Maybe you scratched your door with the cuff of your jacket or knocked your purse or backpack a little too hard against the car. We’ve all been there! Here is an easy way to get minor scuffs and scratches out without needing an expensive polisher.
Note: You need to do this process indoors. Unfortunately, we had a job in the shop and didn’t have the space to do it indoors.
What You Need
- Two Microfiber cloths – preferably in the 350 GSM range with a 70/30 blend
*You can also use an applicator pad like this one. - Masking or Painters Tape
- A light (you can use your cell phone light)
- Clay bar
- Degreaser
- Polisher Compound – CarPro ClearCut for a higher cut compound and/or Sonax Perfect finish for a final polishing compound. Depending on the scratch, you may not need both.
Steps
Before you do anything, you need to figure out whether the scratch will be fixable or not. Feel the scratch with your fingers. If you feel that the scratch is too deep past the clear coat, this method will NOT work. That part will have to be touched-up. If it’s still on the clear coat, that’s when this method will work. Keep in mind this is only recommended for minor scratches.
- First wash your car. We use the two-bucket method, and you can learn how to do this method in our link below.
- Then, use a clay bar on that area to get rid of any contaminants that are lingering. Use a degreaser as a lubricant. This should make the area smooth and eliminate any debris that could accidentally end up scratching your car in the process of fixing it.
- Dry with a microfiber cloth.
- Tape the area surrounding the scratched area. This makes sure we’re not polishing anywhere else.
- Using a pea-sized drop of the compound on your microfiber cloth, move in a quick circular motion to polish the scratch. You may have to put some oomph into it! Continue polishing until the scratch is out.
- Grab a different microfiber cloth and buff it out to get all of the compound off.
- Remove tape and repeat for all scratches.