If you love your car, you probably find every scratch or scuff mark annoying and frustrating. Whether it’s a new car or a pre-owned one, discovering new scratches can be really bothersome. While there are many DIY ideas floating on the Internet on how to deal with scratches, you need to be really careful, as using the wrong stuff can damage the paint job.

You get scratches when hard material pierces softer material. While most light scratches can be buffed out with cutting compound or polish, deeper scratches require sandpaper or other more aggressive techniques.

One home remedy to deal with finer scratches is to use toothpaste for scratch removal. Toothpaste acts as a mild abrasive and levels out the scratch, making it less prominent. However, you should always be very cautious, as the wrong technique can dull the finish or create more scratches, making it look worse. Mylaocar.com recommends trying the toothpaste in a small and less prominent area first to ensure that it doesn’t damage the paint job. 

For the process, you would require a micro-fibre cloth and a paste-based (not gel) toothpaste. All you need to do is apply the toothpaste to the cloth and rub lightly along the scratch and then polish in a circular motion. Ensure that the surface around the affected area is clean, or you might end up buffing with particles of dirt and debris stuck to the cloth, creating more scratches. Make sure to remove the toothpaste from the car body before it dries off with a micro-fibre cloth, once the scratches are removed.

You would find that this process actually cleans the scratch rather than removing it completely, making it much less noticeable than before. While this could work wonders for light and shallow scratches, rusty and deeper scratches would require more professional treatment. 

By maintaining your car properly, you will not just extend the life of your car, but also retain its resale value. For more tips on car maintenance, keep visiting Mylaocar.com – Laos’ premier automotive trading portal.