Removing light scratches that quickly pullulate on a car no matter how much you are taking care of it is a fairly simple and inexpensive process. The only things that you will need are some basic understanding of what scratches exactly are, the right tools for the job, and half an hour of your time.

To give you a quick background, light scratches are basically tiny dents on the clear coat layer of your car’s paint which is the transparent protective layer. The reason you are able to see them although they are only limited to the thickness of the transparent layer is because the sunlight is reflected differently along the length of the scratch. This doesn’t mean that the dent reached the depth of the actual base coat paint layer, and that is the main reason why light scratches are quite easy to remove.

1. Determine The Type Of Scratch

If the car is relatively new and the scratches are only to be found here and there, then you can simply buy a clear coat marker that is as cheap as a dollar and can go for a long time of light scratch removing work. No matter what the color of your car is, all clear coat markers are suitable for this job. Just make sure to clean the area of the scratch thoroughly in order to get the best results from the marker.

2. Reduce Thickness Of Clear Coat Layer

If you have an older car that is plagued by light scratches, swirls and dents, then you should go for a different approach. Give your car a good wash to remove all dirt and debris and then wipe the water with a leather cloth. The next step is to reduce the thickness of your paint’s clear coat layer with the purpose to make it even so that all scratches are removed. There are various different techniques that people use to achieve this and some include rubbing acetone, or using fine sandpaper. My advice is to use a relatively cheap $30 electric polisher and do the whole car body in under 20 minutes and with little effort.

You may add some rubbing compound on the polisher’s pad to help with the removal of the clear coat. Do not use a high-speed setting on the polisher and do not apply too much pressure on it as you don’t want to reduce the protective clear coating more than it’s required for the scratches to disappear. If after all this work you’re still able to see scratches, then they aren’t light and a different process must be followed. That said, do not insist on rubbing the area further.

3. Prevention Of Scratches

After this is done, you can take action towards the prevention of the creation of more scratches by changing the pad of the polisher with a new one and applying wax on your car. The wax will stay there for a while, protecting the paint from the Sun’s UV rays, the rain, and minor dents and chips.