How to Use Touch Up Paint on a Vehicle
Touch-up paint from your manufacturer is an easy way to fix those nicks and dings that plague your vehicle. The paint is designed to match your original paint color exactly so that you will not be able to find the spot later. By using the proper technique, you can maximize the effect of your touch-up paint and render it impossible to tell that the spot was touched up.
- Clean the portions of the vehicle you are planning to touch up. Use a soap and water mixture to remove any oil or grease from the paint. Make sure that the car is completely dry before you apply any paint.
- Read the paint's directions carefully to find out how long you need to wait between coats in order for the paint to dry. This is extremely important because applying a new coat of paint over wet paint may cause the paint to peel and it will not cure properly.
- Use the brush included in the paint's lid to apply a very light coat of touch-up paint to the area needing paint. Work in even, short strokes in the same direction.
- Allow the paint to dry for the specified amount of time.
- Apply a second light coat in the same manner as the first once the first coat has dried. Blend a small amount of touch-up paint onto the fully painted area around the spot you are touching up. This will help the newly-painted spot to blend in better with the existing paint job.
- Let the second coat dry just as you did the first coat.
- Apply a third very light coat and blend the paint outward a little bit further than you did with the second coat.
- Allow the paint to dry overnight.
- Apply a clear coat over the area to seal the paint and allow it to dry overnight as well.