Everybody hates seeing scratches on their cars. Even the minor ones can both destroy the car’s appeal and dampen your mood.
The scratches can be the result of collisions while parking or reversing your car, accidents and so on.
Luckily, a rubbing compound will help you solve this problem!
It is an abrasive material used to grind the layers of old and damaged paint. Moreover, it also helps to hide scratches in your car’s paint surface.
Follow our instruction on how to use rubbing compound to get a new top coat for your car!
Step 1: Wash the car
Before using the rubbing compound, clean your car with water and soap to remove any dust, dirt or mud to allow the compound to work better on the scratches.
● Dunk a cloth into your bucket of soapy water and rub it over your car, starting from the top.
● Rinse the car with a hose after cleaning with soap.
● Clean the car again with a dry cloth.
● Detect the areas of scratches that need covering. Now, move to the next step!
Step 2: Sanding down the scratches
Remember that you cannot remove the scratch – it is like a mark on your car. We can only conceal it by sanding the paint around the scratch. But do not sand down to the layer beneath the scratch.
You will need sandpaper to do this step.
● Apply a shoe polish with contract color over the scratch to make it visible so you will not sand too far beneath the scratch.
If your car has a dark or black color, use white shoe polish and vice versa.
● Sprinkle water and soap on your scratch to sand more smoothly.
● Put the sandpaper on a wooden block. Tilt your sandpaper at a 60-degree angle at your scratch, and use light strokes to sand. For effective sanding, perform the up and down motion.
● Continue doing this when you dip the sandpaper in soapy water to make the work easier.
● Repeat this step until the mark of shoe polish disappears.
Step 3: Applying the rubbing compound
After sanding the area around the scratch, you will use the rubbing mixture. But, it is needed to fix the wool pad at the center of the orbital polisher first.
● Put a thin line of rubbing compound over the scratch.
Rubbing compound can help to smoothen the newly sanded areas. And do not put your car under direct sunlight before you apply the compound.
If your compound is in a tube, a very convenient form, you can easily squeeze it directly on the scratches.
If it is in a can, you can scoop it out on a cloth or paper towel and apply over the scratch.
● Place your orbital polisher directly onto the scratch, and start the machine. This is the easiest way to spread the compound because it will rapidly spin all over the surface of your car.
● If you do not have an orbital polisher, it is fine. Don’t worry! You can also use your hand to apply the compound with firm pressure, and then use a microfiber cloth to rub over your car.
One more thing to remember! Do not use the same wool pad for polishing, applying the wax or polishing the car’s surface. Use different wool pads for different jobs!
Step 4: Polishing, painting, and applying the wax
Do not forget to use a towel to eradicate the rubbing compound before coming to this step. It is safer to use a microfiber towel rather than the orbital polisher because the paint is likely to wear out with the latter.
Use another wool pad to polish the surface. The deeper scratch will require painting. You can use a spray can or paint brush.
If the damage to the surrounding paint is not substantial, you just need to wax the surface, and the paint coat will be shiny again!
To sum up,
Step back and see the result! If you follow the instructions mentioned above correctly, you will never see this annoying scratch again.
Now, you have known about how to use rubbing compound to remove scratches from your car by yourself! It is also another useful and affordable way to maintain your vehicle.
We hope you can master this technique gradually.
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