Paper towel car scratches Raven FRS
 

As the title reads, I scratched my raven by using a paper towel to remove bird shit. Of course, like the short sighted idiot that I am, I failed to think about any consequences of using a paper towel.


Well, what do you know? I really messed my paint up :thumbdown: There is a circle on the roof of the car, above the driver side door, with about 40 little scratches. The total size of the swirl is about 4 inches in diameter.


I'm trying to figure out the best way to fix it before I make it worse and feel like more of an ass. I tried taking a bunch of pictures but the car is so damn shiny that all I can see are clouds reflecting off the paint.


Any advice is greatly appreciated. I have that "can't believe I am this stupid" sick to my stomach feeling. I baby this car for 4 months, giving anyone that parked near her an evil glance...and I end up being the one to abuse her haha. Such is life...

I put micro scratches on my paint by using too much pressure on a microfiber cloth. Don't feel too bad. TBH, scratches will always happened and it's easier to let go and enjoy how it drives, lol.

If you want to repair it, you need to buff it out with polish or compound depending on the depth of the scratch. I have Meguire's Power D/A for that kind of stuff. It works well but it's very slow even w/ the red pad + ultimate compound.

I chatted with a body shop guy before and he said we can use tooth paste as a polishing compound for small area. Feel free to try:party0030:

Try some Zaino Z-pc.

http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...duct_Code=Z-PC

might work ok for chrome, but NO on paint........hope this was a joke.

Cheers,
GREG

meguiars 105. I did the same thing. Paper towel on bird shit. Buffed right out.

I did that once when I was in high school and didn't know crap about detailing. Now that I am old and detail my cars myself, the best advice I can give is to NEVER wipe your car with any towel or paper towel unless you get the surface wet with detail spray or water first.

You can buy a random orbital polisher from Harbor Freight for $50 (pad is another $5) and machine buff it out yourself. Or find a reputable car wash and pay them $20 extra to machine polish the scratched area. There are tons of youtube videos that will show you how to properly use a machine polisher. Good luck!

I've had good results using Meguiar's SwirlX (found at autozone) in correcting minor paint defects like light swirls etc.

Next time just use some detailer with a micro fiber towel for spot cleaning bird doo and such between washes :)

thanks for the responses, guys. good community we have here..


anyway, it's raining pretty hard today. I'm going to tackle this as soon as the weather clears up. In the mean time, I can look into the products/methods you guys suggested :thumbsup:

When I first read the title, I thought you car got scratched by a Paper Towel Car. Maybe something like the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile, but for paper towels. Happy to learn that isn't the case.

OP, keep in mind that 105 is pretty damn aggressive. 205 might take it out just as well, and you always want to use the least amount of abrasiveness to do the job.

Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish are fairly similar to the 105/205 combo and are easier to find OTC. They're not body-shop approved, but since you're not doing any repair work on the car other than paint correction you should be alright. I didn't think they'd work that great either since they're readily available, and a lot of detailers swear that you can't get any good compounds or polishes on a store shelf, but I've done several cars with them with excellent results.

If you don't have a da for correction you might try some Meguiar's Scratch X lightly with a micro fiber towel on the spot.

Birds like to eat sand or small rocks that scratch the shit out of the paint. I usually wet the spot, spray some Spray-Nine, wait a minute and hose it off, usually it's enough to remove it all.