The front and rear bumpers of the car are the most vulnerable parts of the body. It is on them that most often various scratches, dents and chips appear. Many motorists immediately turn to a car service to remove a flaw that has arisen, but this is not worth doing. In the workshop, they will take a lot of money from you for a simple repair, in addition, you will have to agree on services, hand over the car to the mechanics and get it - all this takes a lot of time. After reading this article, you will learn how to remove a scratch on the bumper with your own hands, saving time and money.
Types of defects and methods for their elimination
Like any other repair, removal of scratches should begin with an assessment of damage. We recommend that you wash the car first so that the scratch is clean and can be seen better on the body.
Conventionally, all damage to the body, depending on their nature and depth, is divided into the following groups:
- minor scratches that are practically not felt, but are clearly visible on the surface of the bumper;
- deep scratches that are striking in the eyes, and also cling to the nail;
- large cracks, as well as chipped paintwork;
- dents and bumper tears.
We will analyze each type separately.
Small scratches and scuffs are easily removed by polishing the bumper, in addition, you do not have to remove it from the body. Such scratches are hardly noticeable on dark bodies, but on light dirt that has fallen into the crack of the varnish will stand out noticeably.
The next ones are deep scratches on the bumper. As a rule, they arise from a light mechanical impact and are removed by local tinting. It is not difficult to paint a scratch, however, for this, most likely, you will have to remove the bumper.
Large cracks in the paint and chips appear most often due to the inexperience of the driver, who touches the fence during parking. Also, the cause of such defects is stones flying out from under the wheels of other cars. Removing the crack will be quite difficult, as you will have to completely repaint the part of the bumper, however you must deal with this, because below we will give detailed instructions on how to do this.
The last type of bumper defect is deep dents, tears and holes. With such destruction, you are unlikely to be able to cope on your own, in addition, it will sometimes be cheaper and faster to buy a new bumper.
Wax pencils
A wax pencil to remove scratches is an ideal solution, but only minor scratches can be wiped off with it. You can find in any car shop, in addition, they are sold at a very low price.
You will also need:
- White spirit for degreasing the surface (do not use acetone and solvents based on it).
- Wax polish.
- Soft rags.
It will be difficult to choose a high-quality pencil and polish, because in the market of cosmetics for the car there is a huge variety, and all from different companies. It makes no sense to choose according to any characteristics, since all the pencils are about the same, but their quality depends on the methods and materials used by the manufacturer.
In order not to be guessed, we recommend choosing one of these markers:
- Fix it Pro;
- ASTROhim Color WAX.
And among polishes we recommend giving preference to Turtle Wax COLOR MAGIC PLUS.
How to use a wax pencil
Having bought a pencil to remove scratches, you can immediately get to work, because for repair in this way you will not need special conditions, except for positive air temperature.
It is necessary to carry out the work in the following order:
- Wash the bumper thoroughly and dry it.
- Degrease the scratch and let it dry.
- Open the pencil and fill the scratch with wax. To do this, you do not need to press too hard, because even with a little pressure the wax will protrude beyond the edges. Excess surplus must be carefully removed with a dry cloth.
- Polish the scratch with polish following the instructions on its packaging.
Now you know how to remove a scratch on a bumper using a wax pencil, but do not rush to rejoice. The effect of such repairs is temporary, because the wax will melt and wash during the operation of the car. A thorough repair of even small scratches will require more serious methods, which we will discuss below.
Machine polished
A sander is an indispensable tool for repairing scratches on a bumper. One of the advantages of such repairs is a wide processing area. If several small scratches appeared on your bumper at once, then the grinder will allow you to remove them in one short treatment. This polishing method is also suitable for removing shallow scuffs.
It is necessary to polish the bumper indoors so that the dust does not fall on the treated area. It is also important that there is no direct sunlight, because the expansion of the workpiece during heating will adversely affect the result of the work done.
Polishing a bumper is a fairly one-time activity, so buying a sander does not make sense. We recommend renting it, or asking friends to save money. In addition to the machine itself, you will also need:
- circles for a grinder;
- sandpaper No. 2000;
- start and finish grinding paste;
- white spirit for degreasing;
- corrector with paint to match the color of the car;
- rags;
- glasses for eye protection.
