Last Updated on August 26, 2022 by
You parked your car, ran into the store to grab a few things, and returned to your car only to find that you have been left with a most unpleasant surprise: there is now a big scratch on the door of your car. It might not be the most damaging thing in the world but it is enough to ruin your day.
It doesn’t matter if it was an accident or an intentional move by some jerk; the results are still the same. Your car now has an ugly scratch and you are left having to find a solution to this problem. But what can you do that won’t cost an arm and a leg and won’t take forever to implement?
A High-Quality Scratch Repair Kit
With the development of technology, modern solutions have been created to solve problems such as this. There are now automotive care products that can help you to do just about anything in just a few minutes. That includes taking scratches out of the body of your car.
You might get lucky with a car scratch remover if the scratch is not too deep. Those scratch repair kits are generally meant for lighter to moderate scratches where the clear coat has been damaged but the base coat is fine.
A high-quality scratch repair kit offers solutions that are meant to repair damage done to the base coat as well as the clear coat. Some of these are not necessarily permanent solutions; some are meant to be a stopgap until you can get the proper service that you need.
Still, the right scratch repair kit can do most of the work and leave your scratches looking as close to new as you can get it.
Use Some Duct Tape
This is not the fanciest of fixes and it will likely be noticeable upon closer inspection but finding the same colour duct tape as your car colour can be a close-enough kind of solution. You might not want to use adhesive tape if the scratch runs the length of your car but the idea is still to just cover it up.
The key here is to apply the duct tape as evenly as you can so that you don’t create any crease lines or other lines that could be potentially distracting. This is definitely not a permanent fix but it is a good stopgap to hold you off until you can pay for a proper paint job.
Toothpaste
It should be stated again that if you have a really deep scratch on your car, it will likely take professional intervention to fully remedy the situation. That being said, if you have a thinner scratch that has not gone down to the base coat, this is one of the more unique products that you can use.
It has been proven that toothpaste has properties that can remove scratches. Toothpaste has been shown to be able to remove scratches on DVDs, CDs, and the screens of tablets, smartphones, and laptops as well as many other things.
These scratch-removing abilities are in conjunction with the fact that toothpaste has some light abrasive qualities similar to a gentler kind of sandpaper. And while it won’t fill in a truly deep scratch, the toothpaste can make the scratch look less noticeable.
Toothpaste makes for a cheap, easy stopgap service for scratches until you can take the car to a body shop to have the scratch buffed out and repainted.
Paint it Yourself
Another way that you can deal with a scratch that is not super deep is to paint the area yourself. This isn’t as simple as finding some spray paint and just spraying; there is quite a bit more to it than that and it takes a great deal of care as well.
When you notice that you have a scratch on your car, the first step should be to wash the area with soap and water. This will remove any excess dirt and debris from the area that could become trapped under the painted areas.
After you have washed the area, the next step is to even out the surface where the scratch is. You can do this by using something such as a 2000-grit piece of wet/dry sandpaper. After wrapping it around a sanding pad, you need to sand the area for around 10 or 15 seconds at a time and always sand in the direction of the scratch. The last thing that you want to do is to sand in the opposite direction and wind up with additional scratches.
Make sure to rinse the area as you go to check your progress. When you are done, wash the area again with soap and water to ensure that any debris has been removed. Now it’s time to paint. You must first apply the primer; make sure that it is as close to the colour of your car as it can be. Even if it is not an exact match, the paint that you apply will be.
After you have applied the primer coat, apply a few coats of the paint that matches your car. Wait at least five to ten minutes between each application to ensure that the paint dries completely. You can even check with the manufacturer to ensure that you get the same shade of paint so that your car matches.
When you are done painting, all that is left to do is wax the area to perform the final blending and to give it a bit of a shine. This is probably the most effective method for covering up a scratch that isn’t terribly deep but it is always recommended that you bring in professionals whenever possible.
These are just a few of the tactics that you can implement to remedy what was once a nasty scratch on your car but they are the most effective.
