Minor damage to the glossy shine on your car can compromise your paintwork. The good news is, it’s fixable without you having to take it to the bodyshop. 

Your first stop is to try and blend the lacquer damage in with PaintNuts Professional Scratch & Scuff Remover. 

But, if it’s still visible, you can fix it yourself at home with a lacquer touch up pen, bottle or aerosol.

What is car lacquer?

• Lacquer is the clear coat on top of your paintwork. It:
• Adds protection and a glossy shine.
• Is required for metallic and pearlescent paints.
• Gives the best paint touch up finish and colour match.
• Can be used on cellulose finishes.
• Has an acrylic base.
• Contains UV inhibitors / filters to extend the paint life.

We stock a 20ml pen, a 50ml pot and 500ml aerosol for lacquer that provides a clear high gloss protective coating for our colour matched paints, including metallics and pearlescents.

It has been developed to use in conjunction with PaintNuts colour matched paints for finishing off fine detailed work including scratches, scuffs and stone chips. It creates a durable finish with shine that will last.

Step-by-step: how to repair your car lacquer

You have three options on applying lacquer to your car. The type you use depends on your preference, your level of experience, and on the extent of the damage.

Pen

The 20ml clear lacquer precision pen has 2 different applicators included:

• An ultra fine needle like point for detailed work. This perfectly applies the lacquer within the painted scratch, scuff or stone chip without leaving excess on the bodywork.
• A high precision micro brush for accurate application up to 3mm widths.

Using your lacquer pen

1. Shake the pen thoroughly for at least 60 seconds to ensure the lacquer is mixed correctly.
2. Prepare your surface - it must be clean and dry and free of all wax, polish and dust.
3. Apply thin, light coats in smooth strokes. If you’re using the needlepoint pen, allow the nib to sit in the scratch or chip and squeeze gently ensuring you only apply the lacquer within the damaged area. 
4. Leave the lacquer to dry for 10-25 minutes before applying a second coat if required.
5. Leave the lacquer to cure 24 hours before applying a polishing compound like PaintNuts Professional Scratch & Scuff Remover to blend the work in.

Bottle

The 50ml clear lacquer touch up pot has a high quality brush for the perfect application of lacquer within the painted scratch, scuff or stone chip without leaving excess on the bodywork.

Using your lacquer bottle

1. Shake the bottle thoroughly for at least 60 seconds to ensure the lacquer is mixed correctly.
2. Prepare your surface - it must be clean and dry and free of all wax, polish and dust.
3. Using the brush apply thin, light coats in smooth strokes; allowing the brush to sit in the scratch or chip ensuring you only apply the lacquer witin the damaged area. 
4. Leave the lacquer to dry for 10-25 minutes before applying a second coat if required. 
5. Leave the lacquer to cure 24 hours before applying a polishing compound like PaintNuts Professional Scratch & Scuff Remover to blend the work in.

Aerosol

PaintNuts clear lacquer 500ml aerosols have a professional nozzle to help achieve a body shop quality finish. The nozzle is adjustable, so you can spray either horizontally or vertically.

It’s worth bearing in mind that using an aerosol lacquer requires a more experienced hand for the best results.

Using your lacquer aerosol

1. Shake the aerosol for at least 2 minutes.
2. Prepare the damaged area. If you’re doing a paint touch up too, we advise you to flatten down the area first using wet and dry sandpaper. If you don’t need to do the paint (hint: you probably do), don’t sand. The surface must be clean and dry - make sure you remove all wax, polish and dust.
3. Apply in smooth cross coats 250mm (25cm) distance from the repair.
4. Leave to dry for 15 minutes before applying a second coat if necessary.
5. Leave the lacquer to cure 24 hours before applying a polishing compound like PaintNuts Professional Scratch & Scuff Remover to blend the work in.
6. After use, turn the aerosol upside down to empty the nozzle valve to clean, so it can be reused at a later date.

Got questions?

Do I need to use lacquer?

Not at all. Our colour match car touch up paint is durable and gives a good finish. Small, fine scratches and chips might not need lacquer. However, we do recommend it for larger areas as it will give a better finish, better colour match and great protection.

How do I know my lacquer is damaged?

You might notice a mark on your paintwork that you can’t polish out with compound or wax. If you can see the white base coat, metal or plastic, it’s a touch up paint job; otherwise, it’s just your top coat lacquer.

Will I need to touch up the car paint too?

Probably, yes. It’s very rare that you can just touch up lacquer without needing to do the paint too