How to remove a scratch on a bumper: methods and technologies

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

The front and rear bumper of the car are the most vulnerable parts of the body. It is on them that various scratches, dents and chips most often appear. Many motorists immediately turn to a car service to remove the defect that has arisen, but this should not be done. In the workshop you will be charged a lot of money for the simplest repairs, in addition, you will have to negotiate services, hand over the car to the mechanics and receive it - all this takes a lot of time. After reading this article, you will learn how to remove a bumper scratch yourself, saving time and money.

Types of defects and how to fix them

Like any other repair, scratch removal should begin with an assessment of the damage. We recommend that you wash the car first so that the scratch is clean and can be seen better on the body.

Conventionally, all damage to the body, depending on their nature and depth, is divided into the following groups:

• small scratches that are practically not felt, but are clearly visible on the surface of the bumper;
• deepscratches that are very conspicuous and also cling to the nail;
• large cracks and chipped paintwork;
• dents and tears in the bumper.

Let's analyze each type separately.

Small scratches and abrasions are easily removed by polishing the bumper, in addition, you do not have to remove it from the body. Such scratches are hardly noticeable on dark bodies, however, on light ones, dirt caught in a varnish crack will stand out noticeably.

Next are the deep scratches on the bumper. As a rule, they arise from a slight mechanical impact and are removed by local tinting. Repairing a scratch is easy, but you will most likely have to remove the bumper.

Large cracks in the paint and chips appear most often due to the inexperience of the driver, who touches the barriers when parking. Also, the cause of such defects are stones flying out from under the wheels of other cars. It will be quite difficult to remove the crack, as you will have to completely repaint part of the bumper, but you have to deal with it, because below we will give detailed instructions on how to do it.

The last type of bumper defect is deep dents, tears and holes. With such destruction, you are unlikely to be able to cope on your own, in addition, it will sometimes be cheaper and faster to buy a new bumper.

Wax crayons

Wax Scratch Pencil is the perfect solution, but it can only erase minor scratches. You can find it in any car shop, in addition, theysold at a very low price.

You will also need:

1. White spirit for degreasing the surface (do not use acetone and solvents based on it).
2. Wax polish.
3. Soft rags.

It will be difficult to choose a quality pencil and polish, because there are a lot of cosmetic products for the car on the market, and all from different companies. It makes no sense to choose according to any characteristics, since all pencils are approximately the same, however, their quality depends on the methods and materials used by the manufacturer.

To avoid guessing, we recommend choosing one of these markers:

1. Fix it Pro;
2. ASTROhim Color WAX.

And among polishes, we recommend giving preference to Turtle Wax COLOR MAGIC PLUS.

How to use the wax crayon

By buying a pencil to remove scratches, you can immediately get to work, because for repairs in this way you will not need special conditions, except for positive air temperature.

Work must be carried out in the following order:

1. Wash the bumper thoroughly and dry it.
2. Degrease the scratch and let it dry.
3. Open the pencil and fill in the scratch with wax. To do this, you do not need to press too hard, because even with a slight pressure, the wax will protrude beyond the edges. Any excess must be carefully removed with a dry cloth.
4. Finisha scratch with polish by following the instructions on its packaging.

Now you know how to remove a scratch on a bumper using a wax pencil, but don't rush to rejoice. The effect of such a repair is temporary, because the wax will melt and wash out during the operation of the car. For a thorough repair of even minor scratches, more serious methods will be required, which we will discuss below.

Machine polished

The grinder is an indispensable tool for repairing bumper scratches. One of the advantages of such a repair is a wide area of processing. If several small scratches appeared on your bumper at once, then the grinder will allow you to remove them in one short treatment. This polishing method is also suitable for removing shallow abrasions.

The bumper must be polished indoors so that dust does not fall on the treated area. The absence of direct sunlight is also important, because the expansion of the workpiece when heated will negatively affect the result of the work done.

Polishing a bumper is a fairly one-time job, so buying a grinder does not make sense. We recommend renting it, or asking friends to save money. In addition to the machine itself, you will also need:

• grinding wheels;
• sandpaper 2000;
• starting and finishing grinding paste;
• white spirit for degreasing;
• proofreader with paint to match the color of the car;
• rags;
• eye protection glasses.

