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Well, it happened. Despite my efforts of parking far away and going to the grocery store late at night my car was still dinged by a shopping cart. At least that is my best guess as to what happened.
Any recommandations how ro get this paint scuff off? I don’t believe the car is scratched, the paint transfer is in there really good though. Tried wiping some of it off using Adams Waterless Wash but it didn’t do any good.
Chemical Guys make a compound which you can rub on by hand but I’m not familiar with their products.
I was an auto painter for 12 years a long time ago and taught at the local trade school; my experience is the source of my advice. Your scuffs look to be surface blemishes; they don't even look like they broke the clear coat. Start with the least-abrasive hand polishes and progress to stronger abrasives (classified as "rubbing compound[s]) if absolutely necessary. No offense, but it sounds like "you don't know what you're doing" in tackling this task by the mere fact that you've posed the question--so I'm gonna assume that my advice is for an uninitiated novice--again, no offense meant.
I'd start with an extremely mild polish like FLITZ METAL POLISH or a MOTHER'S CHROME POLISH--we know that these polishes are meant to 'shine' coated metal surfaces and that the abrasives in these pastes are so mild that polishing with them won't leave scratches on chrome nor harm the surface. Flitz might be the cheapest choice solely because it's available in very small squeeze tubes (less than 3oz). I know that a can of Mother's only runs ~$6.
I mention this because I dunno if you wanna buy a range of abrasives that you'll end up shelving for other incidents or if you wanna keep costs to a bare minimum. Typically, 16oz bottles of these types of products will cost between $9-17, and having 3-6 different products gathering dust as potential future remedies doesn't appeal to a lot of guys.
If 15-20 minutes of elbow grease and a barely damp terry cloth towel won't do the job, then escalate to a "scratch removing" polish. I am SURE from your photo that you don't need a compound of any kind (not a 'cleaning' compound, nor a 'light-duty' and absolutely not a 'heavy' compound). The Meguiar's that user "sTz" recommends will do as well as any other. I used Turtle Wax Scratch and Swirl Remover (#12876) to successfully polish out a scuff like yours just recently. It cost $3.97 and tax at WalMart two weeks ago. The Turtle Wax brand is an "old school" brand--there's no "glamour" in the product name like there is with Meguiar's/Zaino/CarGuys/Adam's, et. al. (read that as, damn little advertising in the automotive rags and TV programs) For this job, Turtle Wax will do as well as these other more expensive "high-line" products. The "bigger" the name, the higher the price, but they're all the same within each product classification--Meguiar's, Mother's, Zaino; they can be markedly more expensive than the 'old days' Turtle Wax-type brands.
Ten minutes of rubbing and I was done. Be prepared to "elbow grease" a looong time--yours doesn't look like it'll take much at all, but one would prefer to use elbow grease than escalate to more abrasive products--when you use a true abrasive (compound) it leaves fine scratches that have to be polished out with finer abrasives and then finer polishes, so just taking your time and "greasing" the terry cloth towel will be as productive and won't require you to buy 3 and 4 different products.
There's one benefit to my suggested method--you don't need to know what you're doing (again, no offense intended)--stronger abrasives require more technique and attention; they'll require understanding what polishing does. This method doesn't require anything except a clean cloth, the polish, and as much friction as you want to apply. You can't hurt anything with the product that sTz and I recommended, and you don't need to polish in specific directions, etc.
I've had success with Meguiar's "Swirl Remover" on my wife's Honda. If that doesn't work I use something just a little more aggressive like "Turtle Wax". If all else fails you may want go even more aggressive to a rubbing compound. If you're not comfortable doing that, I'd talk to one of the local detail guys.
I was an auto painter for 12 years a long time ago and taught at the local trade school; my experience is the source of my advice. Your scuffs look to be surface blemishes; they don't even look like they broke the clear coat. Start with the least-abrasive hand polishes and progress to stronger abrasives (classified as "rubbing compound[s]) if absolutely necessary. No offense, but it sounds like "you don't know what you're doing" in tackling this task by the mere fact that you've posed the question--so I'm gonna assume that my advice is for an uninitiated novice--again, no offense meant.
I'd start with an extremely mild polish like FLITZ METAL POLISH or a MOTHER'S CHROME POLISH--we know that these polishes are meant to 'shine' coated metal surfaces and that the abrasives in these pastes are so mild that polishing with them won't leave scratches on chrome nor harm the surface. Flitz might be the cheapest choice solely because it's available in very small squeeze tubes (less than 3oz). I know that a can of Mother's only runs ~$6.
I mention this because I dunno if you wanna buy a range of abrasives that you'll end up shelving for other incidents or if you wanna keep costs to a bare minimum. Typically, 16oz bottles of these types of products will cost between $9-17, and having 3-6 different products gathering dust as potential future remedies doesn't appeal to a lot of guys.
If 15-20 minutes of elbow grease and a barely damp terry cloth towel won't do the job, then escalate to a "scratch removing" polish. I am SURE from your photo that you don't need a compound of any kind (not a 'cleaning' compound, nor a 'light-duty' and absolutely not a 'heavy' compound). The Meguiar's that user "sTz" recommends will do as well as any other. I used Turtle Wax Scratch and Swirl Remover (#12876) to successfully polish out a scuff like yours just recently. It cost $3.97 and tax at WalMart two weeks ago. The Turtle Wax brand is an "old school" brand--there's no "glamour" in the product name like there is with Meguiar's/Zaino/CarGuys/Adam's, et. al. (read that as, damn little advertising in the automotive rags and TV programs) For this job, Turtle Wax will do as well as these other more expensive "high-line" products. The "bigger" the name, the higher the price, but they're all the same within each product classification--Meguiar's, Mother's, Zaino; they can be markedly more expensive than the 'old days' Turtle Wax-type brands.
Ten minutes of rubbing and I was done. Be prepared to "elbow grease" a looong time--yours doesn't look like it'll take much at all, but one would prefer to use elbow grease than escalate to more abrasive products--when you use a true abrasive (compound) it leaves fine scratches that have to be polished out with finer abrasives and then finer polishes, so just taking your time and "greasing" the terry cloth towel will be as productive and won't require you to buy 3 and 4 different products.
There's one benefit to my suggested method--you don't need to know what you're doing (again, no offense intended)--stronger abrasives require more technique and attention; they'll require understanding what polishing does. This method doesn't require anything except a clean cloth, the polish, and as much friction as you want to apply. You can't hurt anything with the product that sTz and I recommended, and you don't need to polish in specific directions, etc.
I used the Meguiar’s Scratch product which was recommended and it came right out.
Thanks Dork, Red C6 of Jax, and StX for your advice!!!!
ARGH!! we forgot!!-- dunno what protectant you have had applied to the car to protect the paint job--but if you waxed it, or whatever--but you need to reapply the protectant over the the repaired site again. CQuartz should have held up to the polish, but you might investigate their recommendations/advice for a spot repair. I'm not up on CQuartz methodology.
If you normally wax the car, then you'll need to apply a sealant over the polished area, let it set for 24 hours, and then apply the wax of your choice. You can repeat both of these steps to "double" your protection--sealant, wait 24 hr, then sealant again, wait 24 hr, then wax, wait 24 hr and then a second coat of wax.
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Paint Scuff
