Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!
Just figured I'd document my process of removing scratches and swirl marks from my car.
Before I start, people should google around and get a good idea of what it takes to completely remove scratches. No product will completely remove scratches, they will just cover them up.
This is basically different kinds of damage to paint:
To remove a scratch, you need to basically remove the layer of wax/clear or possibly even paint depending on how deep the scratch is. The general rule of thumb is if you slide your finger nail over a scratch and it gets stuck, than the scratch is too deep and you will more than likely have to rub it down to the primer to remove the scratch.
Anyway, here is a simple way of doing it:
So I got a typical black car, it's a Honda and as many people know, Honda's paint isn't really the best.. So it takes a lot of effort to bring it back up to its former glory.
Tools required:
- Microfiber towel/cloth
- Cutting Compound
- 2000 Grit+ Sandpaper (wet/dry)
- Bucket
- Water
- Soap
- Clay bar (optional)
- Machine Buffer (Can do it by hand but you will get better results with this)
- Sanding block
So here is my awesome paint:
For the purpose of this DIY, I have only done one part of the bonnet (The right side).
Get your soapy water ready along with your sandpaper and sanding block.
Wash/clean the part that you will be repairing:
At this point, you can start claying the area that you will be sanding and buffing, but I had already clayed my car a month ago so I didn't really think I'd need it.
Start sanding away:
Be very sure not to use the sanding block when you're sanding near or ON edges as it will eat through the clear way too quick and you really don't want that. Just do it softly by hand until the scratches have been removed and the area is dull as so:
As you can see, I focused mainly right above the headlight and didn't really care about the rest as the deepest scratches were there.
Now get your cutting compound, I have decided to go with a medium cutting paste since that's what I had sitting around, but a heavier one would be better since we're already going through all the trouble of sanding it back.
You can apply it directly onto the part you sanded, or onto the microfibre towel and wipe it on, whatever floats your boat really.
Get your machine buffer out and just keep buffing until all of the paste is gone, and you should be left with something like this:
As you can see, it makes a pretty big difference compared to other products out there like "Swirl removers" and all that junk. They don't really remove swirls, they just cover them up.. Along with scratches aswell and I don't think they even work that well especially with black cars.
So here's the difference:
BEFORE
AFTER
Additional buffing may be required, along with a polish and a wax to seal it. These photos show it only buffed with CUTTING COMPOUND and NO POLISH OR WAX WAS APPLIED.
So the results you get will be even better than this.
Enjoy!
PRECAUTIONS:
When using the orbital buffer, be sure to keep moving it around, don't focus on certain spots as you will more than likely burn the paint (buff burns). For extra safety, you can add a little bit of water whilst buffing that will reduce the temperature of the part which will enable you to buff it for a longer period without possibly burning the paint.
When sanding, you can use the sanding block or you can do it by hand. Just make sure you definitely don't use the block when doing the edges.
Have fun.
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