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 appalling.
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.
In This Article...
Is clear coat required for touch-up paint?
It can take years to learn the art of painting an automobile, and it only takes a few seconds for a single error to completely wreck the job. But when it’s done properly, you can’ help but be in awe of the expert talents at work as well as the underlying science and technology. How were the paint repairs so simple, and how did they manage to make the paint seem so good?
A poorly chipped paintwork can easily and quickly be repaired with a touch-up kit, even by the most inexperienced person. However, while we work to touch up the paint, we do consider things like whether or not to apply a clear finish layer on top. Does your car actually look better when the entire touch-up procedure is finished? We do, however, have some responses.
Answering the question of what a clear coat is should be our first concern. Once you have a better understanding of the many layers involved in applying paint, whether it be a quick touch-up or a complete respray, we can explain this to you in more detail. Every layer has a different purpose, like as protecting and enhancing the bodywork, or giving your car its eye-catching colors.
Although technically not paint, filler is a process that can be skipped when painting a car. In certain instances, it’s the base layer and serves as the body’s filler. According to what the name implies, it smooths out deep chips and scratches in your car’s bodywork to make it as smooth as possible before the first coat of paint is applied.
Primer is a pre-paint coat that is applied directly on top of bodywork or filler. It serves a number of purposes once it is applied to the metal or plastic bodywork. The body below can be shielded from impacts or damage by primer, which can also stop excess corrosion from accumulating and ensure that the adhesion of the ensuing paint coat layers.
Your car’s base coat is where the colors are created. The base coat reflects the precise color, shade, and effects of the paint color on your car, including the deepest blues, the monochromatic greys and blacks, or the most vivid pastels. During the painting process, multiple base coat layers may be sprayed on top of one another, and this is visible during the touch-up.
The topmost and final paint coating on your car is called a clear coat. The transparent clear coat serves two main purposes. The first step is to give your car a glossy, lustrous finish to complete the base coat. The other, on the other hand, serves as a shield to shield the base coat beneath from being significantly damaged by stone chips, scratches, weathering, and other factors.
The answer is probably “Yes,” as we stated in our explainer up there. Although it won’t have a significant effect on how your car’s paint looks, the glossy finish can make it stand out more to the eye (without diminishing the value of its protective qualities). However, if you’re merely touching up a very little chipped spot, it’s not fully required.
It might not even affect the final appearance all that much or at all. A bottle of clear coat may not be included in all paint touch-up repair kits. With its glossy sheen, it can improve the appearance of your car, but can it also make the paint touch-up better match the color and subtle tones of the rest of your car? In other words, clear coatings won’t make the paint on your automobile miraculously match.
Once the sunlight reaches the precise angle to make the paint glow, perhaps the subtleties will be less apparent. Even if you choose the ideal color for your car’s make, model, even the specific model year and production batch to get the best color match possible, the clear coat won’t match the paint touch-up paint exactly correctly for you.
But what should you do if the freshly touched part doesn’t match the remainder of your car’s color scheme? We should be grateful for the practice of “blending” paint in that regard. In order to create the illusion that the new paint and the previously applied paint are one continuous piece, you must blend the two paints so that they appear to flow seamlessly from one to the other.
To patch the panels around it, such as the bonnet, fenders, and so on, imagine that you are repainting a bumper after a repair and blending the paint there. When it comes to matching the colors of your car, blending is the preferred method, and some touch-up kits do come with a little prescription of blending solution that should be used after the base coat has dried to complete the paint’s appearance.
In response to the perplexing query in the headline, clear coatings typically cannot make paint touch-ups on your car look like the rest of the paintwork. Particularly if the paint is matched extremely badly right away. To match the touch-up paint as nearly as possible to how it appears in your eyes, you can use the art of blending.
Before reapplying the base coat with a fresh batch of paints that are accurately matched, the process begins with some light sanding to remove a little amount of the old paint. After adding base coat layers one at a time, you may finish it off with a clear coat layer on top to complete the appearance. When that is finished, the difference between how it would have seemed previously and how it now appears when it matches tones for tones is vast.
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 a useful walkthrough on how to paint your car in touch-ups.
How long should touch-up paint be allowed to dry?
Both aerosol and jars of touch-up paint are offered for sale. You can learn something about the product’s formulation from the package. Touch-up paints vary in qualities depending on whether they are solventborne, waterborne, or both. Most modern factory finishes are now waterborne, which is better for the environment, has lower volatile organic compounds (VOCs), is odorless, and is safer to handle.
In comparison to touch-up paint from a jar, aerosol touch-up paint is thinner and more watery. The amount of time it takes for paint to dry is influenced by its thickness and viscosity.
You should generally anticipate that any touch-up paint needs about a day to properly cure. However, the majority of paints dry in a few hours, and some even in as little as 30. You should read the directions for the touch-up paint you intend to use.
Knowing how long it takes for paint to cure is only one of many things to take into account when choosing the optimal time of day to fix your car’s finish. Here are a few other things you should be aware of.
How long do paint touch-up pens last?
Although it’s rare, touch-up paint may last for ten years. Four to five years is a more reasonable life expectancy.
The likelihood that the touch-up paint will last until you’re ready to switch to another car increases with smaller the damage and better application.
The car still needs to be washed and waxed. Additionally, any additional dings or damage should be repaired.
Touch-up work could be more vulnerable to damage from overly attentiveness. You don’t want to give the assignment more effort. You desire greater finesse.
Do paint pens work to repair car dents?
Even while the majority of automakers sell automobile paint pens for their models, they aren’t necessarily the finest ones for the job. On a white 2018 Ford Fusion Hybrid, we put many automobile scratch fillers to the test, including the manufacturer’s brand.
A automobile paint pen can help you get rid of small dings, nicks, scratches, and chips. A system including paint pens, a polishing rag, and a degreasing solution is available for purchase. A single applicator with the desired paint color is included with other car paint pens.
We think that Dupli-Color, Dr. ColorChip, Ford manufacturer’s pen, PaintScratch, and TouchUpDirect offer some of the best automobile paint pens, based on consumer feedback and our testing procedure.
A 2018 Ford Fusion with a white pearl tri-coat paint job served as the test vehicle for these pens. These paint pens did a decent job of matching the exterior of our car, although different brands might work better with certain colors and car brands. Before using any paint pen, test it out and compare it to the paint on your own car.
How can I get paint pen off of my car?
- Cotton BallTo ensure that the acetone won’t harm the upholstery, you must conduct a spot test on the interior of your automobile first. Therefore, a cotton ball will be required for spot testing the acetone on a covert region of the upholstery.
- swatches of spotless cloth
Step 1: First Do a Spot Test on an Inconspicuous Area of the Car Interior
The best way to remove paint marker from a car’s interior is with acetone. However, you must first test the acetone on a hidden place to ensure that it won’t harm the interior of your automobile before cleaning the troubled regions. You may continue if it doesn’t harm your car’s inside.
Step 2: Rub the Permanent Marker Stains off With a Cloth With Some Acetone
Acetone should be applied to the cloth. Next, use the cloth to delicately massage the permanent marker spots away. With a cloth that has been dampened in cool water, rinse the area.