How to buff a car to remove scratches

Pets are not good for cars. Dogs, much as we love them, are the worst.

When a cat climbs on the roof of the car, it will likely leave light footprints on the bonnet, the boot and the roof.

But when a dog notices the cat on the roof of your car, cue the fruitless cartoon-like attempt to usurp the cat on the hot tin roof. While the moggy disdainfully watches from above, there's Muttley with his paws trying to gain purchase (traction) on the slippery, pristine duco of your car doors, boot and/or quarter panels, all the while gouging deep scratches in the clear coat.

There's at least a 50 per cent probability that the dog's scratching will gouge right through the clear coat – the protective transparent layer of your car's painted exterior panels. Once the clear coat (also known as the top coat) is damaged, it's likely that the underlying paint will be damaged too, which means – for most car owners – a visit to a professional to have the damage repaired.

If, however, you don't have dogs – but the cat does like surveying its kingdom from the roof of your car – you may be faced with light paw marks in the top coat on the 'stepping-stone' panels. Especially if Tom has tried to ascend to his throne on a cold morning, when the car is covered in dew and traction is at a premium.

You don't need the services of a detailer to bring your car's paint back to original condition. Removing the signs of damage can be undertaken reasonably easily and affordably at home, but a quick wash, polish and wax won't be enough.

The trick is to find a 'light' cutting compound in your local aftermarket retail store. A cutting compound (usually stocked in the car polish section of the store) is a pasty substance containing gritty particles for an abrasive quality when applied and rubbed on a solid surface.

Although it's stocked in the same car care section of the store, it's more abrasive than normal polish as such, and isn't designed to protect paint the way wax does. If you're familiar with a household cleaner like Jif, for cleaning stainless steel and porcelain surfaces at home, cutting compound and polish are quite similar, in different degrees.

There are three grades of cutting polish commonly available in aftermarket stores: light, medium and heavy. The medium and heavy grades will be too coarse (abrasive) for a light scratch in the paintwork.

Repeated use of any cutting compound could wear through to the base coat and leave you with an expensive repair bill, so it's best to use the light compound once, and make sure that whatever cause led to the scratch in the first place never reoccurs.

You need to be extremely careful working with the thin paint used by car manufacturers these days. The paint is not necessarily that robust and may not stand up to repeated 'cutting'.

Before using the compound, first make sure to wash the area free of dirt, bugs and tar – or any other unsightly, splattered deposit. You know how to do this: wash the vehicle first.

After washing, use an aftermarket cleanser designed for the job or a household hydrocarbon in a bottle (turpentine?) to dissolve the contaminant. Then wipe away the oily smear with some detergent and water, using a sponge foam pad, before the final rinse. Dry the surface with a soft towel.

To apply the cutting polish, pour it on a clean cloth (or dip the cloth in the tin if the compound is too thick to pour) and gently rub in a circular motion across the damaged area, just as you would polishing the vehicle. Experts advise using a synthetic (microfibre) cloth for the application. Remove the residue with some sort of soft material.

It may take two or three passes to remove the scratch entirely. Until you're sure that the paint will withstand the abrasion, buff lightly each time. Stop at the first sign you're rubbing your way through to the base coat. If the scratch is still present, you'll need to have it removed by a professional.

Once the visible damage is eradicated, remove all vestiges of the cutting polish and use a 'car wax' to seal the paint against the elements.

Waxing is very important, it's like a short-term layer of additional protection that costs very little to apply and only needs application every few months. If in doubt, concerning any aspect of this procedure, read the instructions on the tin or bottle. By this stage, your vehicle should resemble a new car.

Naturally this process can also be used for the removal of swirl marks left by a mechanical (rotary) buffer and any other light damage to the upper layer of the car's paint.

A couple of sites on the web suggest using whitening toothpaste – another abrasive paste that leaves a sparkling shine – for the same purpose. But for the sake of spending a small sum of money for a tin or bottle of the automotive product, go with the stuff that definitely works – not a web blogger's hack.