Authored by James Lachapelle in Automotive 
Published on 07-23-2009

Light scratches on your car can be a huge annoyance even if they go without notice from a distance. Whether you’re restoring a classic muscle car or want to keep your new car in pristine condition, you will experience minor scratches on your car at some point.

Light scratches on your car are basically inevitable and removing them can be expensive if you don’t know the right tricks. There are some methods which work effectively in order to remove light scratches from your car.

One of those methods includes using a paint restorer and a handheld polisher. While not all methods are guaranteed to work, this method is an effective way to remove light scratches from your car. In order to use this method you will have to purchase a reliable brand of paint renovator or restorer from an automotive supply store. You will also need to have access to, or purchase, a circular polisher or buffer.

This is a very simple method to remove scratches from your car and can be done by almost anyone. You will have to place a small amount of the paint renovator or restorer on the scratch. Then, attach a new polishing pad to the polisher and put the speed on 1200rpm or lower.

Once you have prepared the polisher and area of the scratch you will need to put pressure on the polisher over the scratch area. After the polisher is firmly placed on the scratch area you will have to turn it on and rotate the polisher around the scratch. Ideally you will be polishing the scratch area while following a figure eight pattern. Also use the outside edge of the polishing pad, by tilting the polisher minimally, to help treat the scratch.

After polishing the scratch for about half a minute to a minute it should be fully removed. If you can still notice the scratch you will want to start over. After the second time treating the scratch you should notice the scratch is completely gone in most cases.

While this method is very simple and you shouldn’t face any complications there are still some things you should know before attempting to remove the scratch.

First off, if you plan on using a dual action polisher then you will want to be applying soft pressure directly to the scratch. You will not want to use the tilting technique with the dual action polisher. It’s also important to make sure you don’t allow the polisher to reach excessively high speeds as it could burn through a coating of paint and make the scratch worse.

The next thing to remember is that the method of using a polisher to remove light scratches from your car is just for that, light scratches! Never use this method with hopes to remove any scratches from your car that are below the clear coat of paint on your car because it simply won’t work.

The end result of attempting to remove a scratch that’s too far in the paint with a polisher could leave a much worse mark on your car. If you do have large or deep scratches you will want to get them treated by an auto cosmetics professional.