Touching Up Car Paint
It is easy to keep your car’s paint job looking new and fresh by washing and waxing, and keeping it covered up when not in use. No matter how careful we are, cars eventually get scratches and nicks in their paint. Fortunately, it is easy to touch up the paint on your car to keep it looking good.
You can find the right paint color and type easily enough - you can find it online or at a local dealer or auto store. You will want to know the make and model of your car as well when you do go looking for touch up paint, and even better, find the paint code for your particular vehicle as this will allow a perfect match to your paintjob. There is usually a sticker or metal tag on the inside of the driver’s front door that will have the information you are looking for.
After you have gathered all the information go to your local store or check the internet. The touch up paint will come in different types of containers with touch pens, bottles with brush caps inside and aerosol cans. Make sure you buy some “Clearcoat” to put on over the top of the touch up paint once it has been applied and dried
The touch-up pen is one of the easiest ways to repair small scratches, small stone chips and small nicks. They have a tip that is like a magic marker that allows you to apply a very small amount or you can also cover a bigger area with it. The shelf life of the pen is very high; it will be good for 7 to 10 years but always make sure you check, just in case.
Touch-up paint bottles have a brush in the cap, which means they can be used to repair slightly larger areas of damage. You will not get as fine a line with the bottle as you can with the pen, but it works well on larger areas. The shelf life is around 1 to 2 years and you should definitely check the life of the product in such cases.
The aerosol cans are helpful to repair a part or to color match a part. If you follow the instructions carefully you can get a professional look but beware, spray applications take practice and patience to get the best results while it is easy to make a hash of the work.
After you have applied the touch-up paint, no matter what applicator you use, always put a Clearcoat on top of the touch-ups. You will not get the right results or get the finished look on your touch-ups if you do not cover them with Clearcoat. Ask for advice at your auto store or check online for help with Clearcoats as there are different types and styles to fit your needs.
Before you do your actual touch-ups, you should do what they call a “spray out” that will save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run, especially if you haven’t done any touch-ups before. It is simply testing the color before you apply it. You should test the color on a piece of scrap metal which can be easily found, and you should test the entire application, including the Clearcoat. This gives you the feel of applying the paint before you actually start applying paint to your vehicle.
Finally, once your car is good and dry, make sure you protect the touched up paint with a car cover suited for your vehicle.
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