Buffing Car Scratches Out by Hand

by marie.techshop

1.0M2614

Intro: Buffing Car Scratches Out by Hand

I made it at TechShop Menlo Park (www.TechShop.com)!

The TechShop in Menlo Park is the only one in California that has an auto bay, which is great because I did this at night and did not have to worry about sufficient lighting!

So I had these scratches on the back right side of my car because I scraped along a rusty trash can.  The rust actually came off the trash can, and that's what you see in the picture.  The scratches themselves were pretty minor.  There is a little dimple where it did actually scratch through the paint.

I don't know anything about cars, so don't jump down my throat if I did something wrong!  I did not know how to get rid of these scratches, so I had my friend teach me.

STEP 1: Washing the Area

So I made the mistake of trying to get the dirt off my car by wiping my sleeve across it.  My friend quickly pointed out that I should not do that because the dirt can make the scratches worse.  Who'd of thunk it?  He explained that I need to use a lint free cloth with soap and water to clean the area.  After cleaning, I let it dry thoroughly.  Yes, the creepy puppet hand is actually my real hand.

STEP 2: Rubbing Compound

After cleaning, I applied a rubbing compound to the scratches.  I applied a dime size amount with a lint free cloth and rubbed along the scratches (applying a lot of pressure) until they disappeared.  I had to reapply the compound a few times.  This was the most time consuming part (it probably felt more time consuming because I laugh at exercise and my arms started to go weak early in the process) and definitely required a lot of elbow grease.  Before going to the next step, I made sure that there were no white streaks or cloudiness.

STEP 3: Swirl Mark Remover

It is hard to see, but the black bottle on the bottom right of the picture is marked "Swirl Mark Remover" by 3M.  After applying the rubbing compound, I applied a dime sized amount of the swirl mark remover with a new lint free cloth. 

STEP 4: Done!

Here is the finished product!  

13 Comments

CharlieH68 6 years ago

It rained and after my 2013 Yukon had brown spots all over, real stubborn to get off, so I decide to use SOS soap pads. Bad idea! Now I have a lot of individual fine scratches left by the steel wool pads. What is my best bet to remove them or buff them out without further damage to the paint?

calumb 7 years ago

My cars obviously a different color, does my rubbing compound have to be the same colour then. Might be a dum question but i just wanna be sure

JenF19 8 years ago

Thanks for the info!

Somethingtotallyrandom 11 years ago

Thanks! I have a long paint scratch from a shopping cart that I'm going to remove, now.

Maxie johnson 8 years ago

Dont know where it came from but thank U

phoenix guy 8 years ago

Nice article! Very helpful, with your guide took me about 15-20 minutes to get rid of the nasty scratches on my car, probably from the parking lot... This + paintless dent repair for small dents (have used services from DRP cause did not wan't to take risks making everything worse) has helped me saved HUGE buck.

pravinnz 9 years ago

Thanks you. Useful article. Recently i watched one video online that was also good removes your scraches in 5 minutes, already i tried it worked for me. If you want try just click on the below link.

https://youtu.be/9RSGtkHKUh4

kayk1 9 years ago

Thanks for the tips

rashidmoney 10 years ago

Most poeple do each step mentioned above, but they end up with nothing, I mean it is the brand of the scratch remover you are using that matters, for example; I have used "Meguiar's compound" and "Quixx" and both were amazing, but the "Turtle" did nothing even though it has been in the market since 41s.

See

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g10...

http://www.quixx.com/index.php?id=2

Comparing between these products;

www.spraysite.net/best-car-scratch-remover/

Thanks.

rashidmoney 10 years ago

Most poeple do each step mentioned above, but they end up with nothing, I mean it is the brand of the scratch remover you are using that matters, for example; I have used "Meguiar's compound" and "Quixx" and both were amazing, but the "Turtle" did nothing even though it has been in the market since 41s.

See

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g10...

http://www.quixx.com/index.php?id=2

Comparing between these products;

www.spraysite.net/best-car-scratch-remover/

Thanks.