How to Deal with Scratches on White Car Paint?
3 Answers
Body scratches can be divided into several situations, each requiring different treatment methods: 1. Fine hairline scratches: Remove them using wax and fine cutting abrasives. Principle: The abrasives are as fine as nanometer level, which will not damage the original paint protection layer. 2. Light scratches: Use fine polishing wax to repair these minor scratches. Principle: Rearrange the molecules of the car's surface paint and move the edge surface paint to repair the wound. 3. Moderate scratches: Drive the car to a repair shop for professional treatment. During daily driving, try to avoid areas with high corrosiveness, such as seasides, roads with de-icing salt, newly paved asphalt roads, etc.
I have some experience with white car paint scratches. Minor scratches are common in daily parking, especially in underground mall garages. For superficial scratches, you can actually fix them yourself: use toothpaste with a soft cloth and rub in circular motions for about ten minutes to remove white abrasion marks. Deeper scratches that expose the primer are trickier—you’ll need to gently sand them smooth with fine sandpaper first, then apply touch-up paint. Make sure to match the correct color code; nowadays, you can find OEM color cards online for reference. After spraying, wait half an hour for it to dry before polishing. Once, while fixing a hood scratch, I noticed white cars show dirt easily, so regular waxing is important. For severe damage, it’s best to seek professional repainting, as DIY touch-ups often result in color mismatches.
Dealing with white car scratches depends on the severity of the damage. For surface-level swirl marks, a scratch wax will do the trick—just buff it to restore a mirror-like finish. If the primer is exposed, don’t rush to polish it, as exposed metal can rust. My go-to method involves three steps: clean the grease off the scratched area, dab touch-up paint with a cotton swab to fill it in, wait three hours for it to cure, then smooth it out with 2000-grit wet sandpaper. For scratches deeper than two millimeters, I recommend visiting a body shop—they have paint booths for full-panel respraying. For regular car washes, avoid hard brushes, and keep the pressure washer at least 40 centimeters away from the paint for safety. Buying a paint protection film coating spray also helps prevent scratches from tree branches.