How to polish a bumper with a grinder
Before you remove the scratch on the bumper, remove it, rinse thoroughly and dry. If the scratches appeared as a result of an accident, then paint from another car may remain next to them. It can be removed with gasoline or white spirit.
Further work is carried out as follows:
- Put the sandpaper on the bar.
- After wetting it, clean the area with scratches, but be careful not to touch the paint layer.
- Rinse the bumper again, dry and degrease.
- Apply coarse-polish to the damaged area and polish with the machine. We recommend setting the speed to about 2000 per minute so as not to overheat the surface, however you still have to control the temperature by hand. It should calmly withstand the temperature of the treated area.
- Rinse and dry the bumper. If scratches in the paint are visible on its surface, then coat them with a corrector to match the color of the car and let dry.
- Apply the final polish and sand it. We recommend polishing the entire bumper to make it appear homogeneous. You may also have to repeat the grinding procedure several times, but here you will have to evaluate the final result yourself.
Now you know all the ways to remove a scratch on a bumper without painting. Next, we move on to removing more serious damage that requires partial tinting or full repainting.
Removing small chips and deep scratches
To remove such scratches, you will have to make a lot of effort and time, however, an independent repair will save a lot of money.
To repair scratches on the bumper, you will need:
- fine sandpaper No. 1500;
- White Spirit;
- stationery knife;
- primer, paint and varnish;
- Toothpicks
- all for polishing, which we talked about above.
Before starting work, it is also necessary to wash the bumper from dirt and dry it. Work can be carried out on the street, but the last stage is polishing, it is better to do it indoors.
How to remove a scratch on the bumper:
- Remove all dirt from the depth of the chip with a clerical knife, and also break off pieces of paint that do not adhere well to the primer.
- Rinse the hole with white spirit and allow it to dry.
- Moisten sandpaper with a degreaser and treat the surface within a radius of 3-5 cm around the chip.
- Spray the primer into a container and pick it up with a toothpick. Next, fill the inside of the chip with a primer and allow to dry.
- Stain in the same way.
- Again, treat the surface with sandpaper with white spirit.
- Apply varnish with a toothpick so that in the end you get a small tubercle above the cleavage site, which must be removed with sandpaper after drying.
- Carry out the polishing in the manner described above.
Defect painting
Speaking about how to remove a scratch on the bumper with your own hands, it is also worth touching on the topic of removing deep grooves and cracks. Unfortunately, you can get rid of them only by painting, so before you start work, think: can you handle it.
By painting yourself, you spend a lot of time and effort, but save a decent amount of money. Have to spend money on materials:
- sandpaper No. 300 and No. 1500;
- putty for cars;
- primer and varnish;
- suitable paint for the spray gun, but you can buy it in a spray can;
- rubber spatula;
- scotch tape and polyethylene;
- White Spirit;
- rubber gloves and a respirator;
- all for polishing.
How to remove a scratch on a bumper by painting
It is necessary to carry out repair work indoors without dust, with good ventilation. To start, also wash the bumper and dry it. Next, proceed to the process:
1. Take a large emery paper and strip the defect to the base so that the difference in the crack is not felt by hand.
2. Take fine sandpaper and smooth out the crack again to make the surface smoother.
3. Degrease the surface and seal the area around it with masking tape.
4. Putty the place of the crack so that the dried putty protrudes.
5. Level the putty surface using coarse and fine sandpaper.
6. Degrease the surface and prime from the spray can in two layers.
7. Frozen the primer with fine sandpaper and degrease again.
8. Apply paint with a spray gun or spray it from a spray can in three layers. This must be done from a distance of 20 cm, moving horizontally from the right edge to the left or vice versa.
9. Apply 3 coats of varnish in the same way.
10. Polish the bumper as described above.
Conclusion
Now you know how to remove scratches on the bumper with your own hands. In order not to mislead you, it is worth saying that the final result will still be far from ideal, for example, a processed scratch may be released with a certain light incidence.
Also, do not forget that to repair deep cracks on the surface of the iron bumper, you will also need a liquid to remove corrosion. Having scratched the iron bumper, try to get rid of the defect immediately, because it will only increase due to corrosion.