Doh! (Rubbed too hard with ScratchX)

[beantmt]

Okay, so I'm a bonehead. I got a really light (but pretty broad, 1/8" maybe) scratch on some black matte finish paint on the front and rear doors between the door windows. I took out a soft 100% cotton cloth and applied some ScratchX. When I finished, I thought "oh, that was probably too hard." Sure enough, when i wiped everything off, I left a shiny (relative to the rest of the matte finish) area where I had rubbed in the ScratchX. The scratch was about 3-4". The shiny area is noticeable in the sunlight, and it's really annoying me. I'm wondering what the best way to handle the situation might be. Buff or apply StracthX to the entire matte area, which is jsut on the doors between the two windows? Just try to ignore it maybe?

Anyway, thanks for any suggestions.

[beantmt]

Re: Doh! (Rubbed too hard with ScratchX)

here is the area i'm talking about:

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Doh! (Rubbed too hard with ScratchX)

Well Brian, there's some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you didn't rub too hard, the bad news is that if you rough any abrasive at all (soft or hard) on matte finish it will add shine to it.

In other words, there really is no way to return it to a matte finish aside from painting it with a matte paint, or possibly finding something to very lightly scour the surface to give the appearance of a matte finish. Either way, it will be quite tricky to match the remaining factory matte surface.

You may want to consider just polishing all of the matte areas (carefully) to give them a uniform look.

[Tuck91]

Re: Doh! (Rubbed too hard with ScratchX)

Maybe keep them dressed with ASD or M40 for a uniform look?

[the_invisible]

Re: Doh! (Rubbed too hard with ScratchX)



The area you circled is actually a shrink wrap plastic, like a tape of some sort. I do not think many automakers offer a part number for this type of wrap for doors.

Anyway, the tape wrap around the door trim on many cars are shiny to begin with, and many people use a polishing pad and Ultimate Compound to restore gloss to it.

Why not use more ScratchX on the entire trim to make it look more consistent? I've seen people deliberately polish that area with an abrasive to make it completely shiny, as to add some bling bling to the vehicle.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Doh! (Rubbed too hard with ScratchX)

I would give them the same uniform look. Use the scratch-x on all of the window trim. I am afraid that if you try to dull it down with some abrasive, you will not achieve a uniform look any way. Just give them a shine and go on.

[beantmt]

Re: Doh! (Rubbed too hard with ScratchX)

Thanks for the info everyone. I think I will wait a couple of weeks and see if the shiny part fades and looks better. If not, I will probably just polish the whole area. Thanks again!