The good news when it comes to having your car’s paint job scratched is that it’s an easier fix than damage to the frame itself. That being said, there may not be anything more annoying than having to drive around with an ugly scratch on your car. Normally, this requires a bit of work to resolve. Sometimes the scratch requires an entirely new paint job, which can cause huge problems if the car’s original paint is no longer available for some reason.
DC Auto Bra is here to offer an alternative paint job that might end up saving you from going through the hassle of touching up paint and buffering things out after minor collisions.
What Does It Mean For Paint To Be Self-Healing?
Normally, the paint on your car includes a hard topcoat of protective sealant which dries and hardens. This means that whatever it is that has scratched your vehicle has scratched through several layers of hardened paint. This would ordinarily leave behind a rigid scrape that can be difficult to cover with a smooth coat of paint.
On the other hand, self-healing paint has a more flexible topcoat that doesn’t fully set. This means that the topcoat can be essentially melted (just a little!) and smoothed over the scratch, pulling the original paint with it. The resulting effect is a smooth surface with a consistent coloring compatible with the rest of your vehicle.
What Is Self-Healing Paint Made Of?
The first layer applied to the vehicle is an acrylic adhesive that anchors the rest of the paint. The benefit of this is that removing the paint from the body of the car is a simple process: this layer is bonded to the other layers of paint more firmly than it is bonded to the car.
The second layer, a 6mm polyurethane, efficiently prevents paint chipping by dispersing energy over a larger surface area. Therefore, if a small flying object were to hit your car, the coating would radiate energy outward and maintain the brilliance of the paint. However, urethane requires a final layer since it is permeable.
The remaining top layer shields against pollutants like dust, pollen, diesel exhaust particulates, and road filth that could get into the tiny spaces in the paint and cause the film to turn discolored. The top coat becomes more environmentally stable because of its tough, smooth top layer, which also offers self-healing capabilities, chemical resistance, and oxidation resistance, preventing impurities from penetrating the film and causing discoloration. Although the topcoat is stiff, it may still be stretched, which is what allows it to keep the car’s paint looking smooth.
When Can Self-Healing Paint Be Used?
Almost any scratch can be healed with self-healing paint. Even if the scratch isn’t noticed immediately, there’s still hope! If your car uses self-healing paint and you’ve just noticed a scrape, don’t stress. DC Auto Bra can fix you up, good as new.
Unfortunately, there are some instances where this trick can’t be applied. Scratches that are significantly deep and wide can sometimes create too much damage for the paint to redistribute itself properly. In this case, you’re a bit out of luck, and might have to try to solve the problem as if it were normal paint.
Contact DC Auto Bra For More Information
If your car has experienced a scratch or if you’re looking for a new paint job in the Fort Washington area, look no further than DC Auto Bra. We’ve got the experts on hand to provide the upgrades your car needs, and you can trust that your car will be in good hands! Call DC Auto Bra today!
