You parked your car outside your garage overnight. The following morning you get the surprise of your life when you noticed a long streak of line across your car’s body. You know that some cruel dude vented his ire on your car by running his keys around the body of your ride. You’re now left with a deep scratch that will really cost you a lot to repair and get fixed. The main issue with such types of scratches is that they are so deep that the damage already extends well beyond the clear coat and into the primer. Don’t worry as we’ve got 5 hacks to rid your car’s finish of deep scratches. Take note however that these solutions are only temporary and that more permanent ones are available from your neighborhood car body repair shop.
1. Use high quality scratch repair kits
The good thing about today’s automotive care technologies is that there are now products that can help you do almost anything in an instant. As far as deep scratches go, there may be a few car scratch removers in the market that can help you out. It should be noted that ordinary car scratch repair kits are primarily intended for light to moderate scratches where only the clear coat is damaged and the base coat is not really affected at all. Nevertheless, since the kit already comes with a scratch filler, you might as well use it to temporarily ‘fill’ the deep scratch. As we have said, these solutions are not permanent yet they should help you reduce the severity of the problem until such time that you have the means for a more permanent solution vis-à-vis a thorough body work.
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2. Apply some toothpaste
This is one hack that will have you raising your eyebrows. We know that toothpastes are actually recommended in the removal of scratch marks on DVDs and CDs as well as the screens of laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Its scratch-removing abilities are closely tied to its abrasive properties. It is like gentler kind of sandpaper that you can use to smoothen a certain surface. That being said, we are pretty confident the toothpaste will not be able to really smoothen the deep scratch on your car. What it will do, however, is that it will fill the space with the paste allowing it to become flush with the surface, making the scratch less noticeable. Take note we said less noticeable. This should get you well on the road until you’re ready about giving your car a really good professional scratch removal job.
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3. Cover it with duct tape
If the deep scratch runs the entire length of your car, this trick might not be the best solution since you’re talking about covering it up with an adhesive tape. The idea is to cover up the scratch with a duct tape that has exactly the same color as your car’s body paint.
Today’s duct tapes already come in various colors so it should be fairly easy to choose one that will fit the color of your car. Just make sure to apply the duct tape as evenly as possible without creating any crease lines or other potentially-distracting lines. At least this will buy you some time before you can gather all of your resources for a really nice paint job on your car.
4. Cover it up with car-color spray or touch-up paint
Sometimes all you need is a little touch-up paint or even spray paint. For most folks, touch-up paint is a lot easier to use because of greater control over the pen-like device. The downside of such systems is that they tend to work best on lighter to more moderate scratches. But since we’re talking about temporary solutions here, then you can always give it a try. There are also those who prefer using spray paints instead. This is an excellent choice if you’re talking about an unusually large area to ‘cover’ such as multiple scratches.
Covering these with touch-up paint will require intense concentration and focus. Now the key to using any of these two kinds of paint is to use the right color that matches exactly to the color on your car. It is also important to do some prep work on the scratch such as cleaning it thoroughly and sanding it with fine-grit sandpaper. Only then can you apply either the color spray or touch-up paint. Don’t forget to finish it with a clear coat before finally giving it a wax.
5. Consider turning the scratch into an artwork
For the more artistic motorist, the deep scratch can actually be turned into some form of an artwork. For instance, the scratch marks can be layered with colored decals, trims, or stickers and positioned in such a way that they become a latticework. The stickers or decorative trims can effectively mask the deep scratch or these can be positioned in such a way that they direct the eyes away from the scratch so that people will not really notice it unless they try hard enough to look for it. The whole idea is to crowd the scratch with other lines that are more artsy and decorative in nature. The success of this trick is grounded on your imagination and creativity as well as how much you are willing to give up on your car’s more conservative looks for an edgier, hipper, louder, and more contemporary styling.
The hacks we mentioned here are in no way permanent fixes or should be considered as better than conventional deep scratch removal techniques. The point is that they will offer you a temporary solution to get rid of deep scratches on your car. It also underscores the fact that there really aren’t any hacks or shortcuts for the effective removal of deep scratches. Hacks offer you instant success but they don’t last long. The only way you’ll effectively get rid of that deep scratch on your car is by doing the old but proven method of meticulous cleaning, sanding, spraying, clear coat application, polishing, and waxing done over a period of a couple of days and not just hours.
Sources:
- How to Remove Scratches from a Car – wikiHow
- How Do I Remove a Car Scratch? – Angie’s List
