How to make touch-up paint match your original car colour

The UK has thousands of historic, classic and much-loved older cars that are still driven on a regular basis - from car meets to the daily school run and commute.

Whatever you drive, you can source the correct exact colour match car touch up paint to handle any minor scratches, scuffs and stone chips.

Original car colour fades over time

But the fact is that, while the colours we mix are exactly the same as the original colour of your car, your vehicle will have weathered over time: sun, rain and salt will have contributed to the paint changing slightly.

Often, the difference is really subtle but sometimes, in the case of much older cars and also depending on the nature and position of the bodywork damage, the difference is noticeable.

Here’s what you can do to blend in your touch-up paint so the scratch removal is practically invisible.

What products will help to blend in paint repairs?

• Polish or wax is great for shining up your car - it can bring out the colour and help to repel bird lime, dirt and mud that can eat away at the layers of paint. But wax isn’t good enough to blend in a scratch repair.
• T-Cut Original Restorer is a lightly abrasive formula that can remove a fine layer of paint to reveal the original paint colour. It’s a mass market, consumer product that’s proved immensely popular, and the forerunner of the Scratch & Scuff Remover.
• Our PaintNuts Professional Scratch & Scuff Remover is the next generation of the T-Cut kind of product, except - as its name suggests - it’s a professional grade polishing compound.

TOP TIP

The needlepoint applicator of a car touch-up pen will help you stay within the bounds of the scratch - if new paint covers existing paintwork it will look darker because layers build the colour.

How to make touch-up paint repairs almost invisible

First, follow our step-by-step advice on using our touch-up paint, from prepping your area to letting the paint cure.

You might also find our expert touch-up paint tips help you achieve the best possible results - not bodyshop perfect, but really good.

Next, use the Professional Scratch & Scuff Remover to blend in the scratch repair.

PaintNuts Professional Scratch & Scuff Remover

• Specially developed for permanently removing light scratches, scuffs and sanding marks
• Safe to use on all paintwork including metallics and pearlecents
• Use as a final finish to blend in the repaired paintwork and diminsh any defects
• Easy to use and the results will be visable within 60 seconds.

Directions for use

1. Ensure the surface is clean of dirt particles.
2. Apply a small amount to an applicator pad.
3. Use even pressure in a straight back and forth motion - left to right, then up and down.
4. Buff the area with a Micro Fibre Polishing Cloth to remove the compound residue.

If you’re blending new paint in for a colour match, only apply to the local area. Use light strokes, lifting or easing pressure towards the outer edges. This might be described as ‘feathering’ or ‘flicking’ - the purpose is to graduate, fade out or blend in the compound to the finish on the rest of the car.

All polishing compounds remove a fine layer of old paint from the surface of your car. This is fine - but don’t overdo it by rubbing too hard or applying too much.