Make your Audi paint sparkle once more by following these restoration instructions! For more
Visit our Directions for How To Apply page for comprehensive guidelines, including how to apply Audi spray paint.
In This Article...
Prepare Your Audi for Touch Up Paint
Make sure the temperature is above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, then use soap and water to wash the damaged paint off your Audi.
water. On the region, apply a wax and grease remover. Applying masking tape to the area of your Audi’s scratched paint
Apply Primer Before Painting Your Audi
Apply primer to bare metal or plastic surfaces on your Audi if they are not already painted.
paint repair! The primer you’ll use to fix the Audi’s paint should be applied in multiple light applications. Apply just a
a little primer at a time to your Audi. Before using, let the primer dry for at least a whole night.
the touch-up paint for Audi. When dry, use #220 grit sandpaper to softly sand the primed Audi paint area.
How to Apply Audi Touch Up Paint
You may now paint your automobile with Audi touch-up paint. Apply a few light layers of Audi touch-up paint.
The damaged paint area should be painted over to the same depth as the surrounding surface. Allow Audi to paint
between coats, allow to dry for ten to twenty minutes. Allow the paint to completely dry after the final layer.
prior to the clearcoat layer. The Audi paint will often be dry the next day if you let it dry overnight. If
If the weather is below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, give the Audi touch-up paint more time to cure.
Protect Repaired Audi Paint with Clearcoat
Verify that the Audi touch-up paint you previously applied is dry. Place several light layers of clearcoat on top of
the retouched Audi paint, let each layer to cure for fifteen to twenty minutes. The clearcoat should dry.
Use Rubbing Compound to Make Your Audi Paint Shine
Your Audi’s touch-up paint repair will become as smooth and lustrous as the original paint with the help of rubbing compound.
Use rubbing compound on your Audi after letting the clearcoat cure for at least three days. use rubbing
a clean, soft cloth, such as an old t-shirt, to your Audi’s paint; avoid using wood products such
tissue paper Apply rubbing compound in a sparing manner to the area where you put Audi touch-up paint.
paint. Apply equal pressure while making circular motions across the surface. buff to a high gloss using a clean cloth.
gloss. Allow your Audi’s finish to dry for thirty days before applying touch-up paint for the best results.
What is the drying time for Audi touch-up paint?
If you have a particularly deep scrape, you will need to first apply primer and let it dry. Apply a coat of touch-up paint after the primer has dried, using brief, even strokes.
You often don’t need any additional brushes or equipment because touch-up paint is typically supplied in a small canister with a built-in brush.
Give the touch-up paint coat at least 30 to 60 minutes to dry. Repeat the procedure from there till you are satisfied with the outcomes.
Don’t sand down chips.
Yikes. There are articles out there that advise you to sand the damaged area down before applying touch-up paint. For a few reasons, that is a terrible idea. First, the chip’s edge is necessary for the best outcomes. It serves as a container for the paint, like a bucket. It is impossible to manufacture touch-up paint thin enough to sit properly on a smooth damaged area since paint has a thickness to it. Second, sanding it will ruin the good paint around it. If sanding is done at all, it should be done by a professional. It’s really simple to go too far and damage your paint.
Don’t use clear coat touch-up paint.
The majority of touch-up kits are only a source of revenue for the auto dealers who sell them. They are genuinely ineffective. The touch-up of the clear coat is a case in point. A clear coat is far too thick to be applied with a brush. Technically, you could, but it would look terrible. When using touch-up paint to cover a very small area, clearcoat must be sprayed on instead of being used. Touch-up paint by Dr. Colorchip is suggested by PaintCraft.
Don’t use a kitchen scrub pad or fingernails on your car, ever.
Some people may find this apparent, however I’ve frequently witnessed folks using a scouring pad or their fingernail to clear something off their automobile. The paint on your car is highly delicate and prone to scratches.
Don’t put things on your car.
Make sure nothing, including your bum, groceries, boxes, or handbag, is placed on top of your car. When you search for your car keys, even very lightly resting your purse or shopping bags on the trunk of your car will cause scratches, especially if you do it frequently. Even while they might not appear right away, they eventually do and only become worse with time. Your car’s heating and cooling will reveal scratches, grime, and debris buildup, which will subsequently make them more obvious.
Workability of touch-up paint pens
Stop right there if you’re looking for the touch-up paint pen for your car. They truly rank among the worst “solutions” for automotive paint dings and scratches. For a living, I repair rock chips and scratches, and I have devoted hundreds of hours to repairing the harm they create. Car dealerships are where I most frequently notice the paint blobs those pens left behind. In order to avoid being penalized by the dealership when they return a car after a lease is finished or when they try to sell it, people may sometimes try to hide up imperfections with paint pens. 95 percent of the time, touch-up paint pens make the damage appear worse. They are excessively difficult to use, and the outcomes are poor.
