Your car’s paint job is one of the first things that people notice when you drive down the street. Is it shiny? Is it lustrous? A paint job rife with scratches and swirl marks doesn’t shine like it’s supposed to. What are all of these little scratches and circular marks? Where did they come from? First, let’s understand the anatomy of your paint job.

Your car’s paint is put on in 3 parts: first is the primer, which is put on to help paint stick to body pieces and cover up any imperfections in body pieces (if you’ve had any bodywork done from accidents or otherwise). The next step is the paint itself. Depending on where you bought your car or where you got your work done, this will be at least 2 coats. All of this will be sealed with the clear coat– a polymer with similar properties as your paint, but only lacking pigment.

So what about those scratches? There are varying levels of scratches. We’re going to cover three today. The first level only goes as deep as the clear coat; these are fine scratches, usually seen as imperfections in the paint. These are caused by overuse of automatic car washes, using a dirty towel or mitt to wash your car, and neglect of your car’s exterior.

We’re also going to touch on special level 1 scratches called swirl marks. These imperfections in your paint are caused by a buff job done by a dirty or inappropriate buff pad. A buffer works with a polish to remove a tiny bit of clear coat to remove the scratch(es). A good polish job will leave your paint shiny as a mirror. (We’ll be covering swirl marks more in depth in a later blog post, so stay tuned!)

A Level 2 scratch goes down into your paint. It is a noticeable scratch but doesn’t appear to be a different color than the paint of your car. While some of the scratch can be taken out with buffing and polishing, the scratch will still be there.

A Level 3 scratch goes all the way down to the primer. This scratch is very noticeable and is not fixable without filler. Be careful to get this scratch taken care of as soon as possible, as uncoated paint can break down and your body will be exposed to the elements. This can lead to rust and weather exposure.

Remember – buffing is NOT a DIY job! It is something best handled by a professional. Swirl marks are never attractive for your paint. Contact our detailers at ProWash for an external detail.