Archive for June, 2011

Keep Your Car’s Paint Looking New

June 21st, 2011

Nothing ages a car like dull, dingy paint. Cars that shine, even the older ones, appear to be cleaner, newer, and more valuable. Although, when asked, people will say that they would like to maintain their car’s glint in the sunlight, most people do not really know what it takes to keep paint looking great. Maintaining the paint job on your car may seem like it would take a lot of effort, but really it just takes a little bit of care.

First, when washing your car, make sure that you rinse your sponge or towel often. Dirt, when rubbed around the car’s surface, can cause tiny scratches that both dull the paint and remove the top clear coat. This means that even washing your car can cause paint damage, so it is important that you pay attention to how much dirt is on the sponge. Also, don’t dip the sponge into dirty water while washing your car, as this will cancel out your attempt to get the grime off of your cleaning utensils. Just remember to keep clean water and a clean sponge and your car wash will be effective without damaging your car’s sheen.

The natural elements of the environment, such as sunlight, wind, and leaves, can cause real harm to your car’s paint job. Sunlight dulls bright colors and bleaches dark ones. Wind can carry debris that can ruin your car’s paint; even small pieces of dirt and pebbles can prove hazardous to the health of your car’s paint job. Leaves that fall from trees can have sap on them, which will stick to your car and ruin the top clear coat. In order to avoid the elements, try and keep your car parked in a protected area. A garage is ideal, but a carport or canopy would work, too.

Your car will inevitably get scratches, despite your best attempts to keep it’s paint pristine. When this happens, the best course of action is to buy a scratch remover and invest in a waxing kit. Scratch removers cannot disguise deep gauges in your car’s paint job, but they can hide (and sometimes even repair) small or light indentions. The kind of scratch repair you get is up to you and the needs of your car’s paint job, but many brands will either be clear or a close match to your car’s color. After repairing any scratches, a good wax job will protect the surface of the car and keep its paint gleaming. Choosing your car wax is also up to you and the needs of your car’s paint, but keep in mind that there are many varieties. If you do not like the thought of doing it by hand, there are also kits that have a handheld power tool made to get the job done.

Maintaining the shine of your car’s paint is one of the best ways to keep your car looking and feeling new; however, you can’t let yourself obsess about it. Scratches will happen, but if you know how to prevent them and repair them you will be well on your way to keeping your car looking great!

What You Ought To Know About Touch Up Paints

June 21st, 2011

Touch-up paint? Of course! Your friends or family may have already suggested you to use touch-up paint to fix your car scratches, and there must be a very good reason for that. It’s simply because touch-up paint does indeed do a very good job of repairing scratches on your car. And that is exactly why people choose and recommend it over many other options to remove car scratches.

The downside is, you may have a hard time choosing the color of touch-up paint that perfectly matches the color of your car. So there’s a good chance that you might apply the wrong color of touch-up paint to your car. If that ever happens, it would do more damage than repair on your car’s paint job. That will also happen will also happen, if you do not know the proper way to repair car scratches with touch-up paint. Sometimes even if you’ve got the right color, you know the correct way to use touch-up paint, it just doesn’t blend well with your car’s color. That’s when things get a little frustrating.

Touch-up paint may be the number one choice for lots of people, but everything has its good and bad. So whether you want to use touch-up paint, or something else to repair your car scratches, it’s up to you.

Using touch up paint can seem like a daunting task. What if it turns into a nightmare? Do you need all the special equipment? You could always take your car to a professional, but do you really want to part with all that hard earned cash? As you continue on through this article you will come to realize how easy it really is; all you need some time and patience. Oh, and make sure the caffeine has worn off; jitters don’t work very well in this situation!

To stave off the rust demon and hold the value of your car, it is a simple matter to take all the nicks and scratches out. There are basically three steps to complete the task: Prep, Paint and Polish. Let me give you a run down in these steps.

Prep

First things first, you have to spend some money. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is; fortunately, it’s not a big sum. Here’s your shopping list:

Some type of wax removal agent. The area has to be clean or you won’t get a bond on the paint.

Dry wet sand paper. # 220 for heavy rust and # 600 or higher for anything else.

Auto paint tape.

Primer, touch up paint and clear coat. You can skip the primer if the metal or plastic isn’t exposed.

Micro-fiber cloth.

 

See? I told you it wouldn’t be that bad.

When you’re buying touch up paint, I would suggest going to the auto supplier of your vehicle. The reason for this is they will be able to exactly match the shade of your paint. If you’re looking for DIY products, most come in colors that match the general shade group of your car’s paint.

There is a tremendous amount to know about Touch Up Paint, touchup paint, touchup paint, and that is why we have saved some very juicy info for you.