Touch-up paint pens are mostly sold by car dealerships and manufacturers as a secondary revenue stream. They don’t really care about how your car looks.
Dr. Colorchip makes the only paint touch-up kit I’ve ever seen that actually works good. I only ever use this paint system.
How many layers of repair paint?
If your vehicle is anything like mine, the frontal surfaces occasionally resemble a painter’s pallet rather than the showroom-fresh appearance it had when you first drove your car, truck, crossover, or SUV home from the dealer’s lot.
If you carefully wash your car, you’ll probably find that many of those bright spots are really the remnants of numerous insects that may be removed with little elbow grease. However, you may also find that some of those imperfections were caused by stones, which not only pierced the clearcoat surface but also several layers of paint, creating a favorable entryway for rust.
It could be time for some touch-up work. Your problem might also be a deeper scratch, or simply a few minor scrapes.
Automotive Touchup, a branch of Microfinish LLC with headquarters in New Orleans, creates coatings for fixing and refinishing industrial and automotive equipment.
For the kinds of chips, scratches, and scrapes indicated above, Automotive Touchup provides a number of do-it-yourself products. You can choose from ready-to-spray cans, tiny vials with built-in brush applicators, ballpoint-sized touch-up pens, or even cans of materials with ready-to-spray materials.
next visit the “Instructions on how to utilize our website on touch-up paint to find the supplies you’ll need. Videos that walk you through the procedures are available.
Basically, you prepare the surface by washing it with dish soap and water and then thoroughly drying it. Next, you remove any wax, grease, and other contaminants with a prep solvent. Sandpaper, which is also offered on the website, might be necessary.
According to Automotive Touchup, you should now apply touch-up primer over the bare metal or plastic, often in two to three coats spaced about 10 minutes apart. If the area you’re restoring is large enough, the instructions even provide information on masking off and paint blending. You might need to sand in between those layers.
After the primer has dried, you apply the basecoat color for touch-ups, again waiting about 10 minutes between layers. The touch-up color will next be applied, this time in several coats.
Apply the touch-up clearcoat in two or three coats, waiting 20 minutes between each one, after the paint has dried for 30 minutes.
“According to the directions, clearcoat will finish drying overnight but should be touchable in 1-2 hours. The instructions advise against waxing that area of your car for a month, but you can apply some rubbing compound to create a shiny surface once it has dried.
Automotive Touchup offers 12-ounce spray cans of basecoat color for $20 and 12-ounce cans of clear coat and primer for $8 apiece. It costs $8 for a 2-ounce bottle of primer or clearcoat and $15 for a 2-ounce bottle of basecoat with a built-in brush. For primer and clearcoat, the pens cost $5.75, while the basecoat color costs $13. Sandpaper, rubbing compound, gloves, safety eyewear, and other items are also available on the website.
How often should you reapply touch-up paint?
A touch-up jar or a touch-up pen won’t be the best tool for the job if you need to paint a larger area, such an entire panel. Instead, use a tool like TUD spray to spray your paint. You can evenly and successfully cover a bigger area with paint by using this delivery method. Additionally, you will make a significant time savings.
The adage “practice makes perfect” certainly holds true when it comes to spray painting your car. Shake your water-based aerosol and urethane-based paint well before using. Keep in mind to shake them frequently as you paint with both.
Before trying it on your automobile, practice your spraying technique on a piece of cardboard or a test card while holding the can six to eight inches away from the surface.
To prevent drips and runs and to achieve a smooth and even coverage, apply the paint in thin, even coats.
Make edges that surround the impacted surface by about a half-inch. Back and forth from left to right, then from right to left. Spray can passes should have a half-inch overlap to prevent the undesirable zebra stripe look.
Please allow 15 to 30 minutes in between coats. Before you begin again, the paint must be touchably dry.
If at all feasible, carry out this task in a covered place away from the wind, the sun, and the rain.
How is an automobile paint chip repaired?
It takes patience, a precise paint match, and a steady touch to remove stone chips. Here are our detailed guidelines so you can attempt to repair a stone chip on your car:
- After using soap and water to clean the area, wipe it down with white spirit or alcohol. Grease must be removed during this phase in order to provide a good surface for the paint to adhere to. Give the area time to dry.
- Any elevated edges near the chip should be sanded down. For this, you can use wet and dry sandpaper with very fine grit or a cutting compound like T-Cut. Don’t rub too aggressively so as to ruin the clearcoat around it.
- Apply the base coat or primer. If your kit includes one, use it. If not, use a very fine brush or paint pen. Permit to dry.
- Thinly layer the paint on the surface. You must imitate the multiple layers of paint that were initially put on your car. Between layers, let the paint dry completely. Make sure the paint stays in the damaged area and doesn’t get on nearby surfaces.
