Using WD40 To Remove Scratches on Cars

If you want to hide some scratches on your car, I’m sure you’ve heard about using WD40 to remove them from the car. While WD40 is a great product, and I use it a lot, when it comes to fixing car scratches, the situation is slightly different, and I’ll explain everything below.

Key Takeaways:

WD40 is not a car scratch remover. It’s used to lubricate metal parts and prevent rust.
WD40 can temporarily hide light paint scratches, but as soon as you wash your car, they’ll become visible again.
You can use WD40 if you need to remove scuff marks from your car. It’ll help with lifting that layer of foreign paint.

What Is WD40 Used For?

WD40 protects metal from corrosion, penetrates stuck parts, displaces moisture, and lubricants a lot of different things.

It’s widely used in many homes, as well as in professional companies and firms. I would say that it’s number 1 when it comes to removing rust from tools, screws, and also lubrication of chains, door hinges, etc.

However, there are a lot of myths that WD40 can do really anything. One of those myths is that WD40 will remove scratches from cars.

In this article, you will see that it’s not the truth, and I will also share with you a great video where you can see WD40 in action and the final results.

How To Hide Car Paint Scratches With WD40

As I already said, there is a myth that WD40 will remove minor car scratches. Also, I already told you that it’s not the truth, but let’s see the procedure when trying to remove scratches with this usually awesome tool.

How to “remove” scratches with WD40:

Step 1: Clean the car part that is scratched. Do it with clean water and wipe it off with some cloth.
Step 2: Spray WD40 directly on the scratch. Feel free to use a bit more of it.
Step 3: Wait a minute, and then wipe off with a dry cloth. And it’s done!

After that, light scratches won’t be visible. But wait, keep reading…

Scratches Appear Again After Washing The Car

After washing the car, WD40 will also be removed from the car’s paint, and all the scratches that you thought were fixed will become visible again.

As a final result, you probably won’t see the scratches because the paint will look so shiny, just like a new one. That’s because WD40 has oil in it, and it brings the shine back.

At first, it looks like a repaired scratch, but wait! Try to wash it with water or some cleanser. Wash it, then dry it off – and here it is, all the scratches are back!

If you have ever seen a video on YouTube that says that WD40 removes the scratches, I’m 100% sure that they didn’t wash it after applying WD40.

Is WD40 Worth For Scratch Removal?

I’m going to be clear here: WD40 is a great product, and I use it a lot. However, It’s not good for removing car paint scratches – and it will never be.

You shouldn’t waste your time and money trying to remove car scratches with WD40. There are tons of different solutions, even the ones that are pretty cheap and don’t require a repair in the car paint service.

Check out the video below and see the results of WD40 on three types of car scratches! This guy really showed all the most important things.

WD40 Works In These 2 Situations

Here are two situations in which WD40 might be a great choice:

Purposely hiding scratches and swirl marks before selling your car.
Removing scuff marks.

If you use it to hide scratches before a potential buyer comes to see the car, it’s not moral at all, but at least you’ll sell the car more easily, and it will seem much shinier than it actually is. However, expect a buyer to call you back after they wash the car.

The other situation is if some car scratches you, but their paint is on your car (scuff marks). So, in reality, your car isn’t scratched, but it has some foreign paint on top of a clear coat. WD40 can help break down that paint, and it will successfully remove scuff marks.

However, the WD40 method for removing scuff marks doesn’t always work, and that’s why I suggest checking my thorough guide on removing scuff marks from cars.

Final Words

There are thousands of products that may help you repair some minor car paint scratches – but the WD40 is not one of them.

Check out this great product TriNova Scratch Swirl Remover. I’ve had some great experiences with it when I needed something to quickly fix a few minor car paint scratches.

For all the major scratches, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to visit the car paint service. I have written a thorough article on the main types of car scratches and ways to fix them, so make sure to check it out, too.

A lot of people wonder if waxes and sealants remove car scratches, so make sure to check the following article as well:

Do Waxes Remove Car Scratches