How to polish scratches on a car with your own hands: technology and materials

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

Scratches on a car body are quite common. You can find them anywhere, unsuccessfully opening the door, parking too close to a bush, not noticing an obstacle, and in a number of other situations. In some cases, you can get rid of them only by resorting to painting in the cabin, in others - polishing scratches on the car with your own hands.

Types of scratches

If the damage appeared on the plastic part of the car, then there is no particular cause for concern. But deep scratches on the metal can lead to corrosion. They are conventionally divided into several types:

• violation of the integrity of the top layer of varnish;
• damage to the enamel layer;
• scratch on the body to the ground;
• deep damage to the metal.

Such defects are usually determined "by eye". Then, depending onthe degree of damage, a decision is made how to remove scratches on the car, certain materials are selected. If the defect does not touch the ground, it is classified as shallow. If, nevertheless, the integrity of this coating is broken, the scratch is classified as deep.

It's understandable that a little damage is much easier to deal with. Sometimes it is enough to treat the surface with a special compound or wax. Very often, car owners resort to exposing the body with a special machine to polish minor scratches on the car. Deep defects are eliminated by working to the base, followed by painting with a restoration pencil designed for this purpose.

What to choose, paste or gel?

In addition to the technology itself, the choice of means for polishing is of great importance. Having mastered the basics of the production process, it is necessary to choose protective and restorative compounds. Polishing pastes are usually divided into two categories - powder and gel.

In the first case, the paste is chosen for a metal coating with numerous scratches and chips. Polish the surface at each stage, reducing graininess. Gel funds are weaker. They are used to treat soft paintwork with little damage.

Gels and aerosol pastes in cans can be used for different parts of the body. The first ones are applied to the polishing wheel for work, in this way it is convenient to process vertical surfaces (body wings, doors). Aerosol paste is sprayed on the roof, hood, trunk andrub to remove damage.

The use of fine abrasive paste cannot be permanent. After each application, a thin layer of paint is destroyed. If you treat the surface constantly, after a year the paintwork will be erased. In the same way, abrasive polishing of the body after repair or coating work is carried out. The main goal is to eliminate smudges, roughness, leveling the outer layer.

Wax pencil

How to polish scratches on the car with your own hands, which turned out to be deep, but polishing with a machine did not fix the problem? Then a recovery pencil will come to the rescue, it will simply sketch the damage.

If the scratch is narrow and reaches the ground layer, take the following actions:

• the damaged layer is cleaned and dried, after which it is treated with white spirit;
• then, a wax pencil is distributed over the surface of the defective area in a circular motion;
• finish it thoroughly with a soft microfiber cloth.

Restoration pencil

To fill a large and deep scratch, it is recommended to use a restoration pencil. It contains acrylic paint. The product penetrates deep into the coating, restores the scratched area and protects against corrosion. In addition, the result is a more aesthetically pleasing surface.

When choosing a restoration pencil with a specialattention should be approached to the selection of shade. The damaged area is thoroughly washed and dried. Then sandpaper removes rust and remnants of the material that caused damage. Next, the surface is degreased with white spirit. If the scratch is so deep that metal is visible, it is pre-primed with a special tool that can be purchased at any auto shop.

The defective area is primed, and after the layer has dried, they begin to paint over the scratch. The pencil is well shaken and spread over the surface with a brush. If an additional layer is needed, it can be applied only after the first one has completely dried. To protect the restored area, an additional colorless varnish is applied.

Preparation for polishing

Before you polish the scratches on the car with your own hands, you need to determine the extent of the damage. To do this, you first need to wash the car. It is enough to degrease a shallow defect beforehand, but more serious damage will have to be worked on.

Checking how deep a scratch is is quite simple. To do this, the nail is carried over the damage. If it clings a little, then the deepening is significant and you will have to spend a lot of time and effort to get rid of it.

Minor damage

To eliminate shallow scratches, you will need a light abrasive polish, wax and a piece of cloth. All this is sold in the auto shop at an affordable price. The consultant will help you choose the most suitable option. The algorithm of actions here is as follows:

1. To begin with, the car body is thoroughly washed. When the vehicle is dry, inspect the damage site to ensure that there is no sand or dust. Polishing is carried out only in a dry room.
2. A little paste is applied to the fabric and the damaged area is overwritten. It is important to apply the product in a circular motion with little effort. Professionals do not recommend rubbing in one place for too long, as the active substance can damage the paintwork on the body.
3. After that, the paste is carefully removed from the body.
4. Finally, the surface is treated with a wax car body polish, it is used on a still wet layer.

Deep scratch repair

You can mask such defects with a marker matched to the body color. If this does not work out, you will have to act more thoroughly. For this you will need:

• regular paint;
• several types of primer;
• alcohol;
• thin brush;
• special scratch repair kit.

The step by step process is as follows:

1. The body of the car is thoroughly washed. Do not neglect this process, it directly affects the result. Damage is treated with an alcohol base. Further work is carried out in a clean, dry room.
2. Then a primer is applied to the scratch and left to dry.
3. Next, you can start painting the damage. Do this with a fine brush.soft pile, while it is impossible to step beyond the boundaries of the defect. The paint is left to dry completely.
4. After that, varnish is applied. In the same way, without stepping outside the boundaries. After a few hours, when the varnish is completely dry, the car can be used for its intended purpose.
5. A month later, the surface is polished with paste and wax.

Work Rules

To properly polish scratches on a car with your own hands, you will need to follow a few recommendations:

1. You can process a shallow scratch using a standard polish. Its use is allowed quite often, as it is absolutely safe to cover the car.
2. For polishing, the product is applied to a dry cloth, then the damaged area is rubbed with it. Sometimes up to 15 treatments may be needed to achieve a positive effect.
3. Deep scratches are first treated with a pencil, and then polished with non-abrasive types.
4. To paint over a light-colored paintwork, a pencil is selected a little lighter, respectively, for a dark one - a couple of tones darker.

Without special skills, it is not recommended to use polishing machines.