How to Remove Scratches from Your Car in 5 Steps

It’s an awful feeling to leave the grocery store, walk to where you left your car in the parking lot, and see a huge white scratch in your shiny, nice paint. Most likely, it’s a long, noticeable gash and your blood is boiling about it.

Sometimes, you can even create these scratches yourself. Either your zipper scraped against the paint, or your purse, or you opened your door into another car — those scenarios might be your fault, but it’s still frustrating to see that your car’s been compromised. No matter how it happened, it’s discouraging to know that your car (which you most likely spend time and money to keep looking beautiful) now looks beaten up and battered.

And the next step? Spending MORE money to get a touch-up and make that scratch disappear.

But, unbeknownst to some of us car owners, there is a way to fix your scratched car without spending hundreds of dollars or going to a garage! You can fix that scratch right at home, in your driveway.

Chris Fix shows us how he takes car of scratches in five simple steps, using just a few materials that you can buy at your local store. And when you’re done, it’ll look like that scratch never existed.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started on this easy DIY:

  • Soap
  • Warm water
  • Towel
  • Masking tape
  • 3,000 grit sandpaper
  • 5,000 grit sandpaper
  • Polish
  • Car wax

In total, it’ll only cost you a couple bucks to buy everything that’s needed. Odds are you already own a few of these items; soap, water, and a towel is probably all sitting in your bathroom right now.

To get the full instructions on how to remove a paint scratch, make sure to watch the Chris Fix video below!

One thing we really love about this tutorial is how Chris walks you through what we’re doing when we’re fixing a scratch. It seems like a pretty intimidating mark to fix, so it’s interesting (and helpful) to know what’s happening when you use the materials above.

The first thing to know is that your car has three coats of paint: the first is the primer, the second is the base coat, and the third is your clear coat. These layers are very thin, about the width of a small Ziploc bag. On top of all that is a coat of wax, to protect everything underneath, hide any small imperfections, or protect against small scratches.

So why is this scratch showing if there’s that wax? Well, the wax can be chipped off with enough force and this removal of paint causes the light to reflect off this part of your car in a different way, causing the scratch to catch your eye.

But following these five steps, you’re essentially smoothing out the surface of the car, making it so that the ding reflects light evenly and doesn’t draw attention.

What do you think of this scratch removing tutorial? Do you remove car paint scratches in a different way? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.