy parking job, most scratches can be fixed yourself with relative ease.
Scratches affect more than just the stylish appearance of your car. The paint on your car serves not only aesthetics but also protects your vehicle from the environmental elements. The three layers that most often make up the surface of a car all work together to protect your car from weather, temperature variations, and the sun’s UV rays.
A scratch in the paint job makes a car more vulnerable to these elements. It’s important to tend to scratches as soon as possible.
A visit to the body shop is costly, inconvenient, and unnecessary. Don’t be tricked into thinking they’ll do it best. Car care products have massively improved in recent years and can now enable you to do the job just as well, all on your own.
Before heading to the shop and dropping a few hundred dollars, try these four ways to buff out paint scratches first.
Revive Car Scratch Remover by Shine Armor uses an innovative formula that doesn’t include any cheap fillers or waxes. Fillers and waxes can make scratches appear less noticeable, but they’re more of a band-aid solution. With something as precious as your car, a band-aid solution just doesn’t cut it – you’re going to want that scratch completely gone.
The Revive Scratch Remover is made from a scientifically proven formula that uses detail grade compounds to ensure the highest-end removal possible. Years of design engineering have created this product that removes not only scratches and swirls but also oxidation. This 3-in-1 repair power makes the Revive Car Scratch Remover the first of its kind.
The premium formula works hard yet goes easy on the rest of your car’s surface – there’s no worry about damaging the surrounding paint. Revive Scratch Remover will remove all the scratches and swirls without leaving behind any smudges or smears.
Shine Armor’s solution even restores your car’s paint job by simultaneously working to shine and rehabilitate the glistening topcoat, leaving it looking even better than before. It produces little to no dust and leaves behind a pleasant, mild grape scent finishing. The solution comes in a convenient squeeze bottle—simply squeeze onto a cloth and buff out scratches. It’s also free from any harsh and harmful chemicals that most repair solutions contain.
Start by washing the scratched area with soap and a clean cloth (ideally made from microfiber). Then grab a fresh cloth and squeeze out a dollop that would comfortably cover the surface area of the scratch—buff out the scratch by rubbing in small circular motions. Once the scratch is gone, give it a final wipe, and that’s it!
Shine Armor offers a variety of products that bring a new level of detailing and cleaning for cars. Buffing out scratches with Revive Car Scratch Remover is easy, affordable, and can be done in a matter of minutes. It falls nothing short of superior and works the hardest and smartest to restore your vehicle.
Toothpaste is a budget-friendly DIY repair that can be used to remove surface-level scratches. As long as the scratch hasn’t fully penetrated the clear coat of the paint, toothpaste should be able to do the trick. You can access the deepness of the damage by running your fingernail over the scratch. If your fingernail can catch onto the scratch, toothpaste may not be sufficient (and you should level up to our next solution, using a polishing compound).
Have you heard of toothpaste being used to remove scratches from CDs and discs? It works the same way on your car’s paint surface. Toothpaste is created with a property that allows it to “lift” or “catch” imperfections by gently sanding them away.
Wash and dry the damaged area before applying the toothpaste. If there is any dirt or debris around the scratch, it may get rubbed into the scratch and worsen. Use a soft sponge with soap and carefully clean the area.
Apply a dollop of toothpaste to a damp cloth and rub the scratch in a circular motion. The toothpaste helps sand down the uneven surface and works to fill in the gaps. As you rub the cloth around the damaged area, you should be able to see the scuff slowly disappear. Whitening toothpaste will work best because it has the grittiest texture, resulting in more friction to help the sanding process.
This process can be repeated two or three times. If the scratch persists, read on.
Small scratches can be easily fixed in less than an hour with the help of a polishing compound. A scratch qualifies as “smaller” if it passes the fingernail test: as long as your nail can’t latch onto it, you’re good to go.
For this trick, you’ll need 3,000-grit sandpaper, a polishing compound and pads, and either a handheld drill or polisher unit. 3,000-grit sandpaper has the same abrasion capabilities as toothpaste, but is the next level up and may be able to help the scratches that toothpaste cannot.
Start by wetting the scratch and sandpapering it lightly. Rub until the scratch is no longer obvious, and the surface lacks texture. You’ll then want to clean the area with a damp, fresh towel to ensure there’s nothing on the surface that should get rubbed in with the drill.
Apply the polishing compound of your choice onto a pad, evenly distributed. Turn on the polisher unit or drill to a speed that will create a light, foam-like consistency. Use circular motions until the scratch disappears. Finish with a restorative compound to leave the patch with a shiny finish.
If using a polishing compound still isn’t cutting it, carry on reading.
For the scratches that definitely don’t pass the fingernail test, don’t panic just yet. Painting is the next step for those next level scratches.
As always, wash and dry the damaged area before starting on a repair job. Especially with deeper scratches, it’s important to wash out any dirt or dust before getting to work. This trick requires 2,000-grit sandpaper, sprayable primer, sprayable paint, a topcoat, and an optional sanding pad.
Begin by sanding the scratched area to remove the frayed layers of paint. If the scratch covers a large area, this is where you may want to throw the sandpaper onto a sanding pad to help give you a better grip and more strength. Sand in the direction of the scratch and stop every 10 seconds to access progress; after the area is sanded down to a flatter surface level, re-rinse and dry.
Next, you’ll want to grab your primer and spray in a side to side motion. Try to find a primer that is similar in color to your car’s paint to avoid any subtle differences in the final product. Three coats of primer are usually the sweet spot – wait 10 minutes in between coatings to ensure it has dried before applying the next layer.
Now it’s time for the color. Spray your paint over the entire area that received primer. Again, three coats seem to be the magic number, and wait for each application to dry before adding the next coat. The easiest way to make sure the colors will match is to ask your car’s manufacturer for the paint’s specific name. You may need to go a little out of your way to get the precise match, but it will definitely be worth your while – a car should not look like a Dalmatian.
Finally, finish this paint job with a wax coating of your choice. Use a cloth or buffing pad and gently rub in circular motions. Make sure the wax is evenly distributed to avoid any lumps or bumps. Once the area is smooth and shiny, that’s it!
As scary as it is to discover a scratch in your car’s paint job, fear not, it’s fixable. Scratches are inevitable and happen to even the most cautious of us. There’s a special type of pride and joy that comes with doing your own repairs and restorations. Thanks to new technologies and scientifically advanced formulas, some products can help you with this mission and make it easy, fast, and damn-near perfect.
Take your car care one step further and finish any restorative work with a fortifying ceramic topcoat. A ceramic topcoat can wash, shine, and protect your car in a one-step solution. Ceramic waterless cleaning technology is a new formulation that gently and effectively breaks down dirt, grease, and grime. Try applying a shiny ceramic topcoat after washing your car and see the difference it can make.
