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. All cars, no matter how careful we are with them, will eventually get their paint scratched and nicked. 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 you can check on the internet or go to your local store. 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 magic marker like tip 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 can be used to repair slightly larger areas of damage as they have a brush in the cap. 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”; it 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 the actual repair job. 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 way, you can practice and get the feel of applying the paint before you actually touch up the vehicle and this is likely to give the best results when you finish.
Author Resource:
Jack Labens works for Empire Covers, a leading provider of car covers, truck covers, boat covers, and other vehicle covers and accessories. Empire Covers can be found online at: http://www.empirecovers.com or at their blog http://www.empirecovers-blog.com .
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