- Once the paint has dried, lightly sand it to bring it to the same level as the paint around it. A steady touch, damp sandpaper, and very fine grain are required. To avoid scratching the paint around minor chip areas, wrap the sandpaper over the pencil’s blunt end.
- After sealing the stone chip repair with a top coat of lacquer, let it cure.
How to Protect Your Car from Stone Chips?
There is no way to prevent a stone chip from ever appearing on your paintwork. However, you can reduce the possibility of damage that might need to be repaired by using paint protection film. To provide an additional layer of protection, you might want to think about using clear vinyl wrapping. If you want to protect a unique color or custom paint job, this is a fantastic option.
How Much Does a Stone Chip Repair Cost?
Depending on the sort of kit you use, stone chip repair kits might be expensive. Prices range from roughly $10 to $50. Avoid the temptation to buy the cheapest kit right away because they have a very small selection of paint colors and could leave a noticeable repair. Some businesses may offer paint that is specifically matched to the color scheme of your car, which is typically less obvious than the more affordable kits.
A full panel respray costs several hundred pounds, which is significantly more. However, many experts will suggest a SMART repair to you (Small to Medium Area Repair Technology). This method of repair is more recent and only includes painting the damaged area. You can save time and money by keeping the repair confined to the area that is affected as a result. Professionals will mix the paint to match your car using colour-matching technology, which is even more precise and undetectable than matching a color code.
Before applying clear coat, should I sand any touch-up paint?
Normally, we advise against sanding in between coats of primer, clearcoat, and touch-up base color paint. If some dirt does, however, get into the paint, you can let the paint dry and sand out the spot. Sanding could be necessary if there is too much texture or if the paint is running.
How can touch-up paint be made to appear good?
Here are the seven steps you should do to use a DIY touch-up paint kit to repair the damage to your car for optimum results.
- Clean the Car’s Surface
- Recognize the damage
- Sift the harmed area.
- Use paint thinner to clean
- Put the touch-up paint on.
- Ensure a Smooth Surface
- Put the Clear Coat on.
- The Touch-Up Paint should cure.
- Clean up the Paint
Clean the Surface of the Car
Always start with a clean surface when performing paint repairs. Verify that the car has recently been washed. Clean the area with a spray glass cleaner after that before starting. Finally, use a microfiber cloth to completely dry the automobile.
Identify the Damage
Examine the surface of the car from the front to the back using a powerful light. Marking the areas of damage with a little piece of masking tape might be useful. When you have the touch-up paint on hand, this will make it simpler to recognize them.
Sand the Damaged Area
The paint will need to be sanded in order to get the damage ready for restoration. Sand the area directly surrounding the chipped place with 15002500 grit sandpaper or a small sanding block. Sand the paint with quick, light strokes back and forth. It should be sanded until the paint is uniform in appearance and has lost its shiny sheen. When you rub the region with your finger, the area around the chip should feel smooth.
Clean with Paint Thinner
To prepare and clean the sanded area, use paint thinner next. A tiny amount of all-purpose automotive paint thinner should be dipped into a cotton swab. After that, clean over the sanded damage and the paint chip with the cotton swab. When driving, it’s critical that the repair paint adhere well and withstand the environment. Applying paint thinner will also aid in improving the adhesion of the touch-up material.
Apply the Touch-Up Paint
Apply a base coat that matches the color of your car using a fine-tipped paintbrush. Put a little paint on the brush’s tip. After that, lightly dab it over the prepared area. Utilize a little bit at a time. You could observe that the volume of the paint decreases as it dries. Before applying the clear coat, wait until the paint layer has dried to see if another coat of base paint is necessary.
Ensure the Surface Is Smooth
It will be necessary to build up the paint to be flush with the rest of the car’s surface for deeper chips. Apply the paint in layers, letting each one dry before adding another.
Apply the Clear Coat
A clear coat must be applied to finish and seal the base coat once it has fully dried. The same dabbing technique as before should be used with a fresh, fine-tipped paintbrush. Before deciding whether another clear coat will be required, let it half dry.
Let the Touch-Up Paint Cure
It’s time to take a step back once you’re happy that the paint has been corrected and the touch-up job looks good. Allow it to thoroughly dry and solidify for at least 48 hours.
Polish the Paint
Utilize a car polish compound to finish the task when the paint has completely dried. This will make the mended area shiny like new paint.
Keep in mind that this DIY method of fixing automobile paint is not meant for severe paint damage. It works well as a short-term fix for tiny paint chipped areas. Professional repainting is advised in the long run or to fix more severe damage. Your car’s susceptibility to rust and corrosion may increase if paint damage is not properly repaired or is not repaired at all.
Watch this video for an useful walkthrough on how to paint your car in touch-ups.