How to polish a bumper with a grinder

Before removing a scratch on the bumper, remove it, rinse thoroughly and dry. If scratches appeared as a result of an accident, then paint from another car may remain next to them. It can be removed with gasoline or white spirit.

Further work is done as follows:

1. Put the sandpaper on the block.
2. Washing it off, sand away any scratches, but be careful not to rub down the paint.
3. Rinse bumper again, dry and degrease.
4. Apply a coarse polish to the damaged area and polish with a machine. We recommend setting the rpm to about 2000 per minute so as not to overheat the surface, but you still have to control the temperature by hand. It must calmly withstand the temperature of the treated area.
5. Wash and dry the bumper. If scratches in the paint are visible on its surface, then cover them with a proofreader to match the color of the car and let dry.
6. Apply final polish and sand. We recommend polishing the entire bumper to make it appear uniform. You may also need to repeat the sanding process several times, but here you will have to evaluate the final result yourself.

Now you know all the ways to remove a scratch on the bumper without painting. Next, we move on to removing more serious damage that requires partial touch-up or full repainting.

Removing small paint chips and deep scratches

To remove such scratches, you will have to make a lot of effort and time, howeverDIY repairs will save a lot of money.

To repair bumper scratches you will need:

• 1500 fine sandpaper;
• white spirit;
• stationery knife;
• primer, paint and varnish;
• toothpicks;
• everything for the polish we talked about above.

Before starting work, it is also necessary to wash the bumper from dirt and dry it. Work can be carried out outdoors, but the last step, polishing, is best done indoors.

How to remove a bumper scratch:

1. Use a clerical knife to remove all the dirt from the depth of the chip, and also break off pieces of paint that do not adhere well to the primer.
2. Rinse the hole with mineral spirits and let it dry.
3. Moisten the sandpaper with a degreaser and treat the surface within a radius of 3-5 cm around the chip.
4. Spray the primer into a container and pick it up with a toothpick. Next, fill the inside of the chip with primer and let dry.
5. Stain in the same way.
6. Sand again with mineral spirit sandpaper.
7. Apply varnish with a toothpick so that you end up with a small bump above the chip, which must be removed with sandpaper after drying.
8. Finish as described above.

Defect painting

Speaking of how to remove a scratch on the bumper with your own hands, it is also worth touching on the topic of removing deep grooves and cracks. Tounfortunately, the only way to get rid of them is by painting, so before you get started, consider whether you can handle it.

Doing the painting yourself, you spend a lot of time and effort, but save a decent amount of money. You will have to spend money on materials:

• sandpaper No. 300 and No. 1500;
• car putty;
• primer and varnish;
• corresponding paint for the spray gun, but can also be bought in a can;
• rubber spatula;
• adhesive tape and polyethylene;
• white spirit;
• rubber gloves and respirator;
• all for polishing.

How to remove a scratch on a bumper by painting

Repair work must be carried out indoors without dust, with good ventilation. To begin with, also wash the bumper and dry it. Next, start the process:

1. Take a large sandpaper and clean the defect to the base so that the difference in the place of the crack is not felt by hand.

2. Take fine sandpaper and sand the crack again to make the surface smoother.

3. Degrease the surface and cover the area around it with masking tape.

4. Putty the crack so that the dried putty protrudes.

5. Level the surface of the putty using coarse and fine sandpaper.

6. Degrease the surface and primer from a can in two coats.

7. Treat the cured primer with finesandpaper and degrease again.

8. Apply paint with a spray gun or spray it from a can in three layers. This must be done from a distance of 20 cm, moving horizontally from the right edge to the left or vice versa.

9. Apply 3 coats of polish in the same way.

10. Polish the bumper as described above.

Conclusion

Now you know how to remove bumper scratches with your own hands. In order not to mislead you, it is worth saying that the end result will still be far from ideal, for example, the processed scratch may stand out under a certain amount of light.

Also don't forget that you will also need a corrosion remover to repair deep cracks in the surface of an iron bumper. Having scratched an iron bumper, try to immediately get rid of the defect, as it will only increase due to corrosion.