Clear Coat Scratches removed by hand?
 

Hi,

Over the months I've owned my car, I've noticed it scratches fairly easily. There was a long thin scratch that went the length of my entire car door that bugged me until today where I decided to pick at it with my fingernail- and to my surprise the 'scratch' was coming off.

Now it looked like a scratch, had been on my car for weeks in several weather conditions. Had been through multiple washes and passes of microfibre towels/ pressure washers, yet scratching at it with my fingernail removed it completely.

So what is this? was the residue I was scratching off a very, very minor part of the clearcoat? After this revelation I went to other 'scratches' I had on my car and same thing, I scratched them off with my nail.

https://i.imgur.com/9fXOfYs.jpg

That mark (more noticeable looking at it in person as opposed to an image) has been on the car for MONTHS. It has never faded and i've probably washed it 20+ times. I could feel it when I did the ‘fingernail test’ I distinctly remember noticing it one day and spraying it with detail spray to try buff it off. It didn't seem to fade or look like it could come off so I thought it was a scratch I was going to have to live with. 10 minutes ago, same as the door I just scratched it with my nail and now it's almost completely gone

What is this? Why is my fingernail better at removing defects than forceful microfibre buffing?

If you could remove the mark with your nail then it it more of a scuff mark. Whatever rubbed against your paint transfered material onto the surface. Like a crayon over paper.

A scratch is when something abrasive physically damages the clear coat.

Yea... just there were multiple in different places and sides of my car. All with the same look. I feel like the scuff marks would all be slightly different assuming their sources were different materials that had transferred on wouldn't they?

All of them had the appearance of a thin, matte scratch that to me looked like clearcoat scratches that hadn't gone deep enough

Do you drive by/near bushes?

Perhaps it's a residue from car wash bay. Do you use coin-operated car wash bays?

If you have time, it seems like your finish is due for paint correction to remove the swirl marks & to protect it from scratches too. After compounding & polishing, try sealing your paint using the new Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Graphene Flex Wax. It's super slick & should reduce the occurrence of light scratches.

I would try less aggressive first like the Megs ScratchX.

Here's a polish aggressiveness chart. https://i.imgur.com/qH73319.jpg

i knew someone who had similar - they said they found something online, i dont know what. but whatever it was it was a wax and sealant stripper wash. for him it helped. but yours doesnt seem that drastic op so i would opt for cleaning it with easier chemicals.