[nukeman13]

The basics of removing scratches and polishing...

Well my car got scuffed up a little the other day and i decided to remove the scratches/scuffs and share it with other people that dont know how to polish or remove scratches..

So i took my car to the shop, picked up my car the next day and i noticed this after i already gotten home =\


Before starting you want to clean or wipe surface and get all the dirt off etc..

If the scratches are pretty deep like mine then you will want to wet sand it first.. I used a 2000 grit sandpaper and wet sanded for about 1 min with light pressure, then wipe dry with a towel.. if the scratches arent deep then you can skip this step

should come out somthin like this.. One of the scratches were a little too deep to sand out on the first try.. for scratches deep like this i would start with 1000 grit but i dont suggest this for beginners..


Next step is to use a rubbing compound and a soft cotton towel to buff with.. I use 3M rubbing compound / scratch and swirl remover..

For this small area i put a dime sized amount of compound onto the towel then scrubbed the area until the compound started to dry up, then wipe the rest of the compound off with a different towel and inspect the area, then repeated once.. if some of the area looks dull (from sanding) then apply more rubbing compound to the dull looking area..
Note: you shouldnt have to apply the compound no more than 3 times...

it should come out to somthin like this.. One of the scratches were pretty deep and didnt come out on first try.. but its barely noticeable


for light scratches i would skip the sanding step and just try polishing it out with rubbing compound...

Finally make sure you get all the extra compound off, then use wax to keep it protected and make it shine a little more. that's it! That's the basics of polishing and/or removing scratches.. this also makes dull paint shine and gets rid of oxidation in the paint.. Hope this helps

[Gerbig]

So I bought some turtle wax remover. Will this work the same? I'm kinda skeptical about sanding my car though

[nukeman13]

if its turtle wax scratch remover it will work but not as well as the 3M rubbing compound/scratch remover.. if the scratches are light then put some scratch remover on a lintless towel and rub it over the scratch til it starts to dry then wipe the extra compound off with a dry towel.. if its deep scratches then wet sand it with 2k grit(light pressure).. i sanded mine pretty good and the clear coats from factory are pretty hard and i have yet to sand through too any of my paint.. i usually sand once for maybe 1min, evenly with light pressure.. then use the scratch remover on it once or twice

since its ur first time just go over it once with the scratch remover and see wat happens.. if its close to gone then go over it once more.. i would stop if it doesnt go away after the 3rd time of using the scratch remover

[Gerbig]

I went over it with the remover and it didn't even phase it

[nukeman13]

a pic of the scratch would let me know how deep it is and like i said i've tried the turtle wax scratch remover.. i had to go over a small scratch like 10 times before it done anything.. go with 3m rubbing compound

[Gerbig]

I have many many scratches. I'll get some pics tomorrow and post them all if you want or since you live in Alabama you can come help me

[nukeman13]

lmao u can make the drive... i hate driving long distance.. i think ur above huntsville and thats wat 4 hours from where i live... not 100% sure.. but if u paid me i would drive up and make it look brand new for the right price

[Matt.]

Nice job man. Whenever i try to do that to my car it just still comes out all scratched up from the 2k sandpaper. Ill try it again soon though and tell you how it goes

[nukeman13]

Originally Posted by Matt. Nice job man. Whenever i try to do that to my car it just still comes out all scratched up from the 2k sandpaper. Ill try it again soon though and tell you how it goes

make sure u sand it evenly and use a good rubing compound... i recommend 3M rubbing compound

haha i done this write a while back and now people are reading/replying to it

[XXGREGXX]

The clearcoat on the top of my car is pretty messed up. It looks like water spots, like if you spilled water on the car and let it dry, but it's the clearcoat due to the paint shop not doing a good job. Can I just sand it down with 2000 grit and spray can some clear on it? I want opinions before doign so, Sorry for thread jacking btw. Oh, I have some deep parts of my paint like taken off, from rocks and what not, how would you go about fixing this? I could get pcitures if you need, thanks in advance.

[BadBlackGT]

I'm starting to get micro scratches when you can see a glare on my paint. I thought you needed an actually buffer to get them out. I didn't know by hand was good enough. I have the Turtle Wax Black Box for my car, would this work or do i need some of this stuff.

[nukeman13]

uh i cant really tell since i dont know what it actually looks like.. post some pictures up and ill be glad to help

[nukeman13]

Originally Posted by BadBlackGT I'm starting to get micro scratches when you can see a glare on my paint. I thought you needed an actually buffer to get them out. I didn't know by hand was good enough. I have the Turtle Wax Black Box for my car, would this work or do i need some of this stuff.

i havnt used the turtle wax black box so idk really... if u do it with a buffer then its most likely gonna leave swirl marks.. do it by hand and it turns out fine.. just remember to clean the residue from the scratch remover off, then wash and wax..

for micro-scratches i would do it by hand.. if the turtle wax dont work then get some 3M

[BlueScreaM]

Are you talking about the 3M rubbing compound or the scratch remover?? The 25 buck tan bottle one?

[nukeman13]

lol i got mine from walmart 9$. its called 3M rubbing compound