Clear Coat Scratch
The TLDR (Too long, didn't read) and Deep Dive

TLDR: 

When you get a scratch in your car's paint, it's actually a scratch in the clear coat, which is the top layer of a 2-stage paint job. The first stage is the color or base coat. Most scratches in the clear coat can't be completely fixed, but you can conceal them using a scratch repair kit.

One option is the Turtle Wax Scratch Repair Kit. It's simple to use and can effectively hide the scratch. Another option is the Turtle Wax T-240KT Scratch Repair and Renew Kit, which is a more aggressive approach to clear coat scratch removal.

To figure out which kit is right for you, try the fingernail test and the water test. If your fingernail catches on the edge of the scratch, it's probably too deep to remove completely. If you can barely feel an edge, try the water test. Clean the scratch and spray it with water. If the scratch disappears when covered in water, light sanding and polishing may remove or significantly diminish the scratch.

A more versatile kit is the Turtle Wax T-234KT Complete Compound Kit, which includes sanding discs, polishing compounds, and a clear coat pen. This kit can remove or diminish most clear coat scratches.

Every clear coat scratch is unique, so you won't know the results until you try to fix it. Follow the instructions on the kit and maintain realistic expectations.

The Deep Dive into Clear Coat Scratch

You have a clear coat scratch and you probably want to make it disappear. Life is a jungle and any car owner will eventually be faced with a dreadful scratch in the clear coat of their car.

The very fact that you came here looking for a way to fix a scratch in the clear coat versus your car paint tells me as an expert, that you may not have full understanding between a car paint scratch and a clear coat scratch.

• What is the difference between a clear coat scratch and a paint scratch?
• Can scratches in clear coat be fixed?
• How do you fix a scratch in clear coat?

These questions and a few more will be answered for you in a way that should help you come to terms with a very unwanted moment.

What is Difference Between Clear Coat Scratch and Paint Scratch

The simple answer is, nothing. They are the same thing.

If you question the difference between the two, this strongly suggests you may not understand the difference between clear coat and car paint to begin with.

Many people still don't understand what clear coat is. Once you know the fundamentals of car paint and clear coat, you will automatically understand how a car paint scratch and a clear coat scratch are almost one in the same:

• Modern day paint jobs are also referred to as 2-stage paint jobs (first stage is the color or base coat, the second stage is the top, clear coat)
• Clear coat is the top layer of any factory paint job
• Clear coat is applied over the color coat (often referred to as the base coat within the professional world of paint and body)
• Both the color coat and the clear coat are separate layers of the overall paint system, hence the term: 2-stage paint job
• A factory paint system typically includes the following layers: corrosion protection layer, primer coat layer, color coat layer, clear coat layer

If you are picking up what I am putting down, you will begin to understand that a scratch in your clear coat is the same thing as saying you have a scratch in your paint.

And if this is the case, many of you might then wonder why you would use color touch-up paint in an attempt to fix a car paint scratch if the clear coat is the top layer and not the color coat.

And if you didn't ask this, chances are you are questioning it now.

Clear Coat Scratch Repair Kit

While not ever scratch in your clear coat can be fixed 100%, most people would be happy with a repair that is "good enough".

Most of us also except that if we want perfection we will have to go to the expense and downtime of a body shop which doesn't seem appealing to most of us.

For this reason this kit from Turtle wax will represent the winning balance for most of us as car owners.

Turtle Wax Scratch Repair kit on Amazon

• The simplest way to attempt to fix a clear coat scratch
• Will never be a perfect fix, but can effectively conceal a clear coat scratch

This picture is a perfect example of a clear coat scratch that is what is referred to as a hairline scratch. The fact that this scratch is so thin will automatically prevent any type of touch-up paint from flowing down into the scratch.

Often, these hairline scratches can be removed or diminished simply by using the refining polish contained in the Turtle Wax kit without having to use any of the clear coat resin.

Since every situation will be truly unique, you won't know what the end result will be until you are there. At least with this kit you have a chance at an acceptable "fix".

Clear Coat Scratches: Plan B

Your second option is another kit from Turtle Wax that allows you to perform a more aggressive approach to removing clear coat scratches.

If you are struggling to figure out which kit would be best for you, there are a couple of tests you can perform:

Finger Nail Test:

If your fingernail catches an edge of the scratch, you can assume that the scratch is probably too deep to be completely removed.

The deeper the scratch, the more you will be able to feel an edge to the scratch.

Water Test:

If you can hardly feel an edge to the scratch, the next test is the water test.

• Water Test

Clean the area first to remove any superficial dirt. Using a spray bottle with water, you spray the scratch and see if the water is able to hide the scratch. (You may need to dab the area with your finger tip to get the water to "cover" the scratch itself)

If the scratch seems to disappear when it is coated with water, then it is fairly safe to assume that light sanding (also referred to as wet sanding or color sanding) and polishing will allow you to remove the scratch completely, or diminish it significantly.

Clear Coat Scratch:
What Would Darren Do (WWDD)

Understanding that not all clear coat scratches are created equal, you as a car owner will literally have to treat each scratch separately. Another one of my favorite car paint scratch repair kits is the following from Turtle Wax.

I find this  kit amazing as it has everything a professional like myself would use, but in a super convenient do-it-yourself kit for home use.

Turtle Wax Scratch Repair Kit on Amazon

• This kit comes with 3 sanding discs that have 4 different sanding grits on them (one disc has 2 separate grits on it)
• It also comes with 2 types of polishing compounds
• Also comes with a clear coat pen like the one pictured above
• Perfect DIY kit for most clear coat scratches to either remove completely, or diminish significantly

Darren's Note: This is the most versatile paint scratch repair kit I have seen. I have used this in numerous videos for my YouTube channel with great success in removing clear coat scratches that are capable of being removed, as well as diminishing clear coat scratches that cannot be fully removed.

This kit has 4 different sand pad grits (3 sanding pads, comprising of 4 grits: one sanding pad has separate grits on each side), clarifying compound, sanding lubricant, and even a clear coat touch-up pen for scratches that are too deep to be removed.

Instead of ordering the Turtle Wax clear coat touch-up pen separately from above, you can get this kit and take your clear coat scratch repair efforts much further.

I cannot stress enough how every clear coat scratch will truly be unique. This means you simply do not know what you are gonna get with regards to results, until you have gotten them.

If you follow the instructions on the Turtle Wax scratch repair kit you will be 90% there as far as what is possible. The remaining 10% will be about you maintaining realistic expectations knowing that ultimately professional clear coat scratch repair has many moving tangents to it, and even a seasoned veteran like myself is limited by what is being dealt to me in the moment.

Clear Coat Scratch Summary

Today's world of free information via the Internet is a marvelous resource.

Unfortunately technology doesn't just make advancements in all things good and positive, but now the challenge becomes more about trying discern between good information and misinformation.

I tricky situation we have created for ourselves indeed!

I hope the information provided here delivers real-world solutions for you and your world!

Sincerely,

Darren